The New Professional Photographer

Erie Photography Seminars: 2012 Winter Series

2012-01-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

I am offering three photography seminars in February:

Feb 11: Basics of Photography - 1PM-5PM - $59

This course is oriented to those just getting started into digital photography. The only requirements are a digital SLR camera, and the desire to learn!

Feb 18: Image Workflow and Editing - 10AM-5PM - $79

his course is for anyone who struggles with image management and editing. Using two very powerful and inexpensive software tools from Corel, we'll explore the world of image and file management as well as many editing techniques guaranteed to make your images pop! Trial versions of both programs will be available to install. Bring your laptop and a full camera chip!

Feb 25: Advanced Photography Techniques - 10AM-5PM - $79

If you have some camera experience, and want to improve your image quality, composition and “keeper yield”, this is the session for you. Lots of hands-on activities designed to make you very comfortable with your camera and lenses and available light.

Bonus: Register for all three by February 4^th and pay only $199!

All of the sessions are held at my studio, 2615 Peach Street, in the Raven building.

For more information, click here.

New Website - Toby Norman Photography!

2012-01-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Today, we completed the creation of Toby's website. I have worked with Toby over the last year as he has begun his journey into professional photography. We have worked a number of weddings together, as well as some other events.

Toby used an excellent web template from AllWebCo. We customized it tonight, and made the first transfer to get it running.

We're excited to see his website show up in the Google searches soon. There's a bit of work to be done, but it's coming along nicely.

Click here to see Toby's new website, TobyNormanPhoto.com!

Camera Simulator

2012-01-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

I came upon this camera simulation program today. It's a very accurate simulator, providing you with a moving subject and the ability to zoom and move, and change all camera settings.

If you are interested in really learning how to manage your camera settings, this program is a great practice tool. I'll be using it in my upcoming camera classes, that's for sure!

Camera Simulator

Spot the Pro!

2011-12-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

These days, it's hard to tell who is a real photographer and who has a Wal-Mart SLR and a Facebook page. Here are some questions you can ask a potential photographer to help you determine how "professional" a particular photographer is. If you ARE a photographer, this is a great way to see how you stack up to the real pros, who score in the high teens or 20.

1. How do you make prints for me?

Right Answer: I Edit, Retouch, resize, and use a high-end printer or lab. Then I carefully package and deliver your prints to you.

Wrong Answer: I don't do prints. I give you a disc and you can go to Wal-Mart.

2. What types of artificial lighting do you routinely use?

Right: On camera flash with modifiers, off camera portable flashes, triggers, studio lighting, reflectors.

Wrong: "I'm a Natural Light Photgrapher", I use the pop-up on my camera if it's too dark.

3. How can you stay in business when you only charge $100/session?

Right: I'm super efficient and manage to grow and prosper on minimum wage, OR, I don't charge $100/session. I charge far more, and here is why...

Wrong: I'm doing this as a hobby, I pass the value on to you!

4. How do you manage White Balance and Color Calibration?

Right: I use a white balance card, custom white balance in the camera, RAW exposure, and regular monitor and printer calibration

Wrong: What's white balance?

5. What kind of backup cameras, lenses and storage do you have?

Right:I have a backup body, lenses and flashes in my car (or right here).

Wrong: Ahh, who needs that? I'll just reschedule your wedding, or flee the scene.

6. How do you plan a session with your clients?

Right:I understand their motivations, discuss portrait needs, clothing, setting and other details.

Wrong: We meet at the park and we go from there.

7. Do you pay taxes on your income?

Right:Yes, I reserve 35% of my revenue and pay estimated federal and state taxes.

Wrong: Can we move on to the next question?

8. What types of insurance do you have?

Right:Liability for accidents, Equipment for my gear/studio, and Errors/Omissions insurance in case I have a client that is not completely satisfied.

Wrong: My car is insured!

9. Do you charge Sales Tax on your products and services?

Right:Yes I do, for in-state products and services. I report and pay it regularly.

Wrong: Nobody does this, plus then you would have to pay me $106 for a “shoot”

10. If I want reprints in 10 years, how will you support me?

Right: My images are archived in three places. I will retrieve and print your images, because I intend to be in business for the long haul.

Wrong: Hey, I gave you the CD of the images. That's your problem.

11. Where is your website? Can I see it on my iPhone/iPad/Droid?

Right: Here's the URL. It works on all tablets, phones and browsers.

Wrong: Um, here's my FACEBOOK PAGE. Please LIKE ME!

12. What kind of training do you have? Do you attend seminars?

Right: I went to school for photography, OR I have attended these seminars/classes/workshops.

Wrong:I have a NATURAL TALENT. My friend/mother/cousin told me so!

13. What camera modes do you use most often?

Right: Manual, or Aperture/Shutter for changing conditions. I use a light meter.

Wrong: What's a mode? Oh, It's on P for Professional!

14. What is the fastest lens in your bag?

Right: f/2.8 or 1.8 or 1.4 or 1.2 lenses. And yes, I know what those numbers mean. Primes, and pro-level zoom lenses.

Wrong: Well, the lens that came with my camera lets me zoom REAL FAST!

15. What kinds of model releases and contracts do you use?

Right: My contracts and releases protect the subjects and spell out our mutual obligations.

Wrong:We don't need that stuff!

16. Where is your studio or indoor working space? How do you deal with bad weather?

Right: Here is where we go, and what we do for indoor or inclement weather.

Wrong: We reschedule, because Mom said I can't use her basement anymore.

17. How do you support your community through photography?

Right: I offer classes, donate sessions and prints, and network with vendors and my peers.

Wrong: I take pictures in the community, does that count?

18. What is your image processing work flow after your session?

Right: First I back up the images, then I select, global edit, final edit and provide proofing or review sessions for you.

Wrong: I take the chip and put the files on a CD. Then I give the CD to you.

19. What products do you offer in addition to prints and/or digital files?

Right: Canvas prints, mugs, totes, posters, collages, tiles, clothing, you name it!

Wrong: You can do that your self on MPIX or at the grocery store.

20. Do you belong to any professional organizations? Certifications or merits?

Right: I'm a PPA/WPPI member. I have CPP certification. I have these awards/merits, which indicate that I care about my craft and that I create work that my peers respect.

Wrong:Who needs that stuff? Let's go do a shoot!

Art Auction - call for images

2011-09-29T16:27:00.001-07:00

Photographers: I'm helping to organize an art auction to raise funds for a young mom with stage 4 brain cancer. I'm asking for you to donate some of your best work - either as prints, framed prints or even digital images which I'll have printed. 8x10, 11x14 or larger if you can spare it.

Donate your best scenic, still life or other interesting images. All funds will go to offset medical expenses. Send to John Huegel - 537 Boyer Road - Erie PA 16511.

Please repost to other photographers. I'd like to have physical prints by October 21, digital files a week earlier so I can send to my lab. Message me for email to send digital files. Thanks!

Going Pro Boot Camp #2: October 15-16 in Erie, PA

2011-09-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

Once again, we are offering our Going Pro boot camp. This is an intense, 2-day seminar designed to give you the camera, lighting and shooting skills, as well as editing and business skills to succeed in the lucrative the business of photography.

If you are a new pro, or someone considering the world of professional photography, you owe it to yourself to actually learn the fundamental skills needed by real photographers. We focus on camera competency, lenses, lighting, depth of field, posing, composition, editing, and a whole lot of business issues including web design and pricing.

If you are on the fence about photography, or just want to step up a notch, contact me to reserve a spot in this session. It's not easy, but you will definitely improve as a photographer and business person from this class.

Dates: October 15-16, 2011

Location: 2615 Peach, Erie PA

Times: 9-5 on both days

Cost: $299 per person. Lunch is included.

Prep: You should know your camera, lenses and accessories pretty well. If you have never taken your camera out of "P" or auto mode, spend some time on that before this session. Bring your camera's manual (especially if it's a Nikon).

Contact me with any questions. You won't regret this seminar!

More info: Click here.

Shooting on Glass

2011-07-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

I received a DVD in the mail several months ago, by Karl Taylor. Called the Ultimate Photo Guide, I previewed it and decided to bite. It's a very well made video guide to specific skills such as macro photography, HDR and light painting.

One activity he showed was that of photographing sliced fruit on glass for interesting "kitchen" art. As I had some glass available, some fruit handy and an hour to play, I decided to reproduce his setup.

The glass is supported above the ground, and a white background is placed on the ground underneath it. Using a speedlight on a cord, you light the white card with flash, and the reflected light passes through thinly sliced fruit on the glass. You photograph from above.

Here is my first attempt with lemons:

I liked it but it was not crispy enough for me. So I tried slicing a Granny Smith apple through the center. Here's a single apple slice:

I liked that, and decided to make a special effect. I shifted the color of the fruit using the Hue/Sat tool, and then negative-ized the image, to create something that looks like the full moon:

I think that's kind of neat. Then I took a bunch of slices and colorized them differently:

That's a little strange, but it would make an interesting conversation piece. It reminds me of Easter eggs after being dyed.

My last shot is a Red Delicious, sectioned vertically:

I tweaked the levels and colors a bit. Overall, I'm happy with the first exercise. I may do some kiwi and star fruit next!

Are you a bad poet?

2011-07-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin is one of my idols. He is one of the most relevant observers of marketing, selling and online communities. I encourage you to join his blog.

Here's a recent post by Seth Godin which I think is relevant to this industry and us:

Quotes Seth:

Bad poetry

There's a lot of it.

One reason: it's easy to become a poet. Easy to announce you're a poet, easy to get a pencil and a paper, easy to publish your work online.

There's a lot of bad tweeting, bad marketing, bad facebooking, bad emailing and bad music now as well.

No barrier certainly leads to a lack of selectivity.
Surprisingly, though, amid the bad art, we actually find more good art.

A barrier to entry isn't the only thing that improves quality. Sometimes it's sufficient to let artists do their work without a gatekeeper.

As photographers, our barrier to entry is very low. Anyone with a camera can call themselves a photographer.

Are you making good art or bad art?

New Lens - Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS II

2011-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

It took me 7 years of work to afford this on my debt-free approach. Now I finally have one of my dream lenses! This is the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS II lens, the workhorse of Canon wedding and portrait photographers worldwide.

For years I shot with a Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 lens for my telephoto needs. It's a nice lens and produces really sweet images, but with no stabilization, I am glued to a monopod at speeds under 1/200 sec, which is pretty much always at a wedding.

This new lens is known for the ability to stabilize hand-held images at 4 or so stops below normal. For a 200mm lens, the recommended minimum hand-held speed would be 1/200 sec (basically the max focal length expressed as a fraction of a second). Four stops slower is: 1/100 (1 stop), 1/50 (2 stops), 1/25 (3 stops) and finally 1/12th for four stops. So does this mean I may be able to get good sharp hand held images at 1/25 sec or slower with a 70-200 lens? Today I tried to answer that question.

I did a bit of playing this evening in a darkish house. Here are some test images:

My faithful mutt indoors under "daylight florescent". This is at 1/20 second, ISO 1600, f/2.8 exposure parameters about what I might expect in a church or reception hall. I'm happy with the sharpness around the eyes, and the autofocus was very fast.

My fake apple still life was 1/30 second at ISO1600 and f/2.8. The depth of field is nice and shallow here - note the sharpness at the front of the basket and the focus falloff as you move to the back.

Once again, Emma is zoning and I caught her close eye in sharp focus. 1/50th at f/2.8 and ISO1600.

I'm quite happy with the low-light capabilities of this lens. At higher ISO and wide open aperture, I have acceptable sharpness at speeds as low as 1/20th of a second!

I had to wander around outdoors for a couple of images as well:

Philosophical dog under shady skies. 1/800 at f/2.8 and ISO200. Great sharpness on the canine, and good blur of the garage about 15 feet behind her.

The obligatory summer flower shot. This is a "macro" shot taken with a 70-200 lens! This lens can focus as close as 1.25 meters (about 4 feet). This was taken at 1/60 at f/10 and ISO200. Not super sharp, but nice background blur and decent detail on the flower guts.

I'll be doing some more experimentation with this lens over the holiday weekend (with real people), but I know that I'll be getting some great shots this year with this lens!

Experimenting with Stacks of UV Filters

2011-06-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Experimenting with Stacks of UV Filters

an interesting test of multiple filters used on a lens. bottom line is that the type of lens filter will impact your image quality.

Focus-free cameras coming?

2011-06-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today on New York Times, a new camera, Lytro, was introduced. Its claim to fame is the ability to capture images and select the focus point after the image is taken. It uses new optics to capture distance-related information which it can use to process your desired focal point. One advantage is no shutter delay for autofocus.

It's a breakthrough in image processing. Take a look at the article. Just as we think that there is no further to go in image technology, we see a new breakthrough.

Since the inventor, Ren Ng, chose to develop his own camera product, don't expect this on the major brands soon. It will take some time for them to reverse engineer or license the technology. But by the time Canon releases the 5D Mark 7, I predict it will be a standard feature!

Last call for Super Monday! Erie Photography Seminar

2011-05-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last call for the Super Monday seminar offered by PPA. From 9-5, I'll open my studio for other photographers to come and learn together. This spring's seminar is entitled "Exploring Light: Natural, Studio and Portable Lighting."

The walk-up price is $120, which includes the full day seminar, lunch (I'm buying), and many great specials offered by PPA and their partners.

Questions - you can call 814-881-2840. We'll have models and lots of toys to play with!

Making a Box Collage

2011-05-07T19:56:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new collage idea, brought to me by my colleagues at Pro4Um. One of them created this neat box, and others since have adopted it and used it in their senior and family portraiture as a unique offering.

I had the good fortune of several great models, and have built several collages from this pattern. Here's a brief tutorial on how I did it. This assumes you are familiar with either Photoshop or Paintshop Pro.

The box was constructed of 2x12 lumber on edge, with a flat black front (facing) edge and high-gloss white inside. I built it in early April. It took about 4 hours to make, and cost around $100 with lumber and paint.

Step 1, I photographed the subjects using high-key lighting. A key light to the upper right of the camera, a lower fill to left of camera, and two background lights behind the subject. With the camera on a tripod to keep the angle consistent, and steady indoor settings (for this, 1/250 sec, f/5.6 or so, and ISO 100), I captured several images of my subject from the same vantage point. See the first image.

From the first image, I use the transform function to select the corners of the box to make the box into a perfect rectangle. That will correct for any difference in angle or presentation of the box. I also do a quick Levels process to blow the top of the box to pure white, and crop to rough size. You can see Step 2 as the finish of this.

Once complete, I'll save several of these images in my "edits" folder, and choose from them for my collage layout. In this case, I'm using five images for a tie-dye "hippie" collage. I chose four others and did the same edits to each.

In Step 3, I crop even tighter, and use the "magic wand" to select the gray supports to my box and delete them. My background color is white, so the deletion function fills them with white, which suits me just fine. You can see the edges are pure white, and I've touched up the box corners with the clone tool. I'll also push the exposure a bit with levels and saturation to get a nice "pop". In some cases, I'll also select the box border and change the color of it, but in this case, I kept it black.

The image is nice and clean now. I create a "new" image on a canvas of pure white, in this case 14" wide by 11" tall by 300 ppi. I resize each of the five images to about 9.8" tall by 300ppi. Then I copy the image and paste as a new layer in the white canvas image. I move each one until there are five in close arrangement to the final. I save that as a "native" Paint Shop or Photoshop image with the layers intact, in case I want to play later.

The sizes are close, but not perfect. I use the guides/ruler tool to create top and bottom guides, and resize each layer until the top and bottoms are the same level. Once at the same level, I'll save the native image, and then save a copy as a flattened JPG image (no layers).

Once flattened, I copy the image, paste as a new later, flip it with the "mirror" function, move it to be underneath the base of the boxes, and reduce the opacity of the flipped layer. I'm getting more sophisticated with using a gradient fill on the bottom layer as a mask to let the reflection fade to light as it moves down to the bottom. Layer masks are great tools. If you are not ready for that, just reduce the opacity of the reflected layer to about 70%.

Once complete, I'll save that as a full size image, and resize for web display with some fancy titling. Here's my finished web display:

I sampled the shirt colors to use in the font fill, and used a stock picture frame for a sample display. I also resized for my main website: http://jhphotomusic.com. It shows up in my main image rotation.

Overall, this edit takes me about 1-2 hours per collage, depending on size (number of images) and finish (frame colors, etc.) . With practice, I should be able to shorten that time. It's one more option I have for seniors and families that set me apart from shoot and burn photographers!

Photography Classes in Erie

2011-05-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

Super Monday is coming up - May 16th, from 9AM until 5PM. I'm hosting a class at my studio entitled "Exploring Light: Natural, Studio & Portable Lighting". Early bird $99 discount closes tonight, but you can register up to the start date for $120 after that date. You can register here. Here's the class agenda.

I'm also offering a new "Intro to Photography" class on Tuesday July 5th, from 5PM until 9PM at my studio. You can learn more about that at this link.

Private Forum Membership

2011-04-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

I have at times, been a member of PPA, SEP, DWF, Pro4UM, SPI and some other private membership groups. Each of these communities has their own activity level and talent and creativity levels, and caters to specific groups of the photographic industry.

I remain a PPA member for the indemnity insurance and several other benefits, including their focus on education and certification. I'll probably always be a PPA member. But I'll be honest - their online forum is very weak.

For a vibrant private professional photography forum I have used Digital Wedding Forum (DWF), which incidentally now supports portraits and other types, and Pro4Um, which was started as a senior portrait group and has since also broadened its scope. Pro4um is Kirk Voclain's baby. He is a nut, and a top-notch senior portrait photographer, and has attracted top talent to his forum. It's definitely my favorite at the moment.

Why do I write this? For a few reasons:

- Casual blogging, public forums and open subscription sites are OK. They teach you some good stuff. But they are also teaching every other wannabe photographer the same basic stuff.

- To really grow, you need to rub elbows with working pros, as peers. Real pros, who have shot 10x to 100x what you have. You need to hear what the real world of professional photography is all about, from people who have done it for 20 years or more.

- These paid forums have posters with thousands of messages to their credit. They are the ones that will set you straight and will blow your mind. They post everyday about something. They are avid, I might say rabid, posters about the life and world of professional photography.

- Truly creative ideas come from those private, pay sites. People open up and share with their peers. They trade secrets, from pricing, to special offers and favorite poses. Their "shots of the week" will make you cry - either from their emotional impact, or from your own sense of insignificance as you compare your work to these amazing artists.

I have learned many things from these forums: How to shoot beach photos at sunset. How to use RadioPopper triggers. How to use modifiers on my hot-shoe flashes. Specific approaches to posing male and female subjects. Certain wedding poses and approaches. And many more topics and impressions that I have since absorbed into my skill set without even knowing where they came from.

So, I'm NOT telling you to abandon my blog or other free sites. I still hit free as well as paid forums on a regular basis. But consider including DWF, PPA or Pro4um or other paid sites for some of your photographic learning. You still need to go to seminars and get hands-on experience. But you also need to talk to people in Australia, England and somewhere else in your country or state who have gone through what you are doing right now. Search the archives and spend a weekend soaking up their knowledge. There has never been a time such as now, when you can benefit so heavily from others' experiences, without ever seeing them face-to-face. You will get $1000 of benefit in the first 2 days, I guarantee.

Then, after you have soaked it up, pick up your camera and show us what you have learned.

Find The Light!

2011-04-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

On and around May 16th, nearly 100 of your colleagues across the country are opening their studio doors to host photography workshops and share their knowledge with fellow photographers.

This year, I'll be hosting a workshop in Erie, entitled "Exploring Light: Natural, Studio & Portable Lighting". In this all-day seminar, held on May 16th from 9AM until 5PM, we'll work with natural light indoors and outdoors (weather permitting), use multiple studio strobes and a variety of modifiers, as well as experiment with off-camera portable flashes.

Super Monday Spring 2011 pre-registration will remain open until May 2, 2011, for the discounted price of $99 for a full-day program. After that date, registration is $120 and must be completed on-site, space permitting.

These programs are brought to you by PPA - the Professional Photographers of America. You do not have to be a PPA member to attend!

If you would like to expand your horizons in lighting, consider this very affordable seminar. There are also many great discounts in the Super Monday package.

You can register here. Hope to see you there!

Certified Professional Photographer

2011-04-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

This week I started the process of applying for the Certified Professional Photographer program. This involves declaring your intention, submitting a portfolio of 20 of your best images for evaluation, and passing a 2-hour exam on the principles of photography. The CPP certification is a mark of excellence in the photographic industry, and a key milestone that all professional photographers should consider on their journey to excellence.

I have been teaching photography classes for some time, and I felt pretty good about the material for the exam. However I knew I had some weak areas, particularly in the understanding of the color wheel, traditional lighting ratios, and filter nomenclature. I had recently been working with Jaime Rowe, who had taken the CPP exam earlier and lamented at the lack of good study guides and resources available. She has produced some excellent study materials that support the CPP exam effort on her website, www.certifiedphotographer.net. There, she offers videos, tutorials, sample questions, and most important, a CPP exam study eBook at a very reasonable price.

I recently read the book and took the practice exam at the end. It was very helpful to me, both as a refresher and as a tool to help me identify my weak areas and study to improve.

Based on her exam and book, I know where I need to focus for my study activities. I'm planning to take the CPP exam in May of this year, and expect to do well based on Jaime's excellent study materials.

I'll keep you all posted on my progress, both on the image judging and the exam!

Building a mobile website

2011-04-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

My customer website is flash-based, which is fine for most computers, but does not work on iPads, iPhones, and is very difficult to read on smart phones. I suspect that many of you may be in the same situation.

I looked around and ended up trying iFolios, (http://www.getifolios.com/) which is a Word Press-powered smartphone website template. After a bit of self-inflicted difficulty, I got the site installed and configured and running very well.

Here's a snapshot of my regular website. Note the look and feel with the background:

I was able to reuse the background, and all of my website images in the companion website, which is stored on my same domain and accessed through my normal URL, http://jhphotomusic.com. There's logic in my main index.html page that detects a smartphone or iDevice and automatically redirects to the mobile sub-folder. That means that your search engine optimization will direct mobile viewers to their special view without creating two different domains. Additionally, the body text and key words in your images and pages will create additional internal strength as rich content.

Here's the top-level image for my mobile web:

I rearranged the images and topics to be product focused. For example, under Wedding Photography, there are image galleries, price lists, and a "how to book your wedding" link. All are short, clear and very readable on a smartphone. There's even a custom contact link, so I'll know if someone emails me from my main web or a smartphone.

I encourage anyone with a traditional website to consider a companion mobile site. There are several providers that can help you, but I'll continue to recommend the iFolios product. It's very flexible and the instructions are very clear to support installation. They do offer a reasonably-priced assisted-installation option as well.

Erie Photography Classes: Going Pro Boot Camp

2011-03-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

We're in the final planning stages for our first "Going Pro" boot camp. This intense 2-day session will cover the Science, Art and Business of portrait photography. If you are interested in the business and want to work on your skills, this may be the seminar for you.

The seminar will be held from 9AM until 5PM on both Saturday March 26th and Sunday March 27th. This intermediate class will challenge your skills and broaden your knowledge and capabilities as a photographer, artist and business person!

For more information, the PDF flyer is here.

Erie Photography Classes: Photography Basics on March 12, 2011

2011-03-05T13:18:00.000-08:00

We still have a few spots left in our "Photography Basics" class to be held Saturday March 12, 2011 from 10AM until 4PM. If you are interested in learning how to use that digital SLR, this is a perfect opportunity!

Lunch is included, and the cost is $59. The seminar will be held at our studio at 2617 Peach in the Raven Building.

We also have the following seminars coming up soon:

March 26-27: Going Pro Bootcamp. 9AM-5PM, Peach Street Studio. $299 for 2 days.

April 2: Studio Lighting Workshop. 10AM-4PM, Peach Street Studio. $59 for one day.

Erie Photography Classes

2011-02-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce the following photography classes, to be held at our downtown studio:

March 12th: Intro to Digital Photography

Suitable for: People just getting into digital SLR photography. This is a great starter class!

Key skills taught: Camera modes, shooting technique, shooting without flash, ISO, white balance, exposure options, composition.

Time: 10AM - 4PM. Lunch is included!

Bonus: "Adventures in Photography" alumni are welcome to attend this class for free!

Price: $59. For more information, click here.

March 26-27: Going Pro Boot Camp

Suitable for: New professional photographers, or those considering professional photography. This intense 2-day class will cover the Science, Art and Business of professional photography!

Key skills taught: Camera and lighting, posing, workflow, marketing, pricing, editing.

Time: 9AM - 5PM both days. Lunch is included!

Price: $299 for the entire session. For more information, click here.

April 2: Studio Lighting Workshop

Suitable for: Those familiar with photography, and wanting to explore studio lighting.

Key skills taught: Camera setup, triggers, one to four light setups, modifiers, gels, posing and props.

Time: 10AM - 4PM. Lunch is included!

Price: $59. For more information, click here.

Please remember that each class has a size limit and a sign up deadline, so contact me soon if you want to participate in a class!

Winter Photography Adventures

2011-01-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

With a very cold winter and a studio that is not insulated, it was a real challenge to warm it up enough for comfortable studies for our Saturday morning classes. But with all of the heaters blasting, we did manage a comfortable 70 degrees.

We concluded our Winter Adventures in Photography series yesterday. Our three students were very focused (pun intended) on learning about the art and science of photographing with a digital camera.

One of our activities was a still life image, to practice using a tripod or monopod, and to exercise the skills in white balance and depth of field.

Here's a shot from our still life activities. This stuff looks good enough to eat!

We also had a young lady contact us to express an interest in modeling. Her desire for a starter portfolio and our students' need for a willing subject worked out just fine for everyone!

Here's a sample image of Kristina against a high-key white background.

Thanks again to my students, and best of luck! I hope to see you in other Adventures classes soon!

Great Tutorials on Photography

2011-01-10T16:43:00.000-08:00

I have been collecting great web sites for basic photography skills for my students, especially sites that deal well with the exposure triangle, depth of field, white balance and other basic concepts.

Here's a list of some sites I think you should visit and subscribe to, in the order of my value estimate (though they are all good or they would not be on my list):

Cambridge in Colour - wonderful - clearly described and illustrated tutorials. You can sign up for this one and get nice notifications.

Photo Tuts+ - Great tutorials. Including this one on the Exposure Triangle!

and this one on 100 tutorials!

Digital Photography School - Great tutorials, nice design, and good forums as well. Especially this article!

Canon Digital Photography Forums - oriented to the Canon user, but also has great forums on portable and studio lighting.

Stephen Eastwood Photography - A guy with great images who teaches and will show you how they are made.

ShutterMom - Interesting high-energy, lots of links and tools.

There. You have a lot of exploring, bookmarking, reading and signing-up to do! Get to it!

Last Call: Winter Photography Classes

2011-01-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

This Saturday 1/8/11, we begin "Adventures in Photography: Winter Series". This set of classes is oriented to the beginning digital photographer, and covers camera skills, lighting, editing and more.

If you or someone you know wants to learn more about photography, this is a great time of year and great setting for learning. We have wonderful daylight and lots of photographic resources.

Seminars will be on Saturdays: January 8, 15 and 22 from 10AM until 2PM. Lunch is included. All you need is your dSLR and lenses and we will explore the world of photography!

Classes will be held at our studio - 2617 Peach Street in Erie, PA. To reserve your place, contact us through the web or call 814-881-2840.

Cost is $99 for the entire series. More information is at http://jhphotomusic.com/PhotoClasses.pdf

It's a great way to start the year and spice up your camera skills!

New eBooks and Website!

2010-12-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today I launched my new website for photography education, and announce the availability of four eBooks on the Amazon Kindle platform.

New Website

The website is called johnhuegel.com, and will become the central point for my education and training products and services. I purchased the domain last week, and just built the website from a nice clean template. It still needs work, but it's a good bare-bones website, and it is giving me experience in the HTML world again!

Photography eBooks

I published four eBooks over the last week, all available at Amazon.com in the Kindle section:

Careers in Photography, and the skills needed to succeed, listed at $2.99

Don't Do This! 39 Mistakes I Made As a Professional Photographer, listed at $2.99

65 Photography Tips To Make You a Better Photographer, listed at $2.99

99 Ways to Make Money With Your Digital Camera, listed at $6.99

I'll be listing my upcoming seminars and other activities on the website, and will be adding a few more eBooks over the holidays. Please check them out and let me know your thoughts!

New Photography Classes

2010-12-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

In January, we'll be offering our new Winter Series on Adventures in Photography. Set in three Saturday sessions in January 2011, we'll teach the new camera owner how to master the digital SLR camera, lighting, and editing.

The three sessions are $39 each (for four hours of instruction), or $99 for all three sessions.

For my blog members, I'm offering an early bird special of $79 if purchased before December 22nd. That's 12 hours of instruction for an incredible price!

These classes make wonderful gifts for the camera lover in your family, especially if they (or you) receive a camera from Santa!

If you would like a nice certificate to present as a gift, you can contact me and I will print and mail it to you or the lucky recipient.

This is a great way to learn more about photography. For more information on the seminars, click here.

Order soon - class sizes are limited!

And for those of you more experienced: I'm going to offer a "Going Pro: Boot Camp" series in February if there is interest. This will be tough, hard, challenging, interesting and *very* beneficial to the photographer just breaking into the business. Contact me if you are interested. While it will cost more than these intro seminars, it will be 2-3 Saturdays full of intense hands-on experience, designed to make you ready to break into the business of professional photography!

Tech Update: Radio Poppers and Wedding Photography

2010-09-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

I have grown to love my Poppers and flashes. I now travel with three Canon flashes: one 580 EX2 on the camera to drive it all, and a 430 EX and 580EX2 remote as slaves. These are all driven with RadioPoppers, which allow full TTL control of the lights.

For outdoors (wedding groups, families, seniors), I usually use one remote flash. But I'll sometimes use two, for main and fill, especially when fighting a bright back sky, or in a very dark room.

I have two Lumiquest 6x9" softboxes that stick on the front of the flashes, and that helps to soften the impact a bit. I also have gels that will tweak the light, though I'll admit I'm not great at using them yet.

I have also made the switch to the new high-power rechargeables. I chose the Sanyo Eneloop batteries, because they come out of the box charged, don't lose their charge over time, and are rechargeable for over 1000 cycles. I have 6 sets (4 each) of AA's (for the flashes) and 3 sets of AAA's (for the Poppers). I can get a whole wedding day (that's hundreds of shots) from one set of everything - though I'd burn through them if a lot of the shots were outdoors in daylight. I just recharge everything Sunday morning for the next week.

Here's a good example of the kind of impact I'm getting with the remote strobes. The images were taken at a local ballroom, noted for high ceilings and very dark lighting conditions for receptions. I work here often, and struggle to get good reception exposures.

As you can see in the first image, there's very little "kicker" light from my flash, which was working hard to bounce off of the ceiling 30 feet above me. While technically clean, the result was a longer exposure at high ISO, with some grain and little separation on the subjects.

The next image has essentially the same shooting angle and subjects. This night also had some kicker lights on the walls adding a purple stripe and some color interest, but no real added illumination. In this case, I put a 580EX2 to camera left (behind the bride) on a stand at 6 feet high, with the 6x9" soft box. It provided a nice kick on the wedding dress and separated the subjects from the room.

I'm now working on developing the placement of two or more strobes in the reception halls to provide the light kick to work at lower ISO's and higher speeds, but still provide some great directional light. The balance is in choosing the right color and levels to blend with the ambient, so the subjects are not fully lit by the strobes, but nicely highlighted by them.

Radio Poppers Outdoors

2010-07-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

I, like many intermediate pros, have struggled to balance background with subject exposure. Two years ago it was bare 430 flash on my Canon camera. Last year it was the same flash with a modifier, but still the front light and flatness.

This year it's the RadioPoppers powering a remote 430 flash on a stand, commanded by the 580 flash on my camera, which contributes no light to the exposure. The 430 has been hitting an umbrella, or bare light. In these shots, it's naked bulb.

I start by metering for the background less sun, backing off a bit and setting WB to flash. Then I dial in the flash exposure comp on TTL to give me the right exposure on the remote fired 430. I'm usually at about ISO 100, 1/250 sec, and F/5.6 to F/8. And the flash comp is +2 or so.

In the first image, the flash is a bit weak (being 15-20 feet away), but still works nicely. In the second case, it is clearly off to camera right at about 10 feet, and casts a nice shadow off to the left. I push the Saturation quite a bit at sunset time, and this image came off well.

My main gripe with the Poppers is their appetite for AAA batteries. Tonight I had to rob from my little LCD flashlight to get the sunset session to work. If you keep batteries in the poppers, they will die on their own. Especially the transmitter.

But overall I'm getting more comfortable with the Poppers and I think they will do very well for me. Especially when I power one more flash so I can do rim and main light for individuals and couples after dark. I'll be honest that when shooting alone, I punt and go for the camera mounted flash, but with an assistant and out of wedding mode, I tend to play more. By the end of this season, I think I'll have it right!

Gels on Backgrounds

2010-07-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today I set up a new background from Backdrop Outlet, and a new Gel setup from AlienBees.

The gel holder fits on my AB400s and I purchased a whole bunch of gels.

It's amazing how well they color a background. I'll definitely use these with Seniors and Dance.

Next thing I need is a better model!

Erie Photography Seminars: Adventures in Photography

2010-06-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

Today we are launching a series of hands-on seminars for new or developing photographers. Entitled "Adventures in Photography Level 1: Summer Series", we are offering a weekly 2-hour seminar designed to give a broad base of experiences and skills to those wishing to learn more about the technical and artistic side of photography.

All you need to join is a digital SLR with at least one lens, and a desire to learn and grow as a photographer. We'll provide the material, subjects and experiences to let you produce better images.

Topics include the following (and much more):

Digital SLR setup
White balance
Photographing people, pets, landscape and small items
Camera setups for difficult situations (dark rooms, etc.)
Image editing and use of websites to share and critique images

Sessions are $30 each, or $200 for the entire series of 8 sessions. Discounts are available to current and past customers of John Huegel Photography, Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership members, PPA or WPPI members and people over the age of 65.

For more information, you can read this PDF.

To register for the class, send us an email here.

We hope you join us!

Low Light Shooting

2010-06-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have had both personal and professional reasons to shoot with no flash in a low indoor light situation lately. Of most import was my daughter's graduation. She was speaking and I wanted to get a crisp image of her at the podium.

I have the Canon 7D which has very good performance at the ISO3200 range. I set the camera up for incandescent White Balance, ISO3200 and I took some test shots with people to determine the best exposure, which I set at Manual, 1/250 sec at f/2.8. The resulting images were crisp but with nice blur on the background, and good exposure and white balance.

Interestingly, I coached another graduate's mom whom I knew on setting up her camera for the same situation. We'll see how her images came out. I know her lens was not as fast, but even at 1/50 second, a good image often results from a stage image.

I often shoot wedding reception or community event images in similar settings, and the challenge is always how to balance any added light with ambient. I have gelled strobes and on camera flash, which often works, but it's tough to get the color right.

The first person that invents an inexpensive color meter and corresponding flash adjustment set to balance off camera flash with ambient will make a killing in the wedding market.

Canon 7D, Low-light

2010-05-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

I just got my 7D and am comparing it to my 50D and getting ready to use it in a wedding tomorrow.

Here are some test shots. I ran the camera up to ISO3200 as I often shoot in dark reception halls and prefer little or no flash. I think they will come out pretty good.

RadioPopper Test

2010-05-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

I am learning my Radio Popper protocol in prep for my weddings and senior sessions this summer. I'm firing a Canon 430 EX remotely using poppers and a 580 flash on my 50D.

Here's a series of images from about 20 feet to around 400 feet. The flash is firing nicely in bright daylight.

It's off camera right just in front of the subject.

I think I'm going to dig my Poppers. One more flash and transmitter for rimlighting and I'm set!

Dance Photography in Action

2010-05-02T11:20:00.001-07:00

This weekend I continued my springtime Dance Photography activities. Here are some images of my studio and me at work.
We were shooting against a plain black background to highlight the dancer and the costume.

Working with a main and fill in front and 2 grids to the back for rimlighting, we were able to capture some great images of this dancer in mid-leap.

Product Review: Paint Shop Pro X3

2010-03-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

I have to admit I'm a Corel Paint Shop Pro (PSP) user. Since version 5, I have used the product. It has kept pace with Photoshop in many respects, and has some specific advantages over it in other cases, in particular, a great set of cosmetic editing tools for facial retouching.

I have used version 12 "PSP X2" for the last year and had good fortune with it. Some of my earlier feedback on that product was its lack of pre-editing work flow - you know, you get 750 photos and need to triage them, and maybe apply some batch flow to them like Lightroom. I used to rely on Canon's Zoombrowser for that stage of my work flow.

X3 now has that. Although it took me some time to figure out how to configure it just right, I did figure out how to pull the images in, rate them with 1-5 stars, and then work on the selected images.

To speed up the editing process, PSP/X3 now has a batch flow process that uses its history/script capability interactively. This is very handy for applying edits to a bunch of similar images.

For example, I had a recent dance shoot against 4 backgrounds. For the first image of each background, I opened the image, tweaked Levels and Saturation, then saved that image. Back in the organizer, I selected that image, and chose "Capture Editing". Then I selected all of the remaining images in that background/set and chose "Apply Editing". In under a minute, all of the images were edited and saved using the same parameters. Then I'd visually check them out and do any cropping or other cleanup. This saved me about 50% of the time I'd spend opening up each image and applying essentially the same edits to these images.

There are a number of other features that I haven't tried out yet, such as removing objects and smart image stretch. Right now I'm just trying to see how it will play into my work flow as the shooting season ramps up.

I will have to say that there are a handful of strange or undesirable things going on such as unpredictable application aborts and memory leaks. I have found that the first service release they send out after the base release tends to fix most of them. I really wish they did a better job of Beta testing to weed these out (hello...I'd volunteer!), but I am generally happy with the X.1 release.

So if you are not already on the Photoshop drug, consider this product. I run my photography business on PSP, both for the cost savings and for the unique retouching features that make my Senior, Dance and Wedding image workflow very efficient. At roughly $60/yr, you can't beat the price.

Incidentally, if/when the X3.1 release comes out, I'll comment on whether it cured any of the bomb/defects that I found in the base release.

UPDATE:I worked with Corel's Tech Support who had me uninstall and reinstall and the hang problem is still there, but at least I worked out a workaround which will prevent the hang. They can't reproduce the problem. There is a patch file but it did not solve my problem.

2ND UPDATE: The workaround doesn't work all of the time. Given that I touch about 20,000 images per year, I can't afford to use a program this unstable. I can't recommend X3 for anything close to professional use. The ironic footnote is that I have backed up to X2 and it's pretty solid. The product is not bad, but the code is UNSTABLE.

Photoshop and Photography

2010-02-28T05:36:00.000-08:00

Image 1: Straight Out of Camera.
Image 2: Basic contrast and color adjustments.
Image 3: A bit of halo/softening using a filter.
Image 4: Simple brush strokes filter with some masking around the face.

Image 5: Some texture and masking.
This week, the New York Times' David Pogue published this bit on imagery, asking the question, "Photoshop and Photography: When it is Real?" He was responding to an editorial in Popular Photography by Miriam Leuchter entitled "What is a Photograph?"

The discussion centered around the winning entry of the recent Popular Photography contest, which was a digital composite of two separate images. Both of these delve into the question regarding image editing. At what point does it stop being a photograph and instead become digital art?

I think the answer depends on the use. Obviously in areas like forensics and journalistic photography, there are pretty strict guidelines around post-capture editing. Other areas such as advertising, the rule book is pretty much open.

I know of many photographers who take each and every image they select to display or sell through Photoshop. I must confess that I review nearly every image and often at least pump the contrast or saturation a bit. 99% of my images are of people. I tend to keep them in their original setting and only enhance the image. Occasionally I create collages but I admit that I'm a bit weak in that areas.

My image editing choices are more a function of my editing comfort zone than an ethical decision. I don't have the skills to turn an image into a fantasy painting, so I generally stop at optimizing color and contrast and maybe a bit of filtration.

Other photographers go much farther. I see some incredible work out there. My friend Solitaire Miles is an expert at digital editing, and creates amazing images of visual fantasy. You can see some of her works here. I think it's a natural evolution to create images using digital tools, just as early photographers created images that looked different from reality using film and early cameras.

So what's my point? Very few published images are untouched. In fact I have seen some personal portraits of my friends and colleagues taken by other professional photographers that just screamed for a bit of post processing. I don't have any issues around image editing. With all of the wizards, plug-ins and widgets available on cameras and phones now, people almost expect a heavily processed image.

I believe that professional photographers who cannot use an image editor to manipulate an image will end up with portfolios that may limit their business opportunities. I'm not recommending that you do bad work in camera and "fix it in post", but you will need to be able to enhance images. The digital editor is another tool in expressing yourself as an artist.

So get comfortable with your favorite image editor and decide how far you want to take your images.

Radio Poppers - First Tests

2010-02-21T14:01:00.001-08:00

I had an opportunity to try my new Radio Poppers and my Canon 430EX and 580EXII flashes.

In the first shot, I had both flashes on. The 430/slave was behind my model, acting as a back/rim light. The 580 was on camera.

In the second shot, I had the camera-mounted 580EXII turned off, and just the 430/slave firing off to camera left. Nice wash of light and shadow on the wall!

In the third shot, I had the 430 on the ground in front of the model, who is on a shelf about 20" off the ground.

In all three cases, I got what I was looking for. Most of these were bare bulb shots with hard shadows cast, but I also did some images with an umbrella on the slave.

The real trick will be firing that slave from 200 feet away. I can't wait to try!

RadioPoppers!

2010-01-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

I just received my new Radio Poppers and a new Canon 580 EXII flash and stand. I'm going to develop my off-camera flash skills. The Poppers can fire a canon flash from over 1000' away. I am going to try some backlit silhouette shots after dark, and some nice side lighting for my wedding and senior clients.

I evaluated the Radio Poppers as well as Paul C Buff's Cyber Commander and the Sekonic Pocket Wizards. The Poppers have by far the best range.

Now I just have to figure out how to operate multiple flash units on my Canon rig. I have the 580 EXII, a 430 EX and two poppers (transmit and receive). Next I'll add the FPE-2 and another receiver so I can run two remote flashes off camera.

I'll post some sample shots once I get it all working.

New eBook: Dance Studio Photography

2010-01-18T13:50:00.001-08:00

I just finished the first draft of my first book! It's titled Dance Studio Photography: A Guide for Professional Photographers. It covers these areas:

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Many Types of Dance Photography
Chapter 3: Entering the Market
Chapter 4: Setting up the Commercial Arrangements
Chapter 5: Setting Up
Chapter 6: Conducting the Photography Session
Chapter 7: Post Production and Proofing
Chapter 8: Selling
Chapter 9: Order Fulfillment
Chapter 10: Troubleshooting
Chapter 11: Creating an Action Plan

Without images or diagrams, it's 34 pages of single space type. I'll be adding lots of embellishments, images and helpful charts and diagrams, so I expect it will finish around 50 pages at 8.5x11".

I'm leaning to release it as an eBook through Lulu.com. I know it's kind of a niche market but there is literally nothing out there on working with this market.

The first photographer who messages me gets a free preview copy. The only hook is that they must proofread it for me and offer critial feedback.

Click here to be that person.

New Blog: Erie Weddings!

2010-01-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

Today I launched a new blog, aimed at potential wedding clients in the Erie Area. This blog, called Erie Wedding, will discuss many things of interest for people getting married in the Erie area.

I intend to use this to create value for engaged couples getting married in Erie, independent of their choice of wedding photographer. This will create legitimacy and name recognition for my business, build strong links with partners, and drive eyeballs to my websites and other blogs.

Check it out...perhaps this type of content aggregation may work for you in your community as well.

Website redesign using templates

2009-12-21T14:17:00.001-08:00

For the last few years, I have used a flash-based web template. It has served me well, and I received many positive compliments on it from my clients. It had some limitations, including one short sound clip which got pretty boring, and no automatic slide show capability.

I wanted to take it a step further, to update the look and give the viewer a richer experience. I am very comfortable with the template approach, so I returned to Winklet Web Design to check out their offerings. I evaluated their photography portfolio templates #29, 30 and 31, and ultimately chose the latter, #31.

This template features a cycle of images on the home page, as well as a number of portfolios which also have slide shows that cycle through the images. I can upload my own music, and link to my blog.

I took the opportunity to refresh all of the images and define clean categories for my main offerings: Weddings, Seniors and Family Portraits. I included a fourth "Other" category for specialty images.

I have also been doing some electronic music, so the song I uploaded was a composition I recorded last winter.

In all, it took me about 10 hours from start to upload. That included the time to edit and order the 100+ images and thumbnails on the site, as well as updating my keywords and other tracking identifiers such as Google Analytics. Ongoing updates, such as price lists and fresh images, only take a few minutes to update.

So, if you are contemplating creating or updating a website, consider giving web templates a try. It's a great way to establish a classy image without getting very technical or spending a fortune.

Wedding Photography: Developing Packages

2009-12-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

The last couple of years I have struggled with my marketing plan for Weddings. I have spent a lot of time and effort on my Seniors plan and it has worked out very well. I routinely exceed my goals for sessions and revenue for that area, and I seem to have the right range of product offerings for my customers' needs.

My original wedding offering was simple: A fixed price for the shoot, which included credits for the purchase of products. But I found two problems: Indecision, and lack of a data disc offering.

I found that when I did offer a fixed price for the wedding, the bride and groom would struggle to decide what they wanted. Without guidelines or a framework, it was hard for them to determine what they wanted.

And I was getting a lot of calls asking for the image files as part or all of the package. A couple of years ago, I told them that I did not sell my images. I lost a lot of inquiries for that reason. The sad thing is, I believe that they booked someone less capable than me.

I thought about it and decided that I was in the business of providing wedding memories, not prints. If my customers wanted a disc, I can deliver that to them in the same fashion as prints. As long as I cover my time and make my sales and profitability goals, I couldn't rationalize why I shouldn't offer the data files.

So I took a clue from my Senior offerings and created several packages. The original is still there - they pay me for the day and have a design credit to spend a la carte. I also have a "digital only" package, which lands them a disc and a small print credit. But I also have a few larger packages that combine many of my offerings into a greater value.

And I continue to consult with my customers that my recommendation is that they use me for their prints - mainly because I can produce a print quality that they cannot approach from drug store print kiosks, and I feature my slideshow and book designs during the review. But I offer them various options for getting the data disc alone or in concert with a prints and products package.

The reception has been good. Even though I have only had the new prices up for a few weeks, I have had more productive discussions with current and prospective wedding couples. It gives them something to get their heads around in terms of a whole offering.

I keep all my pricing on my website. I know it encourages window shopping, but I still get a lot of inquiries. And most of those who call me or email me have done their homework. They like my work, are comfortable with my pricing, and are often ready to book. It keeps everyone's time efficient and shows my customers that I'm not afraid to disclose my pricing to my competitors.

One other thing I discovered is that you really need to price a year ahead with weddings. Many of my customers are booking me for 2010, and I freeze their pricing on the day they sign a contract with me. Given that I have sold more than half of my 2010 wedding capacity, I don't have that many opportunities for new customers to work with my new pricing next year.

That means that I am learning to create the long view for weddings - it's a very different business cycle from Seniors and other types of sales.

So, if you are struggling with wedding pricing, consider structuring several packages to give your clients some choices and reference points. You may just win more bookings and keep your customers happier!

Another Lens in the Bag!

2009-11-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

I just added the Canon 10-22mm lens to my bag. It's a bit pricey, but I think I can do some really interesting shots with it.

One advantage of this ultra-wide lens is the distortion of perspective you get from close objects. For example, here are a couple of shots of my dog and some flowers to illustrate the effect.

I also shoot some pretty close stuff in dance studios, and this will let me do some interesting things there as well. And I can't wait to shoot some great landscapes!

The Internet Ruined Everything

2009-11-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

Newsweek recently published an online article by Daniel Lyons entitled How The Internet Ruined Everything. He describes how the emergence of new technology, namely the internet and the capabilities it provides, caused older, established businesses to weaken and fail.

He cites as examples Newspapers, TV, the music industry, movies and more. It's interesting reading, as it describes industry after industry failing to see the change coming and anticipating how it will impact them.

The internet is not the first technology to upset established industries. Many major technological changes caused industries to weaken or become irrelevant. The rise of the automobile punished the horse and buggy industries. Telephone impacted telegraph. Television impacted the radio industry. VCR's, Cassettes, CD's, Digital Cameras, you name it.

This is the reality: New inventions or technologies will destroy old business models. You can't change that. You can learn how to profit from it, though.

If you are a film photographer, digital probably messed with you. Faced with a choice, you could either adapt to the new tech, lose business to those that did, or stay old school and become a niche business. Either way, you had to make a choice.

Film or not, now we have the world of $700 dSLRs and $200 printers. Now anyone with $1000 can shoot and print. Maybe not at your quality level, but some customers won't know the difference. It may bug you that someone else can elbow their way into your niche with little investment or experience, but getting angry about it won't make it stop.

And the internet has made advertising and promotion inexpensive and quick. What used to involve yellow pages and print advertising can now be done through social networking, blogging and e-newsletters. If you are not leveraging these technologies, you are losing edge and exposure. Young people just don't look in the phone book. Their phone book is that little search box in the browser...or on their cell phone's browser. If you aren't served up in those search results, you are invisible to them.

Proofing used to involve contact sheets and books. Now it's online or done through projection. If you can't provide online or individualized proofing, other than printed 4x5's, you are losing edge and customers.

How many of your consults ask for a DVD of images? Last year I said a flat "no", then realized that they are going somewhere. I now get twice as many wins as last year, and I have two kinds of wedding clients - those who want a DVD and pay me more up front, and those who want prints and books and pay me later. My DVD clients require less total effort, so I can fit in more and generate volume through higher session counts. I still do a lot of print business.

So...call them resets, paradigm shifts or technological revolutions. They will continue to happen.

Each of the industries impacted by old technology had a choice: adapt or die. In Adapting, they had to broaden the focus of their mission.

Think of how today's shifts are changing our world. Are we makers of paper prints, or a creator of visual memories? How does the broadened scope allow us to break out of a shoot-proof-print mode and get into the consult-create-share/sell mode? Deliver images for someone's PDA, cell phone or Kindle? Mix video clips and stills for our clients? Become a teacher for digital photography so they can do what you do...but call you for the big stuff? Offer digital image archival and transfer for clients?

You have to define how far you can stretch and stay in your comfort zone. But remember, where you do not choose to go, new entrants to your space will be there, and so will some of your customers. I'm not saying you lower your standards for quality, profit or style. But you may need to expand your offerings and look outside your old business model to find growth or sustainability to yesterday's expectations.

What's out there on the horizon that might change our world tomorrow?

How about these:
- Hi-res video from dSLRs. Mini movies for your clients? Scouting sessions? Someone's doing it in your area today.
- Streaming video from the cell phone. A new product for your customers? Are you ready to deliver slide shows and movies in that format?
- Social networking images. Are you scared they will rip them off and post crappy scans? Give it to them instead, with branding and links to your page. Insist on friending.
- iPhone apps, and more like it.
- Augmented reality - point a phone at something and it shows you stuff about it.
- Cloud computing - no longer do you need a thick client (computer). Upload and allow your customers immediate access to images? A custom-branded photo edit and download site with your name?
- eBook readers - how can you leverage them for your photography? PDF books of your customers' images? Coffee table eBooks? Fund-raising calendar/books?
- Batteries that last forever and cards with immense storage - marathon/excessive shooting sessions?

The key takeaways are these:
- Resistance is Futile. The Borg (TM) were right.
- You survive by not only adapting but taking the new tech and making it a buisiness edge. Think iTunes, Flickr, mPix. How can you develop an edge with technology?
- Find out how to stay in your industry, but blow out one wall of your "building" and expand the concept to expand or redirect your business' direction instead of fighting the technology.

Me? I can't wait until the 550 Megapixel ocular implant with wireless gigabit download and heads-up realtime editing is available. Plug me in, baby!

Tips from the Waiter

2009-11-05T20:28:00.001-08:00

I get the New York Times news digests several times each day. This one highlighted 100 tips that this restaurant owner proposed for his new property soon to open:

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/?em
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-2/

It's painted as list of things his staff members should never do. But you can look at each point and turn it into a "thing to do" if you wanted to be positive. If you have ever worked food service, you'll quickly remember some of your serving days and some of these will ring true...unless you worked in a biker bar or dive.

The common themes come out of the 100 deliverables:
- Treat each customer the same
- Allow them the time, dignity and space to enjoy their meal
- Don't smother them or stroke them
- Make the environment perfect for their dining experience

You can adapt these to any business. The 100 rules would obviously not apply to your studio or home-based business in every case, but you could take your themes and derive your 100 rules if you wished.

In my case I may choose these themes:
- My customer needs to feel very comfortable with me as their photographer
- My customer should feel that I have unique things to offer that others don't
- My customer should not worry that I don't have a studio
- My customer needs to know that I'll be around for a long time
- My customer should have a clear understanding of what I offer

Let's take the first one and derive some do/dont's for my operating policy:
- My customer needs to feel very comfortable with me as their photographer

Here might be my policy steps to achieve this objective:

1. Answer the phone professionally and with a friendly tone
2. Get their name and use it as you discuss their needs...take notes if needed
3. Create a connection - community, etc.
4. Understand how they found you and use it to create a bridge
5. If they visit my residence, it should be comfortable and clean
6. My email, telephone and written etiquette should be correct but not stuffy
7. I should not over or under dress for the type of meeting/session
8. I should maintain good eye contact and tone of voice
9. I should not bring my other troubles into their world...focus only on them.

You can see that with a small handful of objectives, you can derive a great list of specific behaviors or actions that will be supportive to your organization's customer focus. Large or small businesses may have different objectives. Certainly different business types will have different objectives. If you hire or have employees, this list should be used in training and evaluation. If it's just you, then you should review this to make sure you can step out of the "photographer/technician" role and be the customer service professional that you need to be in order to run a small business. If you cant...then hire or prepare to be disappointed!

Thinking about your business from a new customer's viewpoint will help you to tailor your customer contact guidelines. Imagine a new mom with a newborn, a nervous young man just engaged, a senior or her mom cold calling from a google search, or a business trying to engage you for commercial work. How is your first call contact likely to be perceived by them? How often do you return calls? Do you keep good call records? Are you pleasant on the phone? Is your web contact/support information useful? Do you cater to the lunchtime web shopper - with price lists and other supporting information? Do you have the right images, testimonials and reviews to make your potential customers feel good about you? When and how do you meet with them? Are they happy or awkward/nervous when they leave the meeting?

I know the 100 do/don't list caused me to think about my customer service practices. Being a sole proprietor makes me waiter, cook and house manager. I need to make sure their interaction with me makes them feel good, comfortable and positive. It may not win the deal, but bad customer service will often lose it for you!

Don't tell me it's a "Down Economy!"

2009-11-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

I regret not posting a lot on this blog over the busy summer. I had a ton of senior and wedding business, and it's just now slowing down to the point where I can reflect and post on it.

It's been a busy year for our part-time photography business. We exceeded our business goals for weddings and seniors, and have almost exceeded the 2009 business plan, and it's only November 1st. We have a strong backlog for next year already.The business has remained debt-free, we upgraded out equipment and have a good war chest for the winter and next year.

We have remained active in many of the charitable organizations that we support, and have donated several sessions for charity auctions.

And in the middle of all that, I had a heart attack.

So I'm slowing down a bit, and watching my physical exertion, as well as changing my diet. But I'm not backing off of the business. I'm blogging about my cardiac recovery at my Round 2 blog.

Our company is not feeling the "Down Economy." We have lots of inquiries and considerable bookings from them. Yes, some people are shopping based on price, but I don't mind losing some of my consults to someone who is cheaper. The customer will get exactly what they pay for. I'll be raising my prices this winter, and I'm confident we'll be getting more business, both from word-of-mouth, and from our web presence, which attracts now more than 50% of our calls.

I know we're not too expensive. we have many customers ordering the high-end packages, and we get very few comments about the pricing being too high. In fact, some of our customers and potentials tell me that we're quite affordable.

Don't let the media fool you into thinking you can't make money in this economy. I know we could easily double or triple our revenue if we were full time. There are market segments that we could tap into tomorrow that would greatly raise our business level. We are not pursuing them now because, as a part time business, I need to manage my workload to stay sane (and healthy).

If you are a new or potential photographer, get out there and generate awareness and business. It's not hard - but you will have to put the camera down and work on business and marketing plans and other "not so fun" stuff. But it's worth it. If you can run a business that goes head to head with the "big studios", and you can offer more value and more creative solutions then they offer, you will win some customers...probably enough for you to grow at a pace that is debt-free and comfortable for you.
And get a checkup!

The Perfect Sunset Portrait

2009-08-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my lack of posting recently. I have been doing a lot of senior portrait work, including a lot of sunset/beach stuff. I spend a lot of time shooting and editing. My session and shooting methods are definitely not set up for high volume! But I do really enjoy these long sessions with seniors, hitting many locations and lighting situations. And in this journey, I continue my quest for the perfect sunset portrait.

If you recall the last post, I was trying to come up with the right formula for shooting in a sunset situation. I have shifted all of my daytime shooting to manual mode with exposure metering and manual color balance, but once I get within 15 minutes of sunset, the world changes too quickly for me to track with manual exposure. When dusk approaches, I must change my approach.

So when sunset is imminent, I switch to Aperture Priority with a -1.5 to -2 Exposure Compensation. That sets the higher saturation and darker exposure for the background sunset. Then I dial in the flash. In the past I use my 430 EX with Gary Fong Lightsphere (too dark) or bare bulb (too hot). It was a Goldilocks moment. I needed something in the middle - good light dispersion without sharp edges or too much attenuation.

I picked up the Lumiquest Sotbox III last week ($39). It attaches to my camera mounted flash, and provides an 8x9" rectangular surface in front of the flash. In fact, it velcro attaches to my flash using the same velcro I use to attach gels for specialty colors. This image shows the clear close illumination I get from the Lumiquest for beach work. The flash is really working, as the camera EC is -2 and the flash compensation is between +1 and +3 depending on my distance to the subject. In landscape orientations, I still need to tilt the flash up a bit to keep from overlighting the sand at the girls' feet. But other than that, I can get good even coverage of the subject.

I do have my flash cable so I can move the light off of the camera plane for additional impact. Perhaps I'll try that on my next beach shoot. So for those of you keeping score, here's my cheat sheet for sunset portraiture:

Aperture Priority
-1.5 to -2 Exposure Compensation of the background, to get good saturation
Shutter speed 1/250 or less (1/250 for movement; slower for posed shots)
Lowest ISO to make all this happen
Lumiquest softbox on my Canon 430EX flash
Typically f/5.6 to f/11
Flash Compensation around +1 to +2
Tweak the flash position about 10-15 degrees above horizontal to keep the sand from blowing out

If this stuff still confuses you, get and read "The Hot Shoe Diaries" by Joe McNally. It is totally worth the money and time to buy and read. I don't start a shoot without mounting my external flash on my camera. I don't use it on every shot, but now it's an option for me every time I start to frame an image.

Shooting subjects at the beach during sunsets is a very challenging but rewarding situation. If you get it right, you will make the subject and their families very happy!

Technique: The Sunset Portrait

2009-07-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

I have been shooting seniors outdoors for 5 years now. Being on the shore of Lake Erie, I often am at the beach at sunset, shooting a portrait of the senior against a the setting sun and the lake. I'm getting pretty good at metering for natural light and color balancing for available light. But I still get a bit flummoxed at sunset. The light changes quickly and I need to be able to properly illuminate my subject in balance with the background.

I've written about sunsets in the past, but I wanted to hit it again while the summer season is fresh. My technique revolves around exposing for a deeply saturated sunset, then providing adequate fill lighting for my subject. I'll set the ISO for 100 to drive a lower shutter speed, then take a sample shot of just the sky under Aperture priority and tweak the shutter speed to get under 1/250 second - the max sync speed of my attached flash.

Then I review for exposure. Generally I'll underexpose the default sunset parameters by 1-2 stops. Say at ISO100 my exposure was 1/200 sec at f/4 under Aperture priority. Then I'll switch to Manual and set 1/200 and f/5.6 to f/8. That will darken the skies and saturate the colors.

Here's where it gets tricky. Sometimes the sky is too bright even at ISO100 to give me a decent f-stop at 1/250. I often have trouble balancing the flash with the ambient light. So I tried a neutral density filter on the lens. That lets me set a lower f-stop / shutter speed combination.

In this shot I had a Tiffen .9 Neutral Density filter on the lens. This gave me a lot of control over the shutter and f-stop combos in my flash speed range. Through trial and error, I set a flash compensation to give the right fill and shot away.

At this point, the ND filter and camera settings give me great background exposures. I still have to tweak the flash settings a bit to get the right fill so the subject isn't washed out or underexposed. That's my next area of improvement.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the set of exposures using the ND filter. I'll want to put some diffusion on my bare flash next time, to soften the shadows, but other than that I am happy.

If anyone has tips to get good foreground/background balance for this kind of image, please let me know!

Technique: Avoiding "Flat" Images and Prints

2009-07-12T10:18:00.001-07:00

I have been in many offices and homes of co-workers, customers, friends and clients. I will often check out the family prints they have on display and will critique them for composition, lighting, editing and finishing. One thing that amazes me is the number of technically good photographs that look absolutely dull in the frame. The composition is fine, the lighting OK, but it's clear that the photographer didn't take much time editing and printing the images. The contrast is low, the exposure levels are not pleasing, and the color saturation is flat or the color temperature is wrong. And these are images that have come from "professional" studios.

It just looks to me like the photographer stopped working once the shutter was pressed.

Image Editing Workflow

I believe that you need to touch each image to make it the best it can be. I have developed a workflow for editing images that I find to be efficient and provides good results. Here are the general steps I look at when editing a batch of photos. I apply this to virtually every image before my customer sees it, whether online or in proof/book form.

Is the exposure correct? (correct over or underexposure)
Is the color balance correct? (It is now for me, as I set custom WB before shooting!)
Are the skin tones pleasing? (if the image is nice but skin tones are dull, the subject will not "pop")
Is the image contrast range wide and pleasing? (are darks dark enough, and lights light enough?)
Is the color saturation appropriate? (are colors dull and faded, or bright and exciting?)
Is the image cropped properly? (too much dead space?)
Are there any quick cosmetic or environmental edits that I should make? (zits, distracting stuff in the BG, eye bags)

I don't actually go through this litany out loud, but my eye looks for things on the image that could become better with a bit of tweaking. It's the same thing that a film/negative photographer may have done after looking at contact sheets.

Example

The first image of my daughter was taken during a scouting trip for outdoor locations for Seniors. This is a nice fire escape with good lines, color and texture. But to my eyes, it is flat. Part of that is because I overexposed the image a bit.

My first step was to crop the image a bit. I took the default 4x6 layout and applied an 8x10 crop rectangle. This shortened the sides and increased the emphasis on the subject. This first image is after cropping, but with no other edits performed.

IMAGE 1

Next, I punched the contrast with the "Levels" tool, available in most any decent image editor. For me, I tend to pull the black point in past the tail of the black curve, then tweak the midpoint to bring the best exposure level to the skin tones. If I'm very underexposed, I may also bring in the white point. So here's image number two.

IMAGE 2

Next, I brought the saturation up a bit. This you can overdo, so I watch for the point at which either skin tones or background elements look artificially colorful. Then I back off a bit. For most outdoor stuff, I'm applying maybe 8-15% saturation. In this image, the difference is very subtle. Look at the hair color and rust tones in the background.

So before any special effects, here is the touched up image. With the hot keys I have in my editor (Paint Shop Pro X2), I can do this in about 30 seconds for each image, including the tweaking of settings between images.

IMAGE 3

For black and white, the same is true. Here's the same cropped image converted to BW using Channel Mixer (red: 60%, green: 24% and blue: 16%). I prefer this mix because it tends to bring out skin tones. But you can see it's still "flat".

IMAGE 4

So I go back to the Levels took and bring in the black point and nudge the midpoint. Now I like the overall balance better.

IMAGE 5

Conclusion

Amateurs don't often have the patience or skill to do these edits. The expect each shot out of their camera to be "good to go" and may be OK accepting drug store prints.

When you sell prints to someone, they are in your hands for just a couple minutes, until you package and deliver them. But they are on display in someone's home or office for years. You can't let a boring, flat print represent you for the next 2 decades.

You want your images to be exceptional, so that they will stand out from their amateur prints and those of other photographers who don't care enough to edit and print with care. You want the "wow" factor of your images to cause people to talk about the image and you. Spend the time with your images after you take them. Weed them down to the vital few, edit with care and taste, and make each image the best it can be. The impact on the customer will be significant, and your reputation as a true photographic artist will spread. Your killer prints will justify higher prices, and the word of mouth marketing will increase your business!

Tools: Backdrops (for sale!)

2009-07-02T08:13:00.001-07:00

Many photographers will at one time or another work indoors with backdrops and studio lighting. Over the years, photographers will build quite a collection of various backdrop materials, be it seamless paper or dyed or painted muslin or canvas.

My first backdrop was some white muslin I bought at Wal-Mart in the sewing section. My second backdrop was a grey backdrop I dyed myself from the same white Muslin. I quickly realized my talents did not lie in the backdrop production area, so I started buying them.

My favorite working backdrops came from Sky High Backgrounds (800-351-2158). They are heavy duty and very color saturated. I schlepped three of their backdrops home from the PPA show in San Antonio during the 2007 "Ice Storm" convention. I recently learned about Backgrounds by Cole (800-926-2653) here in Western PA and I have a flyer of theirs on my bulletin board. They may get my next order. I also use the heavy duty 10x20 white vinyl backdrop from Denny Manufacturing (800-844-5616) for much of my high key work, and their flat black for black background work. The black is also good to hang behind another backdrop if there is a bright light source behind the backdrop stand, such as a window.

I tend to prefer dyed muslin, as the colors are vibrant and the backdrops easy to move and set up. They do need some occasional steaming and cleaning, but they are portable to some degree. I take a couple of boxes of backdrops on location when I do my senior photography. The student picks a couple of colors and we hang the backdrops while they change clothing. We have done black, white/high key, red, blue, beige, camo and many more. I'm probably up to 10 backdrops in my "kit" by now.

Which leads me to this post. I have two 10'x20' painted muslin backdrops that I no longer use. One features shades of grey, called "Pearl and Grey", and the other shades of light blue and green, named "Mint and Blue". Think of the second one as a great set for "Little Mermaid", though many other colors will go well with it. I purchased these in 2007 from Owen's Originals (800-767-3122) for around $100 each. I'm selling them for $60 each plus shipping, or both for $100 plus shipping. They are in great shape, needing only to be steamed before use. First person to contact me gets them.

The photo of them folded up is actually a bit more abstract than functional, but I didn't have the space and time to unfurl them and give them proper illumination.

Contact me at 814-881-2840 or email johnhuegel@jhphotomusic.com if you are interested.

Tools: Fast Prime Lenses

2009-07-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today I received my new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. I became intrigued after reading about it on the Canon Digital Camera Forum (http://photography-on-the.net).

This inexpensive prime lens has a very wide aperture. I want to be able to use it in two situations: low light and places where I want to create a very narrow depth of focus.

You can see in the first shot that the depth of focus is very narrow. I'm shooting at ISO1600 just so the shutter is fast and camera shake doesn't enter into the equation.

Here's a series of two images taken with varying f-stop. The first was shot at f/1.8, the lower one at f/8. You can see the degree of control you have over depth of focus.
The last shot is of my trusty mutt Emma. Nice sharp focus on the eye. You can even see the overhead florescent tube reflected there. And the areas to the front and rear of the eye are rendered out of focus.

This is going to be a nice, inexpensive addition to the camera bag. I paid under $100 for this lens and I know it's going to give me some additional capabilities for tight depth of focus, and low light shooting, in places like churches, reception halls and auditoriums.

I'll try to get some test shots of people in the next couple of days using this lens and post a follow-up. It does feel weird zooming with my feet...I keep grabbing for the zoom ring on this prime lens and feeling stupid when it's not there!

Learning: Free RANGEFINDER Magazine!

2009-06-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

I received my Rangefinder magazine subscription renewal today. I have received it for several years, and I dive into it as soon as it arrives. This magazine is a good publication for professional photographers. You get to see the work of lots of photographers, read articles about technique, see reviews of new products, and view ads for potential product and service providers.

Published monthly, it usually runs about 140-150 pages. This month's issue (June 09) features articles on the state of the industry, conversations with the pros, an interview with a first year photographer, and more.

If you are an aspiring or new professional, you should get the free subscription here. It beats just about any of the amateur photography magazines out there. It will take you 2 minutes to subscribe, and then you will have access to a great resource for no cost!

Technique: Indoor Dance Recital Images

2009-06-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend found me in the sound booth at my daughter's dance recital. I was assigned to music and another person had lights. We had spent the prior two days perfecting the lights, cues, sound, stage and props. We were through our first evening show and the jitters and lumps had been worked out.

So for night two, I felt we had enough spare resources between Jamie the lighting person and me to squeeze off some stills of the recital.

The challenge for dance is tough. The dancers are moving, requiring a moderate (1/60-1/200 sec) fast shutter to prevent motion blur. The light source is continually changing, meaning that a fixed exposure will probably not create consistent exposures. The low levels of light confound a lense's auto focus, and the photographer is often quite a distance from the stage. This is a common challenge for indoor performance photography. The objective is to stop the motion and get as much detail as possible. So here was my setup:

Canon 50D
Medium JPG setting (8MP images)
ISO 3200
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 Lens, set to capture the whole stage
Manual focus (used live view to sharp focus near the front of stage before show started)
Tripod mount
Manual White Balance (taken from Tungsten reference)
Shutter priority - 1/100 sec (most of the exposures were f/2.8 to 3.5)
Remote trigger on 10 foot cord

We taped the trigger button to the light board between us and marked it with tape so we could see to hit it in the near darkness of the light booth. When Jamie was working heavy lights, I would look for the good shots and punch the button. When I was cueing music for the next number or talking backstage over the headsets, she would take over.

We took over 1000 images of nearly 40 numbers over the four-hour show. Each one was well exposed, and showed only the smallest signs of motion blur at the dancer's fastest-moving body parts. With fixed manual focus, the shutter lag was low, so we could capture many leaps in mid-air. And, an advantage with the fixed position of the tripod was that I could crop and resize all 1000 images in a batch using a saved script. That saved me literally hours of editing.

The images are far from technically perfect, but they are very good considering the shooting environment. They are not as crisp as if we could have shot at a lower ISO, but we captured the true spirit of the performance and created some wonderful memories and images that can be used to show the variety and versatility of the dancers, choreographers, and lighting team.

For me, this wasn't a commercial gig. It was for my daughter and the larger dance family to which we have belonged for years. But if it was for money, I would not have changed much in terms of the camera setup...maybe shoot at a higher resolution and vary the zoom level. If I had a faster lens, I could have dropped the ISO a level or two. This is one case where Image Stabilized lenses would not have helped...I needed every bit of speed from the f/2.8 lens, and being on a tripod with remote cable release removed any vibration problems.

So, next time you are challenged with a dark room and can't use supplemental lighting, break out the tripod and fast lenses, set your shutter speed and high ISO and fire away!

Professional Networking

2009-06-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

Every photographer needs to continually grow - socially, professionally and technically. One good way to grow your skills, techniques and business savvy is to network with other photographers.

I belong to three professional photographer groups:

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) - very good professional communications, studio management and outstanding annual convention. They also handle professional photographer certification. They offer a two year "aspiring" membership at half price. Their monthly magazine is top notch.

Society of Sport and Event Photographers (SEP) - Geared toward people who shoot events - sports, school, church, etc. It's affiliated with PPA.

Digital Wedding Forum - An online forum dedicated primarily to wedding photographers, but also branching out into portrait and other areas. It has many forum discussion areas, and now has a new blog, which is excellent. I believe you can follow the blog without being a member. They also have a "student" membership which is no cost, but only allows access to some of the resources.

I also belong to the local chamber of commerce, for local business networking.

Each of these provides learning and networking opportunities which allow me to grow technically, professionally and as a businessman.

So where should you start? I recommend Digital Wedding Forum "student" member first. Lurk and participate with other beginners, and then decide if you want to take the $100/yr plunge to become a full member.

Then check out PPA as an aspiring member. That will let you go to the PPA convention, which in 2010 will be in Nashville!

Don't just sit there...network!

Book Review: The Hot Shoe Diaries

2009-06-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished a great book on photography and lighting. The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes, (ISBN 978-0-321-58014-6, $39.99 list, $26.39 at Amazon), by Joe McNally, is both an entertaining and educational read.

His approach to photography involves the use of portable strobes. Although he uses the Nikon camera and lighting system, the principles apply to any location photography. I easily adapted his ideas to my Canon system.

His writing style is very informal and fun to read. His understanding of the technical aspects of camera lighting is strong, and his imagery is stunning. It is amazing to wander through the book and understand that certain photos were made with just one or two portable flashes.

He spends a lot of time talking about color temperature and how to gel your portable flashes to create a light color that works in your image setting. He also describes how to use light modifiers like shoot through screens and umbrellas to soften the light.

I was inspired from his writing, and at a recent wedding indoors under tungsten light, I used his techniques for some indoor lighting. I gelled my flash, applied my favorite softener (the Gary Fong Lightsphere), and ended up with good soft camera light that was compatible with the decor. Good thing, because I was shooting f/2.8 at ISO3200! I was very happy with the resulting images.

Joe also addresses some of the fundamentals of good photographic technique, such as camera grip and center of balance. The book, 300 pages long, was filled with great images, diagrams on how they were made, and colorful narratives on how the image/session was conducted.

In summary, this book was very informative and useful. I read five to ten photography books a year, and this one was the best I've read in a very long time. I highly recommend it to anyone who shoots digital photography, whether you think you are a portable flash user or not.

Technique: Controlling Black and White

2009-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Black and white imagery is powerful. You can completely change the mood of an image once you convert it to BW. Many beginning photographers don't understand that there are several ways to convert an image from color to BW. The method you choose will determine the appearance of your image.

Let's start with this image. Shot in color, it has good exposure characteristics.

The easiest way to convert to BW is to desaturate the image. The two ways to do this in a photo editor are to convert to Greyscale or to edit the Saturation to zero. This image shown here is an example of the color image above converted to greyscale or desaturated. The key difference between these is that the greyscale changes the color space to Grey, and the desaturation method keeps the color space, but removes the saturation. Many print labs want you to keep your BW images in the RGB color space, so desaturation is the preferred method in this example.

But in both cases, you don't have control over the grey tones. Often with this conversion, the skin tones will take a darker grey than you would like. In the example above, I am not happy with the dull grayness of our model's skin.

The secret to good BW conversion is control over the colors which receive more lightness in the mixed down image. And the key to that is the "Channel Mixer".

The channel mixer allows you to create a monochrome image in a color space and control the blend of red, green and blue. The default value would be 33% of each, resulting in pretty much the same mix as a desaturation. But if you change the blend to favor red, you can boost the skin tones without blowing out the image, as caucasian skin has more red color in it than blue or green.

In this image, I used 55% red, and about 22% of green and blue each. The total signal information is the same (100%), but the skin tones are noticeably brighter than the desaturated image above.

I encourage you to experiment with a favorite image. On one copy, use the desaturation method (go to the hue/sat/lightness control and pull the saturation down to the bottom), then create a duplicate image and play with Channel Mixer. Vary the blends of red/green/blue and see how the resulting images display.

But Channel Mixer gives you some more creative control. If you go beyond 100% of the "mix", you can create some interesting effects, such as blown out highlights.

You can also overdrive the signal levels and compensate with the "Constant" parameter and basically increase the black/white contrast levels. Here I chose red at 90% and blue and green at 20%, which normally would blow out the image at 130%. But then I lowered the Constant to -30% and it maintained the skin tones while creating more contrast with the dark tones. Notice how the model's eyes and sweater are now dark grey.

So, the next time you are working on an image and want to create some drama, go for the Channel Mixer tool. It will help you create strong black and white images, and give you the edge that your clients' drug store kiosk can't reproduce!

Business: Your First Wedding

2009-05-13T09:02:00.001-07:00

One of the most nervous moments a photographer has is arriving on site at their first wedding. Maybe it was a family/friend request, or someone who found you through a friend or another customer. But it's your first one! What do you do? Have you prepared for this day? Let's talk about how you can be best prepared, and deal with that first magical wedding gig.

Equipment

Clean your lenses and pack your camera bag methodically before you leave your house.
Know how to change your camera modes quickly and efficiently, in the dark.
Have your spares close to you. Camera, batteries, lenses, whatever you have.
Format your memory cards before you leave for the site. Nothing is more frustrating than shooting the first 30 shots and then realizing your card has tons of images from the last shoot.
Consider getting an image tank device that will duplicate your cards to hard disc on location. Good insurance policy for around $100.
Batteries. Lots of Batteries. If you power flashes with AA, get Lithium batteries. Take your chargers in the car so you can power up at the reception.

Technique

Drill into your head "check your barrel" - meaning don't shoot without confirming ISO, shutter, f-stop, mode, lens auto/focus, white balance, image size/quality settings.
Know how to set white balance on your camera. Do it whenever setting or lighting changes. It will save you HOURS of time editing.
It's digital...shoot more than you think. Look for environmental shots and crowd/response shots. You'll love those background shots for album layouts.
Shoot 3 shots of every image, plus extras proportional to crowd size. For large formals, stay in one position and fire off 8-10 images. You'll have the right recipe to do head swaps for blinkers.
One technique - tell everyone to close eyes and when you count three, they open and smile. Usually the first shot has no blinkers!

Flow

Do a walkthrough of the church or ceremony area. Understand lighting issues for the time of day.
Meet the people in control and remember their names. Church secretary, catering manager, DJ, etc.
Ask if there is a rehearsal at the church, and if you can show up. You can also shoot some shots of the people in rehearsal and include as before/after. You will also be treated more like "family" by the bridal party after the rehearsal.
Talk to the officiating person at the ceremony, to know where you can and cannot be, and if there are times when it is inappropriate to shoot. Ask about flash; assume "no flash".
Make a list of the key shots you want to get. Keep a pencil with you.
Note the name of the principals, and use them. Bride, Groom, parents, wedding party.
ID your "go to" person to help find others and resolve problems. Often this person is the matron of honor, but sometimes its a friend who is not in the bridal party.

Personal

Dress comfortably but not too casual.
Depending on location and dress, it may be OK for men to not wear ties. Maybe a dark jacket and dark clothing. Slacks and comfortable shoes are good for both men and women.
Don't let personal body adornments (tattoos, piercings) degrade your image.
You will sweat. Lots of deodorant!
Throw a bottle of water and a couple energy bars or granola bars in your bag. You don't want dehydration or low blood sugar to impact your shooting.
Go potty once you get there...to lower the risk of "timing problems!"
Turn off the cell phone. Do Not Text On The Job!

Business

Have business cards, and only give them out when asked.
Talk to bride and groom about whether you want to advertise web listing of the gallery, and print cards with their image if available.
People will ask you about your camera. It's the conversation starter. Be prepared to talk Megapixels.
Probably not a good idea ever to drink at the reception. You can have a beer when you are uploading images at home.

Emotional

You may be more nervous for your first couple of weddings than the bride or groom!
Know how to relax yourself (focus, breathing, positive thoughts). Know how to recognize when you are agitated.
Try to get some sleep the night before!
You are expected to be in control. If your timeline is drifting or Uncle Bob is shooting over your shoulder, don't hesitate to be polite but firm. Think ahead of time the words you will use.
Remember that you will be wired...adrenaline high. You may be a bit edgy so make sure you know how to turn on the "nice" and turn off the "snap".

In The End, Remember:

You will shoot better photos than anyone else in the room.
You have permission to tell pretty much anyone to do anything...implicit permission from bride and groom.
You will have hours after the event to decompress and think about what could have gone better. Don't worry about it until you leave the event.
Be confident...they hired you because you are "you"!

More Flowers

2009-05-03T18:39:00.001-07:00

I'm still working on my technique with the light meter and custom white balance. This image only received a touch of sharpening and contrast enhancement.

I shoot exclusively with Tamron f/2.8 lenses. I really like the narrow depth of focus that I receive with these lenses.

This one was at ISO800, 1/1600 f/3.5. Nice focus. Nice color. Nice white balance. I like it!

Can you tell I have spring fever?

Technique: Meter and Manual Mode

2009-04-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm fired up after my Super Monday seminar. I learned about exposure calculation and white balance. Just two days after the seminar, my new Sekonic L-358 meter arrived and I spent some time getting to know it. I also ordered a Photovision 14" Calibration Target. Together, these two items will let you take images that are both well exposed and perfectly color balanced.

This image is a great illustration. I metered the flowers at ISO400 and got f/11 at 1/500 second. I wanted that high speed because it was a little breezy out and I was shooting with a 200mm lens. The f/11 was my desired f-stop: enough to render all three of the flowers in focus, but throw out the background.

The steps are simple:

Meter the scene and choose the exposure parameters that give you a good exposure.
Put your calibration target in the scene and shoot an image. It has a black, grey and white band.
Review your exposure histogram on the camera and verify you have a spike at left end, middle and right end.
Use that image to set a custom white balance. It's about 2 keystrokes on the Canon 50D.

That's it! You get solid exposures without a lot of fiddling, and great white balance. This image was untouched except for titling and resizing for the web.

Bottom line: Don't be afraid of the meter. It took me years to get it and get comfortable with it. Use it early in your career and you will start to understand the exposure triangle much sooner, and you will get killer images out of the camera!

Earth Day Special: Being a Green Photographer

2009-04-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day!

If you want to run a profitable photography business and still want to be nice to the earth, you will have to think and act green. In general, that means you will want to look at ways of reducing your consumption (energy, materials), and your emissions (CO2, waste, hazardous materials).

Let's kick around some ideas on how to reduce consumption and emissions. You'll find out that most of these ideas will also save you money, and increase your bottom line!

Electricity
Change out incandescent bulbs with compact flourescent. Last year I changed 90% of the bulbs in my house and yes, my electricity dropped. Cost: $50-100, payback <1yr.>

Heating
Put your house and/or studio on a setback thermometer, which has both time of day and day of week settings. There is no sense in heating or cooling when no one is there. Cost: $50-150, payback around a year. Keep the filters and ducts clean and unobstructed. Make sure your buildings are properly shaded and sealed against air and heat loss.

Gasoline
Switch to that tiny car. Advertise your green-ness by driving a hybrid or high MPG vehicle. We have two hybrids, which I promote in my business marketing. I will be honest that you probably won't get a payback on a standard model vs hybrid, but if you're trading in a Hummer or Conversion Van at 10MPG for a Civic (my story), the main gain is the small car...the Hybrid option is more of a statement than a real financial gain. Also - you can save a lot of fuel with basic driving behavior changes: combine trips, keep those tires inflated, and drive like you have no brakes - limit heavy acceleration and braking, and look 1/2 mile ahead to decide if you need to accelerate. Since I don't have a studio, I advertise that my studio (Civic Hybrid) gets 45MPG!

Paper
Don't print and use lots of paper for your internal workflows. Use spreadsheets and online to-do lists. Sign up to have junk mail reduced or eliminated. Switch from direct mail to online marketing - Facebook, etc. Reduce your "dunnage" related to photo delivery. Drop ship orders to your customers to avoid double-handling. For the waste from your incominb print lab shipments, find someone in your area who can use the bubble wrap and other packing in their outbound shipping business. Recycle paper (shred the personal stuff), magazines and cardboard, regardless of whether your municipality requires it. Replace your seamless paper with muslin or durable vinyl.

Chemicals
Recycle your disposable batteries. Use Lithium instead of alkalines. Use rechargables when you can. Minimize proof printing to keep your labs' chemical use low. Do more online and on DVD. Recycle the inkjet cartridges and used computer equipment.

Water
Collect "grey" rainwater for your landscaping. Don't offer bottled water in your studio. Follow basic water conservation - low-flow shower heads, low-capacity toilets. Turn it off when you shave/brush.

Solid Waste
Compost. Recycle the cans and bottles and all plastic stuff. Separate and recycle all of the applicable trash.

Marketing Ideas

Here are some ideas to leverage your "green-ness" in promoting your business:

Blog about the top 10 reasons why you are green. Here's my post from last year.
Offer a "GREEN" senior session. All natural light, all outdoors destinations, all e-proofing, no paper at all (except for the final prints). Bundle a tree seedling or other nice eco-gift or give-back.
Offer a reusable shopping bag with your studio logo instead of paper delivery bags.
Sponsor a volunteer activity such as adopt-a-highway or waterway cleanup.
Volunteer your time and services to help an environmentally-oriented nonprofit.

Stay Green!

Education: PPA Super Monday

2009-04-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today I took a day to attend one of Professional Photographers of America (PPA)'s Super Monday seminars. These sessions, produced yearly by studio owners, are a great way to learn new techniques and approaches.

I attended the course entitled "Where Is the Light?", taught by Dana Nordlund, CPP. Dana, a Certified Professional Photographer with over 20 years under his belt, put on a great session oriented around understanding and using light. Using a light meter and custom white balance, we had many hands-on sessions in both natural and studio lighting. Dana's excellent work can be found on his website: http://www.dananordlund.com.

Bruce Hahn from Hahn Photographic in Rochester was on hand as well to offer technical information on the various equipment that is used in photography. His input to me on soft boxes and light meters was much appreciated.

I urge all new photographers to become active in local and national photography associations. PPA in particular offers an aspiring photographer rate for two years, which will put you in contact with many great photographers and other industry sources of products, services and information. Many areas of the country also offer PPA-affiliated local chapters, which give you opportunities to network with local area photographers.

Thanks Dana for a great, inspiring day. I'm off to make up a practice plan!

Group Events: Presell or not?

2009-04-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

I have worked group events for several years now. I haven't tackled the 1000 pose super-events such as soccer tournaments...yet! Usually the events number between 15 and 100 families or groups, shot on one or two days. I have taken events at races, middle school graduations, church program book events, public broadcasting fund-raisers, retirement homes and dance studios. I always try to get model releases so I can use the images in promotion and blogging.

Selling Choices

After an exhausting day of shooting, I then have to focus on selling. Over the years, I have struggled with the right approach for ordering and offering products to customers. I have used three general ways to approach sales to groups:

Post the images online and let them order using a website
Make them pre-determine their order and pay the day of the shoot
Offer them the opportunity to review proofs and order after the event

Web Presentation

For events where I will not see the subjects again, the first two choices work well. Actually, I have found that posting on a website generally yields the lowest return, as people see but are not compelled to buy. I usually do this when I am shooting spec shots, such as at running races, or when the customer has not had a chance to view the many images from a shoot and needs to view and make choices. The orders tend to come in slowly with this method. I have used a couple of professional sites in the past - Photoreflect.com and Eventpix.com. They both have their pros and cons. I have shifted to hosting my own online catalogs which has saved me lots of fees and commissions. I use Jalbum templates and a skin called Fotoplayer. There are earlier posts which describe using these tools.

Pre-ordering

Better than online posting, when I have a captive audience and I am posing each subject and speaking with them or their parents, I will try to get an order that day. Usually I'll make up a form with specific packages and collect the funds at the time of the session. I have credit card clearing services at home, and I'll run it when I get home. Or, I'll accept checks and cash. Then I'll edit, print and mail the photos. Lately I have started drop shipping orders from my lab (Richmond Camera) directly to my customers. I have yet to see how that works out...maybe in a later post I'll talk about that experience. The benefit is lower effort in packaging and reshipping, but the disadvantage is that I cannot package the images to my usual hand-delivery preferences, nor can I see the finished prints.

Proofing and Direct Sales

Overall, I have found that the best method is to offer proofing and consultation. I do this a lot with dance studio work, as I can set up "visiting hours" at the studios and work with them on editing options and package choices. I usually end up with very nice order sizes with the consultation, but it tends to break down with large groups and run into lots of editing and time consuming "sitting around".

I have found a couple of things that work for me when I do in-studio order consulting:

Offer the customer a la carte, small packages and a "kitchen sink" option.
Offer bonus items if the customer prepays a large package on the day of the shoot.
Demo and show the specialty products - collages, keychains and other goodies, and they will sell.

I also sell proofs at certain order levels. It drives additional revenue and recaptures the proofing cost. I set this up so that I have captured a large sale from the customer, so I am not fearing that they will scan the images. During the review process, I don't let proofs leave the studio, unless they have purchased the kitchen sink. Then it's exclusive!

Once I receive my orders, I enter them into my sales files and print them in batches. For local delivery or drop off, I batch them all for delivery to my business address, and break them down on my own. As I edit each image, I rename them to include the customer's last name. Then I match up the order form with the prints and specialty items and put them in a nice bag.

Summary

With groups, there are appropriate times for web-based sales and prepaid ordering, particularly if you will not see your subjects again. But the best revenue potential comes when you can sit with your customers, review their proofs and sell them on your various packages and options.

Getting Started in Photography: 10 Steps to Jump-Start Your Photography Business

2009-04-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

This is a reprint of an article soon to be published on http://ezine-articles.com

Here are ten key steps to start and grow a profitable, debt-free photography business.

1. Practice! Keep a camera with you all of the time. Study other photographers and try to emulate images that you love. Spend time learning basic and advanced image editing. Learn your camera in and out, and practice with settings and modes that you don't normally use. Take advantage of free and low cost photography blogs and web sites. Consider joining PPA, WPPI, SEP or a local photography group or club. Make a list of 50 things you want to do with your photography and try to cross of one item each week.

2. Define Your Business. Create a business name and get some cards printed up. You can get several hundred cards for under $20. Do your web research to make sure you aren't choosing a name that is already used.

3. Define Your Finances. Get a separate business checking account. You will want to completely separate your business financial activities from your personal finances. Get online banking so you can check your balances. Keep a spreadsheet at home or use a program like Quicken to track and record your expenses.

4. Get online. Hosting a website is not expensive. You can purchase great photography web templates for under $100. Create and feed a blog. Get on facebook and create a business page. Search for and join web-based business locators like Merchant Circle and Google Local Listings. Create coupons and special offers to draw in customers.

5. Define your target market, both geographically and demographically. What kind of work do you want to be known for? Seniors? Weddings? Landscape? What other work would you take? Draw three columns on a sheet of paper. In the first, note the kind of work you would love to do; in the second, what you would be OK doing, and in the third, what you would rather not do. It will help you formulate your mission and marketing messages.

6. Set Your Prices. Define your value proposition to your customers. You can't give work away, or undercut everyone, or you'll go out of business. If you factor in your time and the cost of everything to keep your business running once you get established, you will understand why prints cost what they do from other professionals. Benchmark your competition and understand their pricing and offerings. It's better to be in their range but not highest or lowest as you are getting started. If you price cheap, people will undervalue your contributions and as you grow it will be harder to command the prices you need to be profitable. It's OK and expected to change pricing.

7. Spread the word. Read "Guerilla Marketing" books by Jay Levinson, and "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin. Blog like crazy. Study "Search Engine Optimization" to make your web's page rank higher. Look for ways to generate publicity. Approach family, friends, co-workers and people in church for special "starter" sessions. Offer your customers rewards for referrals.

8. Develop Partnerships. Create cooperative relationships with local businesses, nonprofits, schools, churches and other organizations. Become their "go-to" person for event photography and promotional photography. Donate sessions, products and gift certificates to fund-raising auctions and galas. Get to know the leaders in your community and find ways to make them successful and visible through your work.

9. Grow your business debt-free. Create a list of the hardware, software and purchased services that you would like to have. Price them out and rank them in order of your need. Only buy them when your business bank account allows it. Make sure you have reserves in the account to cover samples, upcoming fees and taxes and insurance. If you devote a high percentage of your first few years profits into growing your business assets, you will be able to stay debt-free and keep the business growing, while still taking some profit each year.

10. Pay your Bills. Make sure you collect and pay sales and use tax. Retain and pay quarterly federal and state taxes if appropriate. Have the right amount of liability insurance. Keep good records of mileage, supplies, prints, office expenses, education, advertising and any other expense category that would count as business expenses.

What about equipment? Of course you will need a camera and other equipment, but don't assume you need to run out and get the latest and greatest SLR and lighting systems. Start small, with your current camera or an older model picked up off of Craigslist or other used gear source. Add some inexpensive reflectors and/or home-grown lights to start with. As you earn money, you can work your way through your list, and you'll appreciate every new piece of gear even more. The same goes for software. Free, open source image-editing software such as The GIMP is a great way to get started. Corel's Paint Shop Pro is also excellent and very reasonably priced. And you don't need a printer, other than to print normal business correspondence. Hook up with a good local or national professional lab and you can get great prints and great support. One idea I have found useful is to put your wish list on Amazon, and drop some hints around the holidays and other occasions. Your family will appreciate knowing that what they buy you will be put to good use!

There you go! By following these ten steps, you can take your vision of being a pro photographer and make it a reality! What are you waiting for?

John Huegel is a photographer in the Erie, Pennsylvania area who specializes in Seniors, Dance Studio, Families, Weddings and Events. He is active in many charitable and volunteer activities in the Erie area. His work can be seen at http://jhphotomusic.com He operates a blog for professional photographers at http://newphotopro.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Huegel

Technique: Lighting Quiz

2009-03-27T18:37:00.001-07:00

I had some down time at a recent church photo shoot. I decided to experiment with different lighting with a cooperative subject (me). I had my remote trigger and a tripod and my lights and backdrop.

Here's a shot of the lighting setup. The main is to camera right, the fill to left, and the background and hair lights back of the left.

I shot a lot of combinations to see the effect of various settings. I have posted six here. I thought it would be fun to quiz you the reader to see if you can match up a light setup with one of these images.

Here are the six setups. See if you can match the setup number with the image letter. The answer key is below.

Setup 1: Main, BG and Hair on...but no Fill
Setup 2: All lights on, main level very close to fill
Setup 3: Hair and BG on, no fill, Main as center "butterfly"
Setup 4: Only main. No Fill, BG or Hair.
Setup 5: Main and Fill switched in intensity.
Setup 6: All lights on. Main and fill differ by about 2 stops.

Study the above images and try to match the image letter with the setup. See if you can learn to see how a shot was lit by looking at the light levels, shadows and other cues.

Answer key: 1-E, 2-A, 3-B, 4-F, 5-D, 6-C.

Technique: Indoor Dance Studio Photography

2009-03-17T17:11:00.001-07:00

In March and April, I spend a lot of time indoors taking dance images. I work at two different studios in different cities, connected by the studio owners being related. I started this activity a few years ago and it has grown to encompass three days at each studio.

The system I use for lighting is very repeatable and provides good results. I shoot with (4) Alien Bees lights. Here is my lighting setup:
- Main light (right of camera): AB800 with 48" brolly box, set at about 1/4 to 1/3 power.
- Fill light (left of camera, up): AB400 with 48" brolly box, set at about 1/8 to 1/4 power.
- Backdrop light (left, back): AB400 with 32" brolly box, set at about 1/4 power.
- Hair light (upper left): AB400 with 20 degree honeycomb grid, set at 1/4 power.

I use custom white balance, set from a white shot taken at the start of the session, and shoot Manual 1/250 sec f/3.5 to f/4.0 at ISO 100. I have Alien Bees remote triggers for two of my lights and the other two fire from slaves. I vary the backdrop each year and often across studios, but keep the same backdrop for the entire session.

Over the years, I have returned to this setup. I get repeatable results: Good front lighting, nearly flat but with some dimension; nice hair and skin highlights off the subject's right shoulder and hair, and a nicely lit background with no shadows. I can modify this setting as the subjects need: For larger groups, I bring both lights closer to front and flatten it out to minimize shadows. I can drop the fill light or take it out entirely to provide higher contrast front lighting, and can move the main light from ground level (for laying-down shots) to high for leaps and tall girls.

In addition, I have quite an arsenal of dance photo props. I bring probably 20-30 kinds of flowers, a white bench, several stools, a pedestal, and lots of little kids items like teddy bears and wagons, as well as hula hoops and fans. I bring a professional steamer to de-wrinkle the backdrop before we begin. I tape the edges of the backdrop and keep the wires out of the path of the kids.

The dance teachers and I tag team with posing and ideas. We try not to pose each student the same as anyone else. We usually shoot three poses per "sitting", with a seated, standing and special pose making up the usual set. Each student "sitting" takes about 5 minutes, and we often have students come for 5 or more sittings each in different costumes. We also do sibling and related groups. I usually shoot both a full body and a close-up (chest/head) of each pose, in a couple of exposures each.

This makes for a very busy weekend, but we often come away with over 100 sittings and many hundreds of good proof images out of perhaps 2000-4000 images per studio. In addition, I offer a special session for the competition teams on a white "high-key" background with special offers for the team members.

Later on, I'll discuss the different aspects of selling event images like this: Whether you pre-sell packages or let the customers pick after the fact; package pricing; proofs sales, specialty items, and special "members-only" promotions.

Also, during the year, I'll often stop in and take candid shots of the kids during class to use in a slide show that they present during the dance recital. It's another way I can add value to the studio's operation, and build recognition of the range of my talents.

From this business, I have gotten school work, senior photos, family portraits and wedding work. It's a great way to interface with a lot of customers in a short period of time. And since I get a signed model release and email release, I am building my customer contact database and my portfolio to display.

Bottom line, dance studio photography is a very good spring activity. If you take your time, partner with your studio owners, pay close attention to every every pose, and offer your customers lots of creative product choices, this activity can be a very lucrative source of income for photographers.

Local Affiliate Marketing: Love Thy Neighbor

2009-03-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I received a phone call from a lady wishing for me to photograph her family at an upcoming anniversary. The strange thing about the call was that it came to my residence, not to my business number. As we talked, the told me that she saw my work in a local Spa, and the owner had given her my business card, but there was no phone number on it. (I have made a practice of putting my website and company name on wallet shots of kids and leaving them as reference cards.) Between the spa owner and the caller, they figured out where I lived and the lady looked me up in the phone book.

The outcome of the call was favorable: She booked me for a session in the summer. But I came away feeling like I had accidentally gotten this business. She had worked way too hard to find me and it was my dumb luck more than my sharp marketing skills that had won me this gig.

To my credit, I had done a few good things along the way. The Spa in question has a large print of mine, of the owner's son, from when I had taken his senior photos. I also am allowed to keep a book there of some of my images, and a stack of business cards. But had made a few mistakes along the way:

I didn't know how many cards are left, if any
I hadn't stopped in there for close to a year
My cards don't have my contact information on them
The book features seniors - but not families, pets, weddings, church, sports and the other work that I do

I have since set about fixing this. I ordered "real" business cards last night. I'll be building a better sampler book to showcase my work. And I owe the spa owner both a thank you, and a courtesy call.

My Marketing Plan

I don't advertise in traditional venues. My marketing consists of three main areas:
- Word of mouth
- Search Engine / Web
- Local business affiliations

I try to encourage word of mouth through complimentary promotional wallets, and through delighting the customer so they tell their friends, family and co-workers about me. I work hard to have good web search results and a heavy web presence. But I don't do well at local business affiliations. So I am creating an action plan that will increase my local business-to-business effectiveness. This way all of us local small businesses can support each other.

Improving My Local Affiliate Marketing

Here are some of the key actions for me:

Write down a list of the 20 local businesses that complement my work - florists, hair and makeup, DJ and bands, social halls, tanning businesses, videographers, cake bakers, pet/grooming places and dance studios. Immediately contact those that I personally know and offer to trade references. Also approach those in my neighborhood and introduce myself.
Provide business cards to all customers upon delivery, and to all of my affiliate businesses.
Build an affiliates link on my web site, listing all information to reach my affiliate partners. Include them in my Merchant Circle network. Visit their sites and enter reviews of their businesses where appropriate.
Produce one or two great sample books that showcase my work and style. Provide a copy to all affiliates. Put a business card holder in them and stuff them full of cards.
Make a schedule of business visits - to check up on my books and cards, and to stay in contact with my affiliates.
Find ways to help my affiliates grow their business through things I can do - pro bono photography, drawings for packages, in-store activities and other ideas.
Consider donating framed artwork to businesses for them to display, with your name on or near the product.
Make a list of questions to ask my clients during consults or session planning, which may lead them to my affiliated businesses. Example: At a wedding consult, I ask if they have chosen a DJ or baker. For Seniors, I would ask if they plan to have a makeover before their images, or tanning.

How About Your Affiliate Marketing?

If you haven't started a local affiliate marketing program, maybe it's time for you to begin. Take out a sheet of paper and list your adjacent business types and name specific business for them. Then think of ways that you can help that business, and how they can help you. And make an action plan...to love thy neighbor!

Blink of an Eye

2009-02-16T18:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I conducted an all-day dance studio photography session. I do these each year, and take pride in the excellent images that I produce with my camera, lights and backdrops. This Sunday, I shot in excess of 1400 images in seven hours, resulting in 450 proofs, or "keepers". That 3:1 ratio of shots to keepers is pretty consistent with my style.

I use a four-light setup for most of my dance images: one for backdrop, one for a hair light, and a main and fill light. I have fiddled with the settings over the years, but I my method is repeatable and gives me good results. I know how to set my camera in manual mode to end up with the correct exposure.

One Small Change Causes Large Problems

My indoor lights are pretty strong, consisting of three Alien Bees AB400's and one AB800 modified with brolly boxes. I used to shoot with a polarizing filter on the lens, which effectively dropped 2 stops from the light level. In an effort to create sharper images, I eliminated the polarizing filter, which results in more light reaching the sensor.

This puts me in a tight shooting position. I have a 1/250 sec limit on my strobes, meaning I had to either move the f-stop higher (less light), or drop the light levels (tweak the output). I'm down to 1/32 level on my lights, and at that level, their output level is a lot less consistent than at 1/4 or higher. If I stop down the lens, I end up with a depth of field that is too wide, and the backdrop is too sharp for my taste.

So, my balancing act is between f-stop and light level. I tried to keep the f-stop low so I could control depth of focus, and ended up at the minimal range of my strobes...and at that level, they have far more shot-to-shot lighting variability than I have previously seen. It's not the end of the world, but the lack of lighting consistency means that I need to put in far more backend time on image exposure correction.

My conclusion from reviewing the images is I need to raise my lighting levels and get more consistent and brighter illumination in my particular dance studio setup. But what I really need is to become literate in the use of a light meter, so I get it right without needing to experiment so much. The light meter will tell me when I have the exposure right, without needing to shoot, upload and look.

Becoming One With The Camera

I've been doing photography for several years and have done well with the images I took, but I am always disappointed in some element of my exposure or technique. For example, I nudged the back of my camera and inadvertently set the shutter speed to 1/320 by accident. This puts the camera's shutter speed beyond the range of the flash control. I shot ten images before I looked and saw the telltale black fringe at the left side of the image, created by the shutter movement. I've seen it before, and immediately knew what caused it. So how did I compensate? I started looking at the f/stop and shutter speed indicator in the viewfinder as I pressed the shutter. I glanced and made sure that I saw "1/250 3.5" in the LED display at the bottom of the viewfinder eyepiece display. That way I knew my parameters were what I intended them to be.

The next issue I saw was with my wireless flash trigger. On rare occasions, it would not fire. The telltale clue would be the black image in the viewfinder, as my exposure settings without flash would have been dark in the room I was using. But I don't look at every image, as I'm shooting pretty quickly. I found that if I paused for 1/2 second after the shot and unfocused my eyes from the viewfinder, I could see the "color" of the image in the camera display, right between my eyes. It's hard to explain, but I learned to anticipate the brightness of the preview image and see it in my peripheral vision in between shots. It's a level of interaction with my camera that I had not had before, and it is coming in very handy.

And, In The End...

Every time I shoot I learn things. Yesterday I discovered that my small setup change caused a lot of ripple effects in my environment and my images. I learned to verify my exposure in the viewfinder as I pressed the shutter, and verify flash fire with my peripheral vision. But what I really learned was that I am far from satisfied with my own consistency of technique and lighting skills. Nick Onken, who has a blog called Shoptalk, believes that you reach proficiency in your art once you have invested at least 10,000 hours in it. For full time people, that's 5-6 years of living and breathing your chosen field. For folks like me who multitask and work at this business part-time, I think it's decades before we hit that level. What we gain in balance and experience from other career paths, we have to make up with inexperience compared to our full-time brethren.

A Drive...To Succeed

2009-02-02T15:21:00.001-08:00

I have written before about the need to have a solid workflow and backup plan. My flow includes backing up onto three separate hard drives and also to DVDs. One problem with the new digital age is that it is common to take lots of photos. And with higher camera resolutions and RAW format, you can fill up several chips over the course of a day.

All that means that you need to have a good plan of what to save, and when and where to save it. An external hard drive can really speed up your workflow and provide some additional benefits. Each year I purchase a fresh drive to hold that year's images. I have a nightly routine that copies all of my data files from my working hard drive to this external drive. So while I sleep, I have copies of my files preserved. Then I can thin down my working drive, knowing that my other files from older jobs are just a click away.

I wanted to highlight this recent opportunity to every photographer out there. Buy.com, one of the sites I use for tech gear, is offering a 1 Terabyte Fantom drive for $99. That's ten cents per gigabyte. That's 1 MILLION megabytes. That's 250 full 4Gb chips. That's 648,000 3.5" disks.

I can go on about that capacity, but suffice to say that it's a lot, for not so much money. I use Fantom external drives a lot. And shipping is free. By no means am I endorsing Buy.com. You may find the same or better deal elsewhere. But at this price, you cannot claim that backup storage is unaffordable. If you don't have an external hard drive, get one soon!

Another great use for an external drive is to rip your CD collection so you have stuff to put on your MP3 player, and a place to dump all those great photography and personal finance Podcasts.

Incidentally, my backup software of choice is EMC's Retrospect software. It has a "duplicate" mode that copies data from one drive to another, and only updates files on the target drive that are older than the source copy. Basically this builds a copy of everything that ever was on your source drive, so you can then delete the source files and the backups remain. Plus the structures are preserved and you can explore to the drive without running any backup or recovery software. I run Vista on my network, and version 7.6 does the trick.

Business: Growing Debt-Free

2009-01-28T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was on a forum today where someone mentioned that in order to get into the wedding photography business, they will need to spend $2,000-3,000. Their reasoning was that they needed cameras, lenses, lighting, backdrops and more to get started. I took some exception to that.

I have been following a debt-free business growth plan for the last four years. I believe that you can grow a solid home-based photography business without incurring any debt, and you can have the gear that you need - but it may take some time.

I started out with a high-end prosumer camera, added lights and other stuff over the years, and ended up with a great gear setup. It took several years, but I am satisfied that my equipment is sufficient to support my business needs.

Here's a rough summary of my growth over 5 years:

Year 1:
Bought Minolta Dimage A2 - advanced prosumer camera. Bought (2) Alien Bees AB400 and umbrellas. Paid for these with profits from dance and one Catholic School graduation.

Year 2:
Made a backdrop stand out of PVC. Rolled my own white muslin backdrop (fabric store), black fabric and a couple other neat fabrics when a store went out of business. Added an AB800 light, heavy duty stand and some light modifiers.

Year 3:
Bought my Canon D30 and a Tamron f/2.8 28-75 lens. Picked up also an inexpensive telephoto (Canon F4.0-5.6). Got a monopod and some good reflectors. Picked up a DRebel from a neighbor who didn't want it - added a flash bracket and a Canon speedlight. Got a Dell laptop. Added three backdrops purchased at the PPA convention. All funded from business income, and still cleared a good profit.

Year 4:
Added a fourth AB400 light, more modifiers, two new f/2.8 lenses, a Dell desktop, my CD painter and some more neat stuff such as backdrops and a new backdrop stand and a lightsphere. I also purchased portable power for my Alien Bees. Profitability continued to increase, and the purchases were funded completely from sales.

Year 5: (this year)
Planning to add another Canon body (40D or 50D), better tripod, a couple more backdrops and some close-up lens attachments.

Each year, I also purchase an external hard drive to back up my photos. I also cashflow insurance, professional fees, memberships and all of the online and software costs needed to keep the business running. I also set up a specific bank account for the business, and do not intermix personal spending with that account. If I want to spend earnings on personal stuff (my right as a sole proprietor), I write checks from that account. That way the business earnings and expenses always flow from that account, and the balance is a pretty good representation of the business' position.

From my history above, you can see a couple things. First, I'm not a gearhound. I try to buy those items that will meet my needs but not cost too much. I then work hard to get the most value from them. Second, I'm patient. I try to see the longer term, and work to add just the right items each year to fill out an area of weakness or position me for growth. For example, in year 4 I added a good f/2.8 zoom when I knew I had a job shooting sports outdoors. I didn't even break even on that job given the lens purchase, but it now is a great tool in my camera bag. Third, I'm cheap. I buy what I need, but I never buy top of the line. When I was a professional musician, I followed the same line. Only when I have totally used up or outgrown an item will I replace it. Remember, it's not the brand of painbrush, it's the artist!

Annually I spend far less than 10% of sales on new equipment. By laying out a multi-year growth plan for cameras, lighting, computing, lenses, accessories and other items, I can gradually build a great stock of photography equipment without going broke in the first couple of years.

If you are just starting out, I recommend that you write up a 5 year plan. Don't be specific about model numbers, but try to list those categories of items and determine when you can afford them without going into debt. One trick I used was to set savings goals for revenue. When I hit a specific goal in the bank account, I allowed myself to order the next item on my growth/wishlist. This keeps your acquisitions in pace with your sales, and still allows you to be profitable, and keep the account healthy for future spending needs.

Summary
Don't be impatient. Have a plan. Buy the right gear for your stage of development. You too can run a profitable, debt-free photography business!

PS - Listening to Dave Ramsey once a week or so helps as well. It keeps your debt-free attitude charged up. If you are new to Dave, pull down an archive (try Fridays for starters) and give it a listen.

Business: Partnering With Nonprofits

2009-01-24T17:31:00.000-08:00

There are a great many nonprofit organizations that exist to help people, animals or the environment. Each of these organizations struggles to achieve their objectives. Typically they have two major goals: First, to raise funds so they can implement their strategic objectives, and second, to raise awareness of their organization and causes to the public.

By partnering with nonprofits, you can create a mutually beneficial relationship. You can help them meet one or both goals, and you can generate awareness and potential business for you as well.

Here's a few things that I have done to get involved with local nonprofits. Each of these activities has helped out the agency, strengthened my network of contacts, and generated both recognition and business for me.

Ways to Help Nonprofits

1. Local Calendar. For two years, I took photography of children in our area with Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes and built a calendar which was both sold to generate funds, and given away to generate awareness. The calendars were very good communication vehicles for the Foundation. I had a plug on the back of the calendar, and was featured in TV and newspaper spots both in my local area and globally. I also received follow-on business from some of the families of the children.
2. Gala photography. For several years, I captured formal images of people who attended the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) annual gala and sent them complimentary prints on behalf of the foundation. This allowed the Foundation to extend their message of thanks and mission through the delivery of the photographs, and it also put me in touch with well-connected people in my community.
3. Sponsor a Team. For several years, my daughter has had a walk team for JDRF. I cover most or all of the cost of the team T-shirts and I put my business logo on the back. Each year, I end up with dozens of walking billboards, worn by and seen by potential photography customers all around our area.
4. Agency Graduation Ceremony. I worked with a local drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility to capture images of their client graduation ceremony. This was a very moving event. I produced images for the clients and the agency, whose board of directors are also well known community leaders. This led to #4.
5. Benefit Race Photos. I photographed pre-race, race course, finish line and awards for a local race that benefited the agency in #3 above. I posted the images for sale on my gallery and shared the revenues with the agency. The images were also released to the nonprofit for them ot use in event marketing and promotion. This also led to getting more sports work for another sporting event, which will result in additional visibility and revenue.
6. Silent Auctions. Whenever anyone approaches me to support a nonprofit event with a donation, I always provide a certificate for a session and some number of prints. I accompany the certificate with a framed print to show my work. These sessions almost always result in more business from the winners, great event revenue for the nonprofit, and great visibility of my business to the supporting community.
7. Hold Third Party Benefit Events. My wife and I are holding a midwinter food party called "Bean Day" to raise funds for the Second Harvest Food Bank. This fun event will generate lots of publicity for the agency. I'm not looking to push my business here...but any increase in community exposure that we receive from this event may help promote my business. I'm finding some low-key ways to feature my photography to help the event, such as creative images for the web site. We expect to raise at least $1000 for this nonprofit.

Serve Their Needs

In any nonprofit support event, serve their needs first. Achieve their goals of support, fund raising and message communication, and your benefits will naturally follow. If you have opportunities to get your brand out there, by all means do so, but not at the expense of the nonprofit and their mission.

I encourage all photographers to identify nonprofits that they would be proud to partner with, and approach them with opportunities to help further their goals. Your efforts will be appreciated, and your business will benefit from the exposure and additional business.

Camera Technique: Choosing Your Settings

2009-01-18T17:45:00.001-08:00

I often get feedback from new photographers that they don't know how to set their camera for a particular situation. Armed with just a camera and no lights or modifiers, you have basically these factors to choose from:

The focal length of lens to use
The f-stop of the lens
The shutter speed of the camera
The ISO sensitivity of the sensor
The position and stability of the camera
The white balance setting of the camera
The focusing distance, or focus point(s) of the lens

All point-and-shoots and most SLRs have shooting modes that attempt to preset the camera to optimize some of these settings to a particular subject type or situation. While these work most of the time, you will want to have more control over your image capture as you grow as a photographer. The key is to determine which of these three factors is the "primary" quality you want to capture:

Image Quality
Depth of Focus
Time of Exposure

In all but a few settings, you will have to trade off one or two of these in order to optimize your primary factor. Let's describe some situations and discuss what the best settings might be.

Situation 1 - Dark Auditorium, Dance Performance

Primary concern: Stopping the motion of the dancer, to reduce motion blur. To achieve this, I would set my camera at the smallest f-stop (widest opening) and highest sensitivity required to allow me to shoot at 1/100 second. Since I shoot with f/2.8 lenses, I can often do this at ISO640-1000. So I would set my camera at shutter priority, 1/100, set exposure at f/2.8 and vary my ISO until I got a good exposure. Then I would switch to Manual and preserve those settings.

Situation 2 - Outdoor Soccer Game, High Noon

Primary Concern: Stopping the motion of the players. There's enough light to use a low ISO to get low noise, and you have the option of a wide f-stop to narrow the depth of focus to give you a nice blurry background. But you may actually have too much light, meaning that if you set ISO100 and 1/100 second, you overexpose at f/2.8 or f/4.0. So you may actually have to choose a higher shutter speed to let you keep that low f-stop.

Situation 3 - Inside a dim church, no flash allowed, wedding ceremony

Primary concern: Good quality exposure. These people aren't moving very fast, unless the groom is running for the exit! So you can afford to set a lower ISO, open up the f-stop and shoot at maybe 1/25 to 1/60. At this speed, you will have to stabilize your camera or your hand movement may blur the image.

Situation 4 - Macro shot of flowers

Primary concern - controlling depth of focus. Unless it's windy, you have little risk of subject movement. I assume you are shooting for quality, so low ISO is a given. So choose your f-stop in aperture priority mode after first setting your ISO at 100 or so, the let the camera tell you the recommended speed. Switch to manual, copy those settings, and adjust as you need.

Situation 5 - Sunset at the beach, backlit silhouettes

Primary concern - properly exposing the sky for color. Often your camera will see the subjects in the center and it will try to expose for them, blowing the sunset way out. The trick here is to go to aperture priority and expose for the sky, take a test shot and note the exposure. Switch to Manual and recompose and shoot the subject and they will be properly dark compared to the sky.

Summary

Notice I didn't talk lenses or white balance here. You'll have to choose the right lens for impact, and you should always test for white balance. I'll post a quick tutorial on this later. Also, I didn't talk about exposure compensation, which can be used to fine tune exposure settings when not in manual mode. We'll also talk more about that later.

So, the next time you go to shoot, ask yourself this question before you press the shutter:

What factor is most important in this image - Quality, Focus Depth or Shutter Speed? What camera settings will maximize this factor?

Once you start think about these things BEFORE you raise the camera to your eye, you will start to control that machine and your images will improve!

And remember... check your barrel! This means whenever anything changes in your environment - lighting level, angle, setting, distance, indoors to out, you name it - check your settings so you don't blow the next shot!

Business: Ideas for New Markets

2009-01-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a list I compiled after reading a great 1991 book entitled "How You Can Make $25,000 A Year With Your Camera" by Larry Cribb. Written before the digital age, but the ideas are still good! Amazon and Alibris have lots of copies of this book available.

27 Ideas To Generate Income From Photography

1. Portrait parties - offer to parents with small kids. Hosts get freebies and/or piece of subsequent bookings.
2. Drawing for free senior session at tanning, hair and clothing stores
3. Offer to shoot and write articles for the local weekly paper (small-time weekly)
4. Mine the engagement section of the paper for wedding leads
5. Identify business types that can use photography (restaurants, salons, etc.) target them from yellow pages. Shoot a spec shot and make a sample brochure to show them what you can do
6. Make a brochure for summer beach photos and leave at hotels, restaurants, rest stops, souvenir places
7. Make decorative photography samples and show to doctor/dentist offices and hotels, places that decorate
8. Do a spec aerial shoot and send proofs to local businesses
9. Shoot a couple of nice for-sale homes in your neighborhood and sell yourself to local realtors
10. Contact local law and insurance businesses to offer up insurance photography services
11. Contact the local garden club, shoot their show or event, get additional business
12. Run a winter special on pet photography (3rd highest photo buy!)
13. Make postcards out of good local scenic shots and sell them to local businesses for tourism or unique advertising
14. Make a slide show of local businesses so they can use them on DVDs at fairs, festivals, expos.
15. Approach nonprofits, clubs or small businesses to build how-to slideshows from their activities
16. Contact the local marinas, offer to do "boat day" photographs, small prints or build collage for the club, sell prints to owners
17. Fishing and hunting clubs - members, prizes, day-of-tournament photos, website images
18. Contact convention center/bureau and offer services...even if they have a staff/contract
19. Offer photo scanning and restoration...free to victims of flood/fire/disasters
20. Household insurance documentation - photos of valuables, slide show or CD, offsite storage
21. Flying clubs - fly-in event support
22. Same for bike clubs, hot rod clubs.
23. Dermatologists - before and after photos for marketing
24. Hair and makeup specialists and orthodontists, same thing
25. Golf Courses - grounds portraits (sell to members), tournament, member and member/family portraits
26. Rent a pony at some community event and sell pictures of kids...the grandparents will go nuts
27. Ski club - grounds photos, marketing images, shoot and sell on spec for action skiing shots

Have more ideas? Reply with them and we'll build a great list of resources!

Business: Setting Good Personal and Business Goals

2009-01-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Each year as I set up my accounting for the new sales year, I also set some goals. Usually they are very specific to my business activities and growth plans. I come away feeling good that I have pointed my business in the right direction, but I feel I'm missing something...the goals for my personal life.

Yesterday as I was listening to Dave Ramsey on his podcast, he described the seven types of goals and how to set goals that will stick. Here's my best restatement of this great piece he did, with a spin on how they apply to the business of professional photography.

The Seven Types of Goals

1. Career - where do you want to be in the future? For business owners, this can also include growth plans, product line, education/skills and equipment.
2. Financial - Do you want to reduce or eliminate debt?  Establish or reinvigorate a retirement plan? The overall economic situation is forcing many people to revisit their financial habits and condition, and develop ways to reduce debt and increase their financial security.
3. Spiritual - Do you want to change your spiritual relationship?  Read the bible more?  Explore other dimensions of spirituality?
4. Physical - The most common goal is to lose weight and/or get in shape.  Others will set goals to be able to run a 5k, half-marathon or more.
5. Intellectual - It is said that the only things that will change your position in life 10 years from now are the people you meet and the books that you read.  Whether you are looking for formal education or to increase your knowledge of money, technology or other areas, setting intellectual goals is a good way to move you into new experiences and outlooks.
6. Family - Do you want to spend more time with your kids?  Accomplish projects around the house? Build that scrapbook?  Write a will?
7. Social - Do you want to get better at talking to people, speaking in public and interacting with customers?

Writing a Good Goal

Regardless of which goal category you are writing in, a good goal has these 5 characteristics:
A. It must be yours - not a goal that someone else has suggested for you.
B. It must be specific - name the specific activity, behavior or thing you will accomplish.
C. It must be measurable - if your goal is to lose weight, name the amount.
D. It must have a deadline - name it to end by a certain date.
E. It must be written -a goal put on paper is much more likely to be successful.

Examples

Bad Goal: Telling everyone that you will work out more and lose weight, because the Mrs said you were a little chunky.
Good Goal: Writing down on a sheet of paper: I will attend the gym 3 times each week for at least 1 hour. I will track it on a sheet. I will combine exercise with good nutrition and attempt to lose one pound per week with a goal of losing 40 pounds by Thanksgiving 2009.

Bad Goal: I will do better with my finances.
Good Goal: I will establish a $1000 emergency fund by March 1st and begin a written budget by February first, with the goal of eliminating 50% of my credit card debt by December 1st, 2009.

Bad Goal: I will work harder at my photography business/hobby.
Good Goal: I will join one photography association and attend one convention in 2009. I will identify three areas where I can grow my business or exposure and conduct at least one event in those areas by December 1, 2009. I will define a debt-free plan to grow my business assets by February 1.

Once I heard that bit from Dave, I realized that I have to take a fresh look at my Goals for 2009. Off I go to do some planning!

Tools: Choosing a Print Fulfillment Lab

2009-01-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

Most new photographers have little experience in print fulfillment. Sure, we have all printed our images on our home printer, or taken them down to the local discount store for prints. Some of us as leveraged consumer labs like MPix, Shutterfly, Winkflash or Flickr. While these labs can produce good quality prints at good prices, they are often not set up to produce consistent output with the kind of interfaces that a photography business needs to remain efficient. For example, the ability to use online order management tools like ROES (Remore Order Entry System) and FTP (File transfer Protocol) is often a key requirement of a photographer doing regular print fulfillment business.

When I got into the professional business, I spent some time evaluating print labs, and learning how to interface to the labs. I found that most labs will work with new photographers on account setup, trial prints and developing the interface between photographer and lab. During that journey, I identified several areas that you may want to consider as you search for the print labs that will become your business partners.

Print Fulfillment Lab Evaluation Criteria

Cost
Often the first thing you look for. Look at unit costs. If you plan to do lots of printed proofing, the 4x5 or 4x6 bulk proof cost may be important to you. If your major fulfillment will be 5x7 or 8x10, look for good unit prices on them. If you will be sending small orders in (less than about 20 prints per order), see if they have minimum order amounts. Also figure in shipping if it's separate.

I like to identify a couple "typical" order scenarios and price them at different labs, such as:

Proofing: 150 4x6 proofs, no color correction
Small Order: 5 wallet sheets, 5 8x10s and 10 5x7's, no color correction
Large Order: 20 wallet sheets, 30 8x10s, 5 11x14 and 60 5x7's, no color correction

Figure out how much each lab would charge for your typical orders, including shipping.

Quality
This is a tough one to evaluate objectively. First, you MUST be color correcting your monitor with profiling tools! I suggest choosing three or four represenatative images from your portfolio and having them sample printed at each lab. Each image should be 300dpi at the print resolution - or in pixel terms for an 8x10, 2400x3000 pixels. Choose at least one color headshot if you do people photographs, at least one black and white (color space converted, not B&W space), and some with bright primary colors, particularly red and yellow. Each of the labs' print devices will have a different color profile, and the prints will come out different. Without getting into lab printer profiling, you want to understand how their equipment prints your images.

If your lab offers color correction as part of fulfillment and you want to use it, request some of the test images to be color corrected and some not, to establish some measurement of the impact.

Delivery
How quick will the lab turn around your standard print products? How about more sophisticated print items like cutting, backing, canvas, gallery wrap, press printed items, books and specialty items? Most labs will quote standard turnaround times for various print types. When you do your sample runs, make sure you note their turnaround time.

Many labs will have a cutoff time for next-day shipping. I know at least one large lab that staffs a third shift on Sunday night to catch all of the weekend photography uploads and ship them on Monday. This is a huge benefit for those that like to provide quick turnaround to their clients.

Service
I group tools and responsiveness under Service. How easy is it for me to order what I need, track my orders, know when they shipped, and contact someone if I have problems?

Upload mechanisms - a minimum requirement for me is a good ROES system, where I can drag and drop images and send the order to them on the web. If the ROES system has lots of options for titling, multi-image collages and such, that's a plus.

Responsiveness - If I have a problem, I like to talk to a warm body. I run my business after normal work hours, so having someone answer the phone after 5PM EST is great for me. Getting an email or phone response by mid-day the following day is an absolute requirement.

Extra mile - Some labs excel at packaging, follow through and proactive contact. When I switched my winter high-volume work from one lab to another, I received a call from the old guys and we had a good discussion on why I switched. Based on that feedback, I went back to them for some of my other business. That same lab tosses a lollipop in the box on occasion. A nice treat!

Packaging - Some labs have impeccable packaging, where the product is always preserved. They include 2-day shipping in the product cost. Others put the product in an envelope and hope it doesn't get crushed or bent along the way. Belive me that there is nothing more frustrating than opening an envelope to see bent or creased prints!

Upload/workflow capability - I already mentioned ROES as a minimum. If the lab has special software for book design and other special items, that's even better. Online order review and tracking and shipment tracking is great.

Drop Ship - The ability for the lab to drop ship orders to customers in unmarked packaging may be a need for you. Check them out with a sample order to your mother!

Product Capability
Newer photographers may not know the whole realm of products offered beyond the traditional glossy or lustre print. There are metallic prints, special papers, stickers, tiles, canvas, press products and a huge range of photo products.

Bound proof books - available in many sizes from 4x6 to 11x14 and up, these books are great ways to show session proofs to customers, should you choose to do that. Many customers will also buy these if they look good enough!

Canvas products - gallery wrap canvas, where the image wraps around the inner frame, is very popular now and is a great upsell.

Press printed products - produced on printing presses, the quality of production is often very high, and the labs offer books, posters, brochures, bookmarks, greeting cards and more.

Novelty items - Stickers, tags, dry erase boards, mugs, coasters, cutouts, puzzles, clothing and many more items are offered. You may choose to do your main print fulfillment at one lab and doing your specialty items at another lab.

What Labs do I Use? (today...)

These are my personal choices and evaluations. Please make your own decisions, your mileage will vary from mine!
Richmond Camera (RCProLab.com)- my choice for high volume, gallery wrap and specialty items. Pros:cost, capability. Con:service (still hasn't changed shipping, no wallet die-cuts by default)
White House Custom Color (WHCC.com) - Pros: quality, service. Con-price, capability (novelty items)
McKenna Pro - Pro-capability (Dry erase, novelty items, press-posters, ROES capability). Neutral-cost

Summary
Do your own homework. Evaluate all of the aspects of their offerings: Cost, Quality, Delivery, Capability, Service. I will be evaluating other labs later in this blog. Your war stories and input is appreciated!

Business - Building Your Web Presence, Part 3

2009-01-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is Part 3 of 3 in a mini-series on Building Your Web Presence as a Photography Business.

Part 1: Building your Web Site
Part 2: Driving Eyeballs to your Web Site
Part 3: Providing Commerce on your Web Site

In Part 1, we discussed how to build a web site and fill it with content important to photography customers and potential customers. Then, in Part 2, we learned about ways to drive "eyeballs" to your web site through search engine optimization and other web resources.

In this article, we'll discuss how to sell your products on or through your website.

There are two main ways to sell products: (1) Through links to third party selling engines, or (2) Through a localized gallery/sales tool.

Third Party Selling Engines

There are many sites that will host your images in protected galleries so that your customers can browse, order and pay for them. Some of them will also print and ship the images if you choose. Years ago I used photoreflect.com for this purpose. Their model did not cost me until someone ordered photos. Then I moved to EventPix.com. Their event-based hosting model charged me by the gallery and image count, but I don't believe they actually collected money -they simply sent the order to me via email. I know that Collages.net will also do this. Every one of these sites has some revenue model - subscription, per-gallery or commission on sales, or something related to these. As your customers use the site, they make some money off of the act of shopping or buying.

Pros - you can get up to speed quickly and you have a professional looking interface.
Cons - it will cost you to do this, and the images and website are usually off your main domain.

Localized Gallery/Sales Tool

There are a number of packages you can purchase or acquire that will allow you to host your galleries on your own website and provide secure shopping and even backend fulfillment. A quick web search on "photo shopping cart" shows picturespro.com ($279) and allwebcodesign.com ($115) to name just a couple. There are many more out there. Most of these have you upload the images to your website and set parameters to indicate how the images are to be shown and sold.

Pros: The site is on your domain and you can customize to your experience.
Cons: Still costs money and you have to learn how to customize it.

Jalbum and Fotoplayer

I forget how I stumbled on this, but there is a great flash-based gallery display engine called Jalbum. It is free to use, and the PC client lets you import images and define the gallery experience. But it does not have shopping cart, security and other features. The great thing about Jalbum is that it allows 'skins' to be used over it. The skin called FotoPlayer, written by Dhinakaran Annamalai (Dhina), is a highly customizable interface for photo galleries. The features are numerous, including: security (userid/password, optional), shopping cart, image download (free or paid), usage tracking, discounts, coupons, customized shipping, eCard, watermarks, image ranking, full screen, customizable MP3 soundtracks, slide shows, Paypal and credit card gateway interfaces, and lots more. The license to use the pro version of FotoPlayer is $89. Their support forum is great and I have not had problems last very long without getting resolved. I host over 30 albums with an average of 80 images each. Your web server needs to support 'php' to handle this.

Pros: Great price, very customizable, great interfaces to Paypal and other selling methods.
Cons: I had a bit of a time getting this one installed and running, but then it's a great tool!
Click here to see a slide show that is not protected, and check out some features.

Summary

To show and sell images online, you can either lease the space and service from a third party, or host it yourself with a variety of products. Your expected sales customers and patterns and your technical skills may dictate your path here. Don't be afraid to try out an "easy one" and then move on to another product at a later time.

Thus endeth the 3-part series on Building Your Web Presence. I hope this gave you some ideas!

Business - Building Your Web Presence, Part 2

2009-01-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is Part 2 of 3 in a mini-series on Building Your Web Presence as a Photography Business.

Part 1: Building your Web Site
Part 2: Driving Eyeballs to your Web Site
Part 3: Providing Commerce on your Web Site

In Part 1, we discussed the elements and steps to create a web site. So let's assume you have built this site, bought your domain name and you are ready for people to see it. How do you bring visitors?

There are two keys: (1) Getting good search results, and (2) Creating lots of pointers that people can locate and then navigate to your site.

Getting Good Search Results

There is an entire industry built around Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's the art and science of getting search engines to home in on your site(s) when the user enters keywords in web search engines like Google. One of the main ways to do this is through placement of keywords on your main page(s). For example, my keywords are:

Senior,Photography,Erie,Pennsylvania,PA,Photo,Family,Wedding,Engagement,Dance,John,Huegel,Senior Photographer Erie, Erie Family Portraits, Erie Wedding Portraits, Dance Studio Photography, Edinboro, Meadville, Chautauqua, Jamestown, Warren, Party Planning Services Erie

These are made active using the following line in your main file (index.html):

META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="Senior,Photography...all the rest of the stuff above..."

Search engines like Google chew on these keywords and use other tricks to place your site(s) in the search results. For example, the higher count of other sites pointing to your site, the higher score you may receive. You also want your DESCRIPTION and TITLE set to have the right keywords.

You may want to spend some time reading about search engine optimization. I have done all my own optimization, and it has worked for me. I am outranking most of the local photographers, some of whom are 10x my business size.

Creating Lots of Pointers

Your main web page should not be your only web presence. There are several other places where your work and your presence should be made known:

1. Merchant sites. These are free or paid listing sites that you can enter your business information, and they provide a listing or page for you. Most of them let you link back to your home page. Good examples that I use are Merchant Circle, and Insider Pages. I particularly like Insider Pages, where I have a number of my customer reviews available for people to see. Each of these sites will be both a standalone billboard for your business, and a link that points back to your home page.

2. Blogs. You must have at least one blog! It's a great way to be informal, show the recreational side of yourself and your business, and basically let your customers see you from a different angle. And here's a tip: Make your blog titles relevant to your search keywords and they will also rank on Search Engines. For example, highlight a wedding photo in your blog and title the entry "Louisville Kentucky Wedding Photography: Ella and Jack". Then when someone searches the web for "Wedding Photography Louisville", your blog entry will hit, and they can use that to see a wedding shot, and then navigate from your blog to your homepage.

3. Other writing, publications or videos. I made it a point to start writing ezine articles to polish my writing skills and increase the level of recognition of me as an "expert". To date I have 30+ articles posted on ezinearticles.com. Each one of them has a link to my homepage. Some of the people that read the articles will navigate to my pages and then contact me. Other people pick up the ezine feed and "syndicate" my article, and it shows up all over the place, but they all point back to me. You can do the same thing with videos, ebooks or editorial stuff.

4. Press releases. We'll talk more about press releases in a separate blog entry, but once you have written them, your business name and web page become permanent fixtures on the web, and the press release continually reminds people that you are active in your community.

To grow your web presence, one GREAT resource is The Publicity Hound. Joan Stewart really knows how to generate publicity, both on the web and off. Sign up for her newsletter and she will send you 90 days worth of great marketing and exposure ideas.

Summary

You need to be active on merchant and review sites. You absolutely need to blog. You should consider writing or other ways to generate other links. And every one of those should have your business name and website URL.

Don't believe me? Google "Senior Photography Erie" and see where I place. Go through the top 30 listings...On the day I posted this, I had 7 of the top 30 listings, including #1,#2, #3 and top placement on the map! Google "John Huegel Photography" and you'll see literally dozens of my links, each which provides evidence that I'm alive, active and doing things that customers will want to see, and which drive eyeballs to my web site.

Next up: Providing Commerce on your Web Site

Business - Building Your Web Presence, Part 1

2009-01-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

This is Part 1 of 3 in a mini-series on Building Your Web Presence as a Photography Business.

Part 1: Building your Web Site
Part 2: Driving Eyeballs to your Web Site
Part 3: Providing Commerce on your Web Site

Lately, I have been spending time on the three blogs that I run. I try to keep them fresh, as they address different audiences and I want to keep them interested and grow the readership.
Blogs are very "now", but you still need a homepage, a place where you can anchor your business messages and show off your best work. And, you will need other web presences to drive eyeballs to your webs and blogs, but we'll get into that later.

I view blogs, consumer listings, reviews, videos, articles and other material as necessary support structures to your main data structure, your home page. Without the home page, there's no "place to go" for your customers to always land - that familiar place they can bookmark and associate with you and your photography business.

How Do You Build a Website?

Let's break it down into a few manageable chunks:

1. Domain Name. It should reflect you and your business name as much as possible, but not be too long or hard to spell. It should also be unique. In my case, John Huegel Photography was available and I could have used that, but I thought it was too long. I chose 'jhphotomusic.com', which has ended up to be a recognizable URL for many. You can search for available domain names at a variety of locations, Network Solutions being one of them. Incidentally, the 'music' part is because I also offer custom music mixes and am a professional musician. Plus it sounds artsy. Note that you may need to re-purchase your domain name(s) on a regular basis. If you don't they expire, your site gets orphaned, and someone else can buy your domain name!

2. Hosting capability. You will want your site to have good uptime, good response time, good feature capability and good capacity and bandwidth. There are a ton of hosting providers out there. Being a conservative type, I went with one of the old guards, Network Solutions. They support the php backend that I need to run my photo album and shopping cart application, and their customer support is top notch. They are not the lowest cost provider though; I pay more than $100/yr for their services. For less expensive providers, Here is a list of ten top hosting providers. Your provider will register your domain name(s) and provide a place for your code to live. Many will also provide templates for you to use. Do not use a free hosting site that pays for itself with banner ads. It will cheapen your image.

3. Content management. I use a flash-based template with an HTML front-end, meaning that I can protect my images (to some degree), and also do a minimum of customization and tracking. I bought my photography template from Winklet Web Design, as I liked their balance of appearance, features, simplicity and cost. I did not want to spend a lot of time coding. Their templates are try-before-buy, and they are great for photographers who want to get a portfolio listed quickly. They do not support shopping carts and gallery security, but I did not want them to do that. Other content managers double up in other areas such as hosting or shopping cart or fulfillment. You need to decide how much of the rest of the web site and business functions you want your content manager to own or provide.

4. Content. You'll have to provide this. At a minimum, you want to show your work in the form of slide shows, galleries or at least a few of your best images. You'll also want to display information about your business, such as your background, your approaches, and maybe some references, links or price lists. And most important, you need to make it very clear for people to reach you, including telephone, address and an email link or contact form. If you want customer photo galleries, you'll at least want to provide links to them from your site, or build them into your site somehow. For a few years I used EventPix and PhotoReflect for hosting of the web shopping functions, and I recently brought that into my own control. I'll describe that in Part 3. And when you write your text content, please make sure your grammar, spelling and punctuation are korrekt! (yes, deliberate)

5. Upload method. Usually you build your content on your computer and then send it up to the server using FTP - the File Transfer Protocol that predated the web's HTTP. There are many FTP programs that you can download for low or no cost. And, some web hosting sites offer their own upload methods.

So, you have a web name, a place to put it, an engine to show it, stuff to go inside it, and a way to get it there. It's time to build!

The first time, it took me several hours to load and tweak my template-based website. But then it looked slick and took only basic maintenance to keep it current. Once your site is up and running, make sure the website name goes on EVERYTHING you email, post, give away or spray paint on walls. The generations that are buying stuff and making selection decisions live on the internet. That website will be your entryway to online commerce.

Now that you have built a website, let's try to get it listed in the right web searches, and get lots of pointers pointing back to it!

Up next: Part 2: Driving Eyeballs to your Web Site

Learning: Developing your knowledge and skills as a photographer and businessperson

2009-01-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

One of my goals is to always be reading, learning, studying and increasing my network of resources and contacts. I believe that when a person stops learning, they cannot keep up with the state of the industry, and they cannot make themselves and their business better.

I spend a lot of time online and reading, and I have a nice pile of books and saved resources to dig into when I have some time. This post will highlight some of the most effective resources I have used in 2008 and earlier to grow my skills and knowledge as a photographer and as a businessman.

Web:
StudioLighting.net is a wonderful site for photographers. Their purpose is to teach and explore lighting, but the conversational nature of their podcast is the real gem. They interview many professional photographers, and you get to hear them discuss how they got into the business and what they are doing and how they do it. This is a must-listen Podcast. Throw it on a CD or on your MP3 Player.
Digital Photo Review is a good site for reviewing cameras and participating in equipment specific forums. I always go there when a new camera comes out.
Digital Wedding Forum is a great resource for new and experienced photographers. The scope goes beyond wedding photography to cover portrait photography as well. They have two levels of membership: DWF Start for beginners, with limited but very useful forum access, and DWF Pro for those who want access to everthing. This one costs about $130 per year for the pro access, but the DWF start is free if you qualify. Highly recommended.
Paperback Swap is a great website for getting books for free. You list books you own that you are willing to swap, and as people request them, you send to them, paying outgoing postage. For every book you send, you get a credit for books to send to you. I have received many great business, photography and fiction books for basically the cost of postage. I have a wish list as well.
Alibris is a good website for ordering books that you want. Most of them are used, but for reading, who really needs a new book? They source their books from many locations.
48days.net is a interactive social network site for entepreneurs and those wanting to make a change. Sponsored by Dan Miller, author of "48 days to the work you love" and a podcase along the same lines, there are lots of like-minded folks there who support each other.
Dave Ramsey is the foremost expert and business owner in the area of debt free living. His podcasts from his radio shows are excellent and provide inspiration and great guidance in becoming and living debt free.

Professional Organizations
Professional Photographers of America (PPA) - this is a great resource for photographers and aspiring pros. They have an aspiring professional membership discount of 50% for the first two years to let you get your business moving without paying a lot of fees. They offer as part of membership great errors and omissions insurance and access to legal resources to protect your business. Their "Imaging USA" events are not to be missed!
Society of Sport and Event Photographers (SEP) is a peer organization to PPA. The cost is lower but they do not offer the insurance of PPA. I belong to both. SEP is oriented more toward the higher volume event or sports/action photographer. Membership includes subscription to "Action News", their feature magazine.

Magazines
I read Rangefinder and Professional Photographer, both provided at no cost for being a PPA member. I do not read any other magazines at this time. These are both oriented to professionals, and highlight great photographers, business and technical skills and resources, and they are also a great source for information on new equipment and businesses to utilize.

Books
The e-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber is a good primer on why small businesses fail and what you can do to set up your business for success.
Guerilla Marketing series is a set of books oriented around low-cost and effective marketing for the small business owner. Written by Jay Levinson, the newest version includes how to leverage the internet for effective marketing and promotion.
The Total Money Makeover is Dave Ramsey's current bestseller on debt reduction and debt free living. I highly recommend it.
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko is a good book studying the characteristics of millionaires in America. A bit academic, it does a good job highlighting the common traits of those with wealth, and the conclusions will both suprise and motivate you.
Photography by Barbara London is to many the definitive reference work on the body of photographic knowledge. Recommended as a reference in preparing for the Certified Photography Professional exam offered by PPA, this book is also used in college classes. I recommend searching for a used but relatively current edition on Alibris, and reading it cover to cover a couple of times.

In a later post, I'll highlight the top 10 books on my to-read list.

Business: Year in Review, and Goals for Next Year

2008-12-31T10:23:00.000-08:00

Now is the time of the year to make resolutions. I use the week between Christmas and New Year to analyze my business and make changes in the way I work, in order to make my business better next year.

I write down my evaluation of my business, and set goals for change in the next year. Here's the questions of my business self-analysis that I just completed:

What did I improve this year?
What went well this year?
What was the best thing that happened this year?
What can I change to make it happen more often?
What got worse this year?
What was the worst thing that happened this year?
What can I change to make it happen less?
What specific goals did I have this year, and were they met?
What goals will I set up for next year?
What specific actions will I take in the first 90 days of 2009 to initiate change?
What other actions will I take during the year?

I have been working on this as a continuous process, so many of my actions were already mapped out and I have been working them. However, this formal time out caused me to really look comprehensively at all aspects of my business - hardware, software, technique, business skills, customer and contact management, pricing and promotion, education, business growth and community service to mention a few.

I come out of this with two action lists: The first, indicating what I will do in the months of January through March (my quiet season), and the second, a list of actions that I will complete over the year. The first quarter list is very tactical, and consists of tasks I can complete in around a day's effort or less. The rest of year goals may be more strategic, and may need to be broken into actionable tasks as the year progresses.

For example, I have determined that I don't need to add much in terms of hardware or software - I have that dialed in. Sure, I'll pick up a second camera body and some accessories, but that's minimal. Most of what I need to change is outside the act and art of photography - it's about developing and executing consistent processes for contact management, customer relations and follow through. It's about taking action on the 40 growth ideas I have listed. It's about making my offering and pricing information clear and attractive.
I have found that I am naturally a technical person, so the hard skills I have taken care of. I find those tasks manageable and concrete. I suffer at the softer skills, those of running a business and interfacing with customers in a way that grows my business and increases customer satisfaction. So I have to define specific tasks that will force me out of my comfort zone and into the areas where my business really needs to improve.

Fortunately, I met my revenue, profitability and growth goals for 2008. I want to make sure that I maintain that into 2009 and at the same time, grow my business breadth so that variations in any of my current income areas don't cause huge income gaps.

Whether you are professional or aspiring, I suggest that you use the change of year to do some reflection on your own, and make a clear assessment of your skills and performance this year, and a list of actions you will take to make a change in yourself and your business for 2009.

Have a productive and profitable new year!

John

Technique: Workflow and Backups

2008-12-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

This is not a very exciting post, but it is necessary for professionals to have a solid backup and recovery plan. As you develop your workflow, you should program into it a number of backup steps that guarantee that your images will not be lost. Here is part of my image management workflow, showing where I make backups:

1. On the shooting location, at the end of the shoot, I back up my CF cards to a portable hard drive. This little 30gb unit is battery powered and will copy the contents of a 2Gb CF card to a folder in about 5 minutes.
2. Back at the office, I upload the originals to a folder called ORIGINAL under the shoot folder.
3. I work through the image list and identify the "keepers" - marked with 3 stars in ZoomBrowser. These are copied to a folder called "3STAR" under the same shoot folder.
4. I back up the entire shoot folder to a data DVD and take it offsite. This is insurance in the event I have a fire or flood or something takes out all my electronics.
5. Weekly, my PC backs up all of my documents to an external USB hard drive.

I only erase the CF cards once I have a DVD burned. So I should have up to 5 copies of the original images, (1-portable HD, 2-DVD, 3-USB drive, 4-Originals, 5-3Star), even after I erase the CF card. Eventually after the session has been printed and delivered, I'll erase most of the working copies, but will keep the DVD and the USB Hard drive backups forever.

A couple other comments on my editing workflow: As I edit images, I change the suffix of the image to add a letter 'b', so the original "3star" file is not changed. Then I move all of the 'b' images to a "Edits" folder so I can see which ones were changed. If I do any layer work for collages or web postings, I put them in a folder called "Layouts". This way I know where my originals, edits and special files are, and they are all under a folder with the shoot name.

To make this easy to repeat, I create a dummy folder called "000000 Upload Template". Under it are these folders: Original, 3Star, Edits, Layouts. Then when I upload a job, I just copy the template folder, rename it using the year/month/day and client, and start using the lower level folders.

I know this sounds a bit anal, but if you don't have a consistent workflow, you may not know where to find your edited files, and you may really disappoint a customer if you lose or damage the original images. Consider writing down a workflow and trying to stick to it for your next couple of shoots. You'll thank yourself in the future!

I promise the next post will be more interesting!