Choosing great Locations for your portrait photography can be a daunting task. For years I have been the type of person to drive by an old decrepit barn or house and think to myself “I need to do a shoot there”. More often than not, I never return to the place that would’ve been so great. My advice to you though, is to go ahead and mark the location on paper or a map, and note the direction the “desirable” part faces – that way when you decide to return you have an idea of what time of day should work best.

There are several other things that you should think about…

• Contrast – I’m not talking about dark and light either. You should envision what you are looking for out of your shoot. Are you trying to highlight the soft sweetness of an innocent child, or the glamor of a fashion model? Are you planning to shoot with a low or high aperture? All of these things make a difference. Like the photos below, a sweet innocent child can be highlighted by contrasting with a rustic background. In this case, I mainly shot at a large aperature, with the subject about 50% closer to the background than to me,  so the background would be visible. Many times in a park or green area I will reverse this – and position myself about 50% closer to the subject than the background is to them. This allows a more blurred background, and highlights the colors of trees and grass rather than the busy nature of leaves. For Fashion, sometimes a simple background or the right lines are more important. It all depends on what you dream up.
• Lighting – Possibly the most important deciding factor for on-location shoots. If you don’t have portable lighting gear or at least a couple of speedlights, then you will be best served by choosing a shaded area or even better, shooting on a very overcast day (when light still has direction). If you choose to shoot in sunlight, fill light or reflectors are necessary to make sure shadows don’t get the best of your subjects’ faces.
• Weather – Choosing to shoot outdoors can be extremely rewarding, but challenges you with the possibility of foul weather. Unless you are shooting for hobby, I suggest you ALWAYS have a back-up plan. I’m lucky enough to live in a city with clubs, studios, and nice buildings everywhere so the hard part is having a plan for where to head to when and if the rain starts.

Some of the other things you might need when shooting outdoors:

• Map, Compass, or GPS if you are going off the beaten path.
• Extra batteries for your lights, meters, and gadgets.
• Tripod! No sense in missing low-light or long exposure opportunities because you were too lazy to carry one.
• Micro Fiber Dust Cloth. No sense in shooting with dirty gear!
• Filters and Hood. If you find yourself outside on an overcast day, warming filters are going to be helpful to reduce the blue tint of your photography but a good white card and custom white balance work pretty well. Polarizing filters and a lens hood are truly needed to reduce the glare of the sun and to enhance the colors of your pictures. Color temp can always be corrected in post, remember.

So good luck in your hunt for perfect locations for you photography!

From the Development panel, adjust to the folowing values on any properly exposed photo:

Clarity to 100

Vibrance to 100

Fill Light to 100

Contrast to 100

Noise reduction (both color and luminance to 100)

Then adjust Saturation down to acceptable color levels

Adjust exposure with Brightness slider

Pull Blacks slider up to correct level

Set as a preset that will give you a perfect starting point

NOTE: THIS WILL NOT WORK WITH ANYTHING LESS THAN A FULL-RES RAW FILE

Everything You Wanted To Know About Event Photography Software

Author: Ron McNeil

The beauty of photography is the opportunity it provides to those who take photographs. There is a wide array of possibilities for the photographer who is looking to make money taking pictures. Some may opt to take pictures of the beautiful sunset or mountains, while others like to hire themselves out to people to take photographs for them. Event photography is a very popular type of employment within the photography industry. Event photography software serves to make this job a bit easier. Not sure what event photography is and why you might consider it? Read on to find out all the information on it.

What is Event Photography?

Have you ever been to a wedding? That’s a silly question because most likely, you’ve been to a lot of those. What about a sporting event or a concert? Chances are, if you’ve gone to any of these, you’ve noticed photographers there taking pictures of the event. This is, in a gist, what event photography is. It is photography taken at events such as a wedding, sports event, concert, awards show etc. Event photography software will help you with this job.

Do Event Photographers Make Good Money?

If you’re looking for a type of photography that is pretty much sure to earn you good money, event photography is it. While for most photographers it isn’t all about making money, they can’t deny that event photography is very lucrative. Some event photographers have reported making as much as thousands of dollars for taking pictures at one event. That’s certainly a lot of money.

It’s worth noting that not all event photographers make this type of money, although most do provided they’re very professional. Event photography software helps them to take and manage professional event photos.

What Equipment Do I Need?

People will pay to have quality event photos taken, so it’s important for you, as an event photographer, to have quality equipment. This means making a bit of an investment. You’ll need to spend money to get money you need to purchase some of the best photography equipment available, which includes the camera and event photography software.

Let’s start with the obvious: the camera. You’ll want to get a digital camera, but stay away from the very small cameras – those are for amateurs. There are some great digital cameras on the market which have the traditional camera look, but are digital. These have the big lens, great zoom features and excellent megapixel quality. Go for a digital that has at least 8 megapixels. This may cost you from $400 on up.

Grab a good event photography software program, too. A good event photography software program will allow you to manage your photos in the easiest way possible. If you’re not sure which event photography software program to buy, read some reviews online or ask around.

Next, you’ll want to invest in a big memory card. Think at least 2GB, because the photographs with the highest quality tend to take up the most space. Nothing is worse than being at a gig and running out of space, so buy a few 2GB cards and you’ll be set there.

Good batteries are also required. Make sure they are long lasting and hold a good charge (if they’re rechargeable). Get an extra set of batteries, too.

Finally, you’ll want to invest in a good stand and case. The stand will allow you to take great still shots, while the case will protect your investments. Definitely don’t skimp here.

Why Do Event Photography?

Still not sold on why event photography could be a great choice for you? That’s alright, as many people are skeptical of it. We’ll give you a couple reasons here.

-Flexibility. One of the great things about event photography is that it providers photographers with a great deal of flexibility. You are able to choose how many events you do and how many hours you work. Usually, you won’t have to work weekdays, or if you do, it may only be for a few hours. This is good for parents who want to work and still have time with their kids. Using event photography software can help to make things even more flexible and easy.
-Great Pay. Have you ever wanted to make hundreds or thousands of dollars for just a few hours work? You can do exactly this as an event photographer. Event photography pays very well, so it’s very easy to make a lot of money doing it.

Why Event Photography Software?

There are a lot of reasons why you should use event photography software, but we won’t get into all those now. Instead, we’ll just give you the biggest reason, which is that it makes your job a lot easier. Event photography software will automate the process of managing and naming photos, and will even help you when it comes time to edit the photos. That is why you should consider buying event photography software.

About the Author:

Ron McNeil promotes software to sell photos online and to start your own event photography software and run your own stock photography software site powered by Web Scribble software located at http://www.webscribble.com/products/webstore/

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Everything You Wanted To Know About Event Photography Software

Mastering the Art of Sports Photography With your Digital Camera

Author: Amy

For sports enthusiasts, there’s nothing more exciting than sports people playing their favourite game. The sight of the field, rink or golf course initiates the thrill and anticipation. This, combined with digital photography, can provide some amazing photographic opportunities. However it’s not a matter of point the camera at the person diving for the ball or puck and snapping away. It’s a lot more complicated than that.

In digital photography sports can be quite challenging. The sports people do not present an easy task of being photographed because of the amount of high movement. However, you can indeed achieve great sports digital photography. Most excellent sports digital photography requires good planning and execution.

Here are some exclusive tips for gaining fantastic sports shots in your digital photography.

First things first; know your digital camera. I recommend taking note and practicing first all the settings that sports photography needed. You may find yourself going for the faster shutter speed, increased ISO and burst mode. Let’s take a look at all these things on your digital camera and see how they can be applied to give you sensational sports photos.

High shutter speeds:

As with all moving objects, in order to capture the “frozen in time” look in digital photography a fast shutter speed is required. The faster the movement the fast the shutter speed will need to be. In digital photography the general consensus is that the shutter speed needs to be faster than that of the subject. For example if you have a sliding puck across ice and there is a someone about to take a dive for it then its necessary to quickly mentally assess how fast that person might be traveling at. If they are traveling at approximately 50 kilometers (approx 32 miles) per hour then you may find a very fast shutter speed is needed for this digital photo.

A very fast shutter speed in digital photography may be anything from 500th of a second or higher. For high speed movement you may want to consider an even faster shutter speed of 1000th of a second or something in that range.

Keep in mind that in digital photography a fast shutter speed works to reduce some of the light which is why a higher ISO is often necessary. (I’ll talk about that in a minute.) Usually a if a ball, such as a baseball going at around 145 kilometers an hour (90.09 miles per hour) a shutter speed of around 1/4000 will get you that “suspended ball in mid air” type of photo. For physical movement, such as someone leaping to catch a football, a shutter speed of 1/500 or over is a good place to start.

Now this is all very well if your scene if well lit. But what if you are taking your digital photography shots indoors at night and the light is not quite enough to provide enough light? In most instances, an indoor stadium at night time will be well lit, but that doesn’t always ensure good digital photos. In sports photography we need to understand that we can only control the artistic value and input of our digital photo and the control of the camera. We can’t control the lighting on the scene being such a public event. In digital photography sports photos we must realize that it’s going to be a challenge to begin with. So here are something’s you can in your digital sports photography to increase the amount of light.

If you have a light tool on your digital camera such as a histogram you can get a good idea of what the light levels are like on your sensor. With this handy tool you can adjust the ISO at the time of your pictures taking.

Increase your ISO: A high ISO in digital photography simply means the sensitivity to light that your digital camera has. In a nutshell the more ISO you have increased the image to, the less light the sensor needs. In sports photography an ISO of 400 or higher can work really well. The downside to this is that it does increase noise. To combat this you can use noise reduction software in the post editing process such as Noise Ninja or increase the LAB mode in the post editing process. Don’t be afraid to try a few shots at 400, 800 and even as high as 1600.

Burst mode:

In most sports digital photography this will be one of the settings you will turn to. Burst mode is also known as ‘continuous shooting’. This ‘continuous’ shooting mode allows you to get a sequence of shoots in succession. You can increase your chances of getting that ideal “split second perfect shot” that you might not be able to get by pre-emption or in normal shooting. This also works so beautifully if your digital camera has a painfully long lag time. I’ve used this so many times to get around the high lag my Sony Cyber shot has got. Some cameras have 3 frames per second and some go up to 12 frames per second. You simply select this mode and hold your finger on the shutter button and it will fire off as many shots in 1 second as it can.

Okay so I’ve been talking about your digital camera and the setting’s used for ideal sports digital photography, so what about any external equipment? If you have been thinking about this you’re spot on. You can take as much time with your settings but there’s not much point if you can’t get close to the action. There’s no point having a picture with perfect lighting and perfect action if the players are like dots on a sheet of paper. You need a good telephoto lens if you can’t get close up. A telephoto lens brings you closer because of its long distance capability. It will get you closer to the action but will need a faster shutter speed.

Many fantastic sports digital photos are taken with an emphasis on a very fast shutter speed, an f stop of around the 2.8 mark to blur the background and focus in on the subject. You may find that if your sportsperson is visually separated from the background and you take the digital photograph with a telephoto lens you’ll have a more shallow depth of field which can give you a more powerful feeling in your digital photo. You can get away with a good optical zoom lens, but you’ll get far better digital sports shots with a proper telephoto.

So what about the artistic side of sports photography with your digital camera? Plenty!

Pre-emption and Emotion is the key to good art.

When taking sports photography you probably won’t find a more public display of human emotion. The emotions of a sports person range from intense anticipation to extreme disappointment or extreme exhilaration. Pre-empting when these emotions take place is they key to getting artistic and impressive sports photos. This comes with practicing your digital photography.

SO much pressure is placed on our athletes, expecting them to perform so we can enjoy the show and the investors can enjoy their returns. This is another reason why I say to get a telephoto lens so you can capture the emotions on their faces and their body language. It makes for superb photography. For ideas on ice hockey, have a look at some ice hockey images that are great study tools.

Don’t just look at these digital photos, you must study them. Take on the attitude that studying sports photography will improve your digital sports photos ten fold. You will have a style to emulate and copy to start with then eventually, when you become confident, you’ll start to adopt your own style.

Happy shooting,

Amy Renfrey

To study digital sports photography check these sites out: http://cbs.sportsline.com/

About the Author:

Amy Renfrey is the author of two major successful ebooks “Digital Photography Success” and “Advanced Digital Photography”. She is a photographer and also teaches digital photography. She’s photographed many things from famous musicians to portraits of babies. Amy also teaches photography online to her students which can be found at www.DigitalPhotographySuccess.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Mastering the Art of Sports Photography With your Digital Camera

I get asked all the time where I went to school for photography…well, I didn’t

Amazing Secret!

Most “Professional” Photographers are SELF-TAUGHT!

The truth is, I really did go to school… I studied Marketing, and then Medicine and Biology and never dreamed of becoming a professional photographer. Now I make almost as much from photography as I would practicing medicine, in much fewer hours per week.

Why I Got Started

• I loved taking pictures
• I loved being social and making people feel good
• I needed more money

How I Got Started

In 2005 I traveled to Europe with Canon SD300 and SD600 cameras in my pocket and on the plane ride over I read nearly a dozen e-books and websites I downloaded about taking better pictures and ended up proving everyone that said it was a “pipe dream” wrong.

When I got to my first destination – Lithuania, I snapped away and found that I really did have a “knack” for framing up shots…the funny thing is, I found that I always had things like “the rule of thirds” and “depth of field” in my head while I shot – simply from all of the reading I had done.

As odd as it may seem, I’ve sold more of the photos I took with my SD600 on stock sites than I have since I upgraded my equipment in 2008 to a 40D with “L” lenses – in other words, it’s not ALL about the camera.

I do have to admit – when people see me in a club or at a wedding with a gigantic lens and flash overhead they tend to take me more seriously, which is the main advantage besides being able to access all of the functions I use now that I have total control over my camera. Before my current setup, I was limited to “tricking” the camera into doing what I wanted.

Here are a few of the pictures I took with the SD600 on the first trip to Europe after reading the right books:

Don’t believe I took them? Visit my photography site http://atlphotographers.com

Here is the set-up I use now and how it looks when I’m working…

How Much Can You Make ONLY from Photography Jobs?

Last month (May) I worked 10 nights at clubs, from 11:30PM – 1:30AM

I also did 4 Portrait Shoots, One wedding, and 3 comp-card shoots, sold $300 in stock photos and did one album cover shoot

Here is my price list:

• Nightclubs – Average print sales per night $10 (50% margin = $5 x 10 nights = $50.00) + $150 charge for 2 hours x 10 = $1550
• Portrait Session (2 hours) – $200 sitting fee, average package $100 with 60% profit margin = ($60 x 4) + ($200 x 4) = $1040.00
• Wedding – $1500/day (7 hours) x 1 (I include $750 print credits @ 60% margin so it costs me $300) x 1 = $1300.00
• Album Cover (1hour)= $300
• Compcards (2 hours) = $200 – $50 printing = $150 profit x 3 = $450

Total hours worked = 42 shooting, approx 84 post-process = 126 hours spent with a profit of 300+300+450+1300+1040+1550 = $4940.00/126 = $39.20 per hour doing something I LOVE!!!

Wow – that’s some serious money for investing only $2500 and some batteries for my flashes…

But also keep in mind, I only upgraded after making the money from my $300 “pocket camera”!

Since I got my start, a whole slew of good books have been written about photography technique, but only one that I’ve found has everything you need to know to get started right.

I suggest you download Digital Photography Success and get started…. and if you have any questions, just email me or leave a comment and I’ll be more than happy to help you out. GOOD LUCK!

ORDER DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY SUCCESS HERE

Our Unconditional, No-Questions-Asked %100 Money-Back Guarantee:

MY PERSONAL GUARANTEE TO IMPROVING AND INCREASING YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS AND ABILITY TO REACH A HIGHER LEVEL THAT YOU WILL BE VERY PROUD OF.

If you don’t think the information in these ebooks will give you exactly what you need to take the digital photos you’ve always wanted to, where people stand back and say “my God, where did you learn to take shots like that” then email me and I’ll refund your money immediately.

I’m here to help you. I am not interested in accepting your money if you are not happy. Because I want YOU to experience the same happiness, joy and confidence as I did when I finally learned how to take professional standard pictures.

ORDER DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY SUCCESS HERE

Engagement sessions offer the chance for you, the photographer,  to personally bond with your new clients, increase sales dramatically, and potentially raise the quality of workmanship you can provide on the “big day”. If you’re looking for advice as a couple, keep reading as this could be very helpful for you as well.

Ok, so you’ve sold a couple (or possibly many) on your skills and have their wedding date penciled in the calendar.  Now it’s time to really get started. As a photographer I’ve come across many people that claim to not be very photogenic, are shy in front of a lens, or whatever. Waiting until the wedding day to gain the trust of your clients will ensure that you have much more time on your hands since the whole job will be completed in only one day, right? WRONG. It’ll ensure you have a lot of time on your hands in the future because even the best photographer can’t pull off a great wedding shoot if the subject is constantly shying away from the camera. This could very well help your career migrate back to that server job you left as your “last time working with food”. Engagement sessions are your opportunity to break the bad habits of your client, build their trust, and give them the confidence in you that they need to let the wedding day flow naturally with you doing your thing, and them doing theirs.

Schedule it ASAP – As Soon As Possible

The sooner the better with engagement photos. This will allow the couple time to decide if they’d like to purchase additional products well in advance of the wedding and also allow you to capture them with the excitement still in their eyes!

Make it Personal

Make suggestions on clothing, hair, make-up, location, etc. but take the couple’s history into account. Some couples spend their days off outdoors and would rather capture the essence of their lifestyle than get all done up, some are just the opposite and want to capture the many late night lounge dates they share. Focus on details like the ring, important moments or stories they share, etc. Be flexible and take things into consideration like where and how they got engaged, what their lifestyle is like. If the couple wants natural, don’t insist on using your stylist or make-up artist. Sentiment Sells! Look at a recent shoot with a beautiful couple that spends most of their time digging clams and fishing on an island that is part of the Outer Banks, we actually had to ride the ferry to get their favorite place - April Jasinski and Barrett Bodiford.

Charging the Client

A lot of photographers do engagement sessions for “free”. I personally don’t think anything free is worth doing. Charging for the engagement session gives you the leverage to negotiate with your new clients on pricing AND services. Imagine this scenario – the client requests a discount on a $2500 package. You COULD discount the package, appearing a bit desperate and then try to “add on” the engagement session to bring up the final sale, or you could simply say “I’ll tell you what, since it’ll help me get to know you better before the wedding I’ll throw in an engagement shoot free of charge…” BAM -this is called “added value”. Sure, tie it into your $5000 packages – but on a basic level it doesn’t make sense to list it as “free”.

How it ALWAYS pays off…

If they’re good (and since the client paid you they should be) then in all likelihood the couple will insist on using the pictures in their announcement at a minimum. Most of the time you can also count on them wanting prints just because…and as an added bonus, their guests will have more pictures to look through (and buy) and you’ll be generating traffic to your website since they’ll want everyone they know to see the pictures.

More “added value” for YOU

As a personal touch, design some nice 4×4 cards with your contact info (and of course web address) to give out at the wedding and/or reception instead of business cards – or if the couple agrees, to put on the tables. Let guests have an extra card when you take their picture – it encourages them to go to the site and look/buy.

UPSELL MORE

What other angles can we work? How about a studio press guest register featuring the engagement photos on each left page? Guests think they’re amazing and it’ll double as another timeless keepsake for the couple.

These are some of the things I recommend, but if you have any ideas please share..