Learn Wedding Photography

Looking at the Flash

2010-06-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

There are lots of portable flash units available for photographers. For any serious photographer, you need to have a decent flash unit for your camera. The flash will be used to help provide an even and uniform level of light on the subject. If photographing a wedding, that light need to be flattering to the bride. You cannot afford to have the brides photos full of shadows or harsh lighting. You will not make money with photos like that and you will have the wrath of the bride and groom upon you.

There are many reasons for choosing the Nikon SB800. From a technological point of view, the Nikon unit is quite unique. When you are ready to take a photo with this unit, the flash fires off a number of almost imperceptible flashes. The computer in the flash unit then takes the data from the reflected light, and makes some judgements to determine the correct amount of light to get a well exposed photo. The flash unit's computer also talks to the Nikon Digital Camera, and determines the distance the subject is from the camera, checks the brightness and reflectivity and comes up with a correct exposure. All, literally, in the blink of an eye.

This system makes it very difficult to take a bad photo , at least from a flash exposure point of view. The SB800 is also one of the most powerful portable flash units, and has many adjustments.

To start your own photography business, visit me here.

Make Money with the Apple iPad

2010-05-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

What is the Apple iPad. Apple describes it as a magical and revolutionary device, at an unbelievable price. Well, what does that really mean. Before it’s launch, there were a great many people who said that it would be a flop. Many companies had tried to make a “tablet” style computer device before, and failed. Many of the so called experts said that they did not believe that Apple could come in and make a similar device, and have it be a success. These so called experts used the ill fated Apple Newton ( one of the first hand held, portable, touch screen computing devices ever made) as an example of how Apple would fail with the iPad. Of course, this argument fails to consider how much of a technological leap the Newton made for its day. It may have been a commercial failure, but it was a technological leap, way ahead of anything available at the time.

Well, in less than 28 days, the Apple iPad has been a resounding success. In fact, it is estimated that Apple has sold more iPads than similar products combined in the last decade. So the question is, why. What has Apple done that has made the difference?

The answer is simple and yet complex. The simple answer is that Apple has done what they always do. Made the complex simple. In this case, they have taken the tried and true operating system from the iPhone/iPod Touch, and extended it into the iPad.

For many users, browsing the Web and checking emails is the main task for their computers, and this can easily be done on the iPad, with much greater ease and speed. And with it’s light weight and portability, and the built in Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity, these tasks can be done wherever you are.

But the Apple iPad is so much more. It is an extremely capable and professional device. Apple has shown how capable with the introduction of a suite of applications for creating slide shows, spreadsheets and page design. The Apple iPad is also an amazing presentation device. Show your sales pitch, annual report or just a bunch of personal photos, on it’s beautiful big screen.

By designing its own chip technology inside the iPad, Apple has been able to design a device that has exceeded the expectations of many of the industry’s experts. The iPad contains a very fast processor, designated the Apple A4 chip. This chip design has enabled the iPad to perform at extremely fast speeds, making the iPad very intuitive in operation. When you do something on the iPad, it responds instantly, making the experience very fulfilling.

And the user experience is what Apple is all about. When you use an Apple product, you can see why the design team, and the CEO (Steve Jobs), are so particular about even the smallest of details. And as a user, when you use Apple products, it just makes sense that they work the way they do.

The Apple iPad will again, revolutionize the mobile computing industry. Developers are already creating some of the most amazing programs for the iPad. Where previously, an investment of several thousand dollars may have been required to perform certain tasks, the iPad enables the same productivity or better, for just a few dollars. You can visit my blog to see some pictures of the iPad and how it could be used as a picture presentation device. Imaging, being able to show big beautiful colorful pictures to friends and family, wherever you go. Or to be ready to make a sales pitch, get directions or make reservations at a nearby restaurant. Yes, the Apple iPad truly is a Magical and Revolutionary Device.

Taking Photos at the 21st Olympic Winter Games

2010-02-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

There is an art to taking to good pictures at any event. Whether you are photographing a wedding, your kids birthday party or the Winter Olympics, you need to be prepared in order to get great shots. If you will be lucky enough to be going to the Winter Olympics, I would like to offer some tips that may help you get some good shots.

As I mentioned, these techniques will help you take great photos anytime you are photographing an event. Lets start some one of the basics.

Whether you are sitting in the bleachers at the 21^st Winter Olympics in Vancouver, or just taking photos of the kids at the local soccer or football game, some things will be obvious. To get good shots, you need to be close to the action, and that usually means you will need a long telephoto lens on the camera. The professionals at the 21^st Winter Olympics will have the luxury of having several cameras with long prime telephoto lenses. But for the average person, you may want to consider using a telephoto zoom lens, the longest one you can afford. These are much more affordable than large prime lenses.

The second thing to consider is resolution. You will need to ensure that you take photos on your camera, at the highest resolution available on you particular camera. By combining the longest lens you have, together with the highest resolution setting, you will have the best chance of taking photos that can be enlarged and show the action on the field.

Thirdly of course, you will need to have some large memory cards to store the images. Make sure that you use the maximum size that your camera can use. Some digital cameras are limited as to the size of the memory card and the speed designation. For example, some cameras cannot accept the high performance SD memory cards, called SDHC. If you are at the 21^st Winter Olympics you sure do want to put a memory card into the camera, and suddenly not be able to take photos.

Fourth, you need to anticipate the action. You need to be aware that although we humans have pretty good reflexes, when it comes time to take a photo at the peak of the action, you need to be prepared to take the shot, just before the action peaks, so as to allow for the time it takes to press the shutter and for the camera to take the shot. In the blog, I have a good example of anticipating the action.

One of the keys to anticipation is to follow the action with one eye looking through the camera, and the other eye looking at the action. Whether you are photographing a wedding or a Winter Olympic event, you keep one eye open and follow the action with the open eye, while looking through the camera with the other eye, making sure that the action is framed in the viewfinder, so you can press the shutter release at any time and get the shot.

This might sound obvious for a downhill ski run at the Winter Olympics, but you may be wondering how it applies at a wedding. Just imagine the bride is about to toss the bouquet into the eager hands of the single girls attending the wedding. You want to get a shot where the bouquet is still in the air, but just about to be caught by one or more of the girls. So, you have one eye looking through the camera, and the other eye follows the path of the bouquet from the bride to the girls. Just before it hits the girls, you take the shot and you should end up with a shot of the bouquet just landing on one or more of the girls hands, with the hands still outstretched reaching for the bouquet.

In fact, if you interested in photography, taking photos can be a very lucrative part time of full time career. In the United States, wedding photography accounts for more than $5 Billion per year. With some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry and can be making some extra income pretty quickly. Wedding photography is often how many top professionals began their careers, either for friends or learning in a wedding photography studio.

In these troubled economic times, photography can help make some extra money, whether you take photos at a wedding, portraits and family photos or some work for a company, taking photos for a flyer or brochure.

If you are interested in becoming a wedding photographer but are not sure where to start, please check out my course at this link for details. I have developed a course which includes all you will need to know PLUS pre-formatted forms ready for you to create your own business. The forms include price lists, photo shot list, contracts and much much more. Check it out here.

Make Money with the Apple iPad

2010-02-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

Below are some sample images showing the new Apple iPad. These are intended to show how effective this device will be as a sales tool for photographers. Always available and ready, the Apple iPad will be a revolutionary device.

We are living in a period of time with a very troubled economy. Unemployment is at record high levels. Starting your own business may not be the easiest choice, but it could well be the difference between being able to pay the bills and keep your house and provide for you and your family, or having to face some not so pleasant choices.

Are you interested in photography? Taking photos can be a very lucrative part time of full time career. In the United States alone, wedding photography accounts for more than $5 Billion per year. That's a very sizable market, and with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business cards and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture.

And now, Apple has introduced an amazing new device called the iPad. This new device will be an incredible sales tool. For photographers, I believe that the iPad will be indispensable. Just image, being able to hold in your hand, thousands of photos and hundreds of albums. To be able to show prospective clients your best work on a large, bright LCD screen. Anywhere you happen to be, you will have the opportunity to showcase your work, and sell your services to interested parties.

Until now, I have used my iPhone as my portable wedding portfolio. The iPhone has been a great companion. Not just a communications device, but also a great, always on, internet connection, GPS, Maps, Apps and a plethora of other uses. I have had and used my iPhone from the very first day of its introduction, June 29, 2007.

So, you can imagine my enthusiasm when Apple announced the iPad. Light, easy to carry around, long battery life, online connections by either wi-fi or via 3g over the cellular network, large memory capacities to hold tens of thousands of images, large bright colorful screen. This device will I believe, change the way we do business.

The Apple iPad will allow us photographers to showcase our best photos either using images stored on the device, or on a website using the built-in network capability. Whether you are a still photographer or a videographer, you will be able to show still images or video of your work, right there in your hand with the iPad. Also, you will be able to present beautiful slide shows, in glorious color and sound.

Using the new software Apps that Apple has developed for the iPad, will allow users to create some truly beautiful presentations. Apple has taken the iWork suite of programs, and created versions specifically for the iPad…at just $10 each. Quite a deal. The suite includes Keynote, for creating the best looking slide show presentations on any system. Pages, for creating print documents. Looking at the demo of Pages, Apple has created an amazing piece of software, that includes all the rich and complex features of the desktop version, but made it ultra easy to use on the iPad. The last piece of the suite is Numbers, a spreadsheet program that allows you to do all the things you would do with a spreadsheet, such as calculation in real time, the total cost of an album for a client, virtually instantly while talking with your prospective client.

The iPad will be available within a couple of months. Now is a good time to begin planning some sales strategies for using the iPad to make money with your digital camera. If you are interested in making money taking wedding photos, please visit my site where you can purchase my course, designed to show you everything you need to know to start a wedding photo business.

At my wedding site, you can preview the many benefits of using my course to enable you to make extra money taking photos with your digital camera. The site, www.howtoshootweddings.net will show you how you can make money using your digital camera and using the Apple iPad as an effective sales tool.

Make Money or Start a New Career with your Digital Camera

2009-10-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! This new Canon DSLR camera boasts 18 Megapixels and an array of amazing on board technologies. This type of camera would have cost $20,000 to $25,000 not too many years ago, but now is available for less than a tenth of that cost. Is it any wonder why I am always so excited about the digital revolution.

The digital revolution has created some amazing technologies. Cameras now have the ability to be able to recognize when a person enters the frame, and will take a photo when it senses that everyone is smiling. The camera will even warn you if someone blinked when the photo was taken, allowing you to take another and so be sure of getting a good image. Wow! Awesome.

The computer inside the camera is doing a whole bunch of amazing things when you take a photo. With the typical DSLR system, the computer will analyze the scene you are about to capture and compare the lighting and contrast with a database of one hundred thousand images or more, and then make a decision as to the aperture and shutter speed required to get a good photo based on this data. And if the camera senses that there is insufficient light to take a good photo, then the computer will instruct the camera to fire the flash at the same time to get that perfect image. All in the blink of an eye.

So, what does all this technology mean? It means that it is very difficult to take a bad photo, at least technically. But, if you enjoy taking pictures, and you have a decent camera, then you can learn to be more creative and start taking pictures that people will pay you to take. If you enjoy photography, and like using the computer to edit the photos, then you can start your own business. Like everything in life, you can always learn the techniques required to take good photos as long as you enjoy the process. And wedding photography is a great way to start making money with your love of photography. A great many of todays photographers began their careers by taking wedding photos of friends and family.

But how do you get started? The first thing you need to do is buy and read all the wedding magazines at the bookstore. Don’t be embarrassed about buying “women’s” magazines. These will show you the latest styles in wedding photography, and will show you how to take really good images. These magazines usually will be displaying the latest in photo styles, as well as the latest in wedding attire. Part of your job as the wedding photographer, will be to make suggestions when requested.

The magazines will help with one of the biggest problem areas I see in wedding photos, and that is in posing the entire wedding group. Most times, you will not have a lot of time to arrange the group into a pleasing portrait. Looking at as many different photos of groups will help you when it come time to photograph the group, be it a small or large group.

This also goes for the photos of the bridal couple and their families. I have met a number of newly weds who have complained about their photographer not having taken the pictures they expected, including a decent selection of the immediate families of the couple. In this regard, you will often face other challenges also, such as parents who are divorced, parents who have new partners, either married or just friends. You need to be aware that you cannot place these people next to each other, and usually not even on the same side as each other. You do need to be very sensitive to these situations.

If the couple being married have children, then you also need to take special care in making sure that these children figure prominently in your photos for the day. If they are also part of the bridal party, then be sure they are in all the group photos, as well as photos with just the bride and groom. You will want to be sure that you also take as many photos as possible of these kids by themselves. You will have very happy clients if you follow these rules. You will also have the opportunity to sell more reprints if you follow these rules. The kids will want one of the photos, as well as the bridal couple, and also the grandparents.

Which brings me to another point you must follow. Always be sure to capture some good portraits of the grandparents by themselves, with just the bridal couple, with just the kids, and also with the bridal couple and the kids as a group. These generational portraits will have great sentimental value for the bridal couple and the families. Remember, often, these photos of the grandparents will be the last photos they will ever have taken with friends and family, before passing on. So it is critical that you capture all the images that the bride and groom are paying you for, even if you are doing it as a favor to a friend, you need to be aware of these critical images.

For more than thirty years, Tom Jackson has been photographing brides, people and places, all around the world. As a professional photographer, Tom, like many pros, began his career shooting weddings, for himself and other studios. More info available here.

How To Take Great Photos of Kids

2009-09-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Taking photos of children can sometimes be quite challenging. But, like all portraits, as the proverb goes, the eyes are the doorway to the soul. It is important that the subjects eyes are well lit. The eyes portray so much emotion and character, that it is critical that they are well lit and in focus. If the eyes are not in focus, then the image usually will not work.

One of my most enjoyable moments in photography, is when the client takes a look at the proofs and smiles, cries, laughs or just plain shows raw emotion for the moments caught and now remembered. When your client shows this kind of emotion, you know that you have done a great job in capturing the character of the subject. And kids can be quite difficult to capture with natural expressions.

As the photographer, you are always looking for that definable moment that captures the spirit of the child. The expression on the face, the look in the eyes, the smile, the gestures. All play a critical part in capturing the essential character of the subject. So, you not only have to be a good photographer, using all the skills you have to capture the moment technically correct, but you also need to be a psychologist, comedian, peer, parent, friend and whatever else you need to do to capture the moment when it is right.

There are some rules, of course. Technically, even if you are outdoors, you need to generally have the flash fire with every photos in order to open up the shadows and create even, smooth lighting for the subject. Flash will also make sure that the eyes are clearly visible and have a tell tale catch light in the pupil. This will help make the portraits look more natural. You will need to be sure that the flash does not overpower the subject and blow out highlights. You will be using the flash to just fill in the shadows (when outdoors) not using the flash as the main source of light. The flash will need to be one or two ƒ stops less than would normally be required.

Also, you will need to be sure that there are no distracting elements in the background that would otherwise spoil a masterpiece. Of course, you can always use Photoshop to edit out distracting elements, but it is always better to try and set the scene properly before taking the photos. This will save you a lot of time and effort later when you are getting ready to make prints of the images.

An important consideration when photographing children, is to try and make sure that you are taking photos at their level. Do not stand with the camera pointing down to take photos. They will not look normal. You want to be at their level for the images to look natural. To ensure the eyes and face are exposed properly, you will usually need to be sure that you use the flash on each image. However, try to balance the flash with the available light so the images still look natural.

Always be sure that when taking photos, you do so using the RAW format (if available). This will give you maximum flexibility when processing the images on the computer later. The RAW format will give you an image with all the image data captured by the camera. If you use the JPEG format (see next para), you will automatically be losing a certain amount of information, which you can never get back. Also, use the maximum resolution available on your camera. This will enable you to crop your images as necessary, without any apparent loss of detail.

The JPEG format was created many years ago in an effort to enable cameras to be able to take and store more images on the available memory cards. In the beginning of memory cards, the technology was expensive, and memory cards had only limited capacity. Today, memory cards are very inexpensive and now come in very large sizes. When shooting in the JPEG format, the computer inside the camera analyses the image data and makes a determination of image data that can be discarded without adversely affecting the overall image. The data that is discarded can never be regained. Once it is discarded, it is gone forever. So, when shooting images, use the RAW format if available or if you have to shoot JPEG images, be sure to select the finest JPEG mode available, in an effort to keep as much image data as possible.

I have included some sample images in the blog post listed below. You will note that the flash has been used on each of these images. However, if you look closely, you will not see any harsh shadows from the flash as can often happen. I have balanced the amount of flash output to the conditions so that the lighting looks more natural. It is very important that you maintain detail in the face of your subjects. Too much flash will create distracting highlights on skin, and detract from your photos. Typically, if you can, you should make sure that the flash is giving off about one or two stops less light than the available light. So, if the available light shows an exposure of 125 at ƒ8, then set the flash for an aperture on 5.6 or 4.

Tom has had a camera or mouse in his hand for more than 30 years. His step father was a well known English actor who starred in many films with the likes of Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne and many others. One of his favorite movies was with John Wayne in The Quiet Man, shot in Ireland. He played the part of the visiting Bishop. After coming off set one day, he was approached two Nuns who thought he was a real bishop, and so the nickname "Bish" stuck with him from then on. He was an avid photographer, and taught me photography from the age of 12. He was a great man and a great mentor. I miss him very much.

Photography is a wonderful medium. It captures moments in time forever available for you and the world to see, whenever you want to go back a remember a special moment. Your parents, your childhood, your family and kids. And if you enjoy photography as much as I do, then you might be considering how to make some money with your camera. The hardest part is making a start. The course described in the web site can help if you are serious about making money in photography.

Like many professionals, Tom Jackson began his career by shooting weddings. You can make a substantial income shooting weddings with little overhead. Tom has had a camera or computer mouse in his hand for more than 30 years. With the advent of digital cameras and software, Tom has been a consultant to the graphic design, advertising and publishing industries, teaching digital technology. You can get more info on wedding photography, cameras and computer image editing, and see examples of his work, or info on how to start your own business at this website

The RAW Facts, RAW or JPEG

2009-07-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

RAW file opened in Apple Aperture.

Using the Loupe to inspect the image.

Converted to Sepia Tone.

You may be looking for ways to make some extra cash in these hard financial times. If you own a digital camera system and can edit images on your computer, you may have all the skills you need to make a good second income. If you have a passion for taking photos and sharing them with others, you might be able to make a good second income with digital photography. And, if you are interested, you may even be able to make a new career with your photography skills. Many of the top professional photographers began their careers taking photos for friends and family. They had a passion for the creative potential of photography, and enjoyed taking photos whenever the opportunity became available. If that sounds like you, then you too may be able to start a new career, or at least make a good second income.

The technology of digital cameras has come a long way in a very short period of time. Cameras today can tell when a subject is smiling, they can tell when a person enters the image area (you set the camera on time release and when you appear back in the photo the camera senses that and will then take the photo) and they can even tell you if someone blinked when the photo was taken so you can take another and get everyone with their eyes open. Amazing technologies.

But, a question most beginners ask is what file format to use. You may be aware that the smaller, less expensive compact cameras do not have an option, other than JPEG and the ability to take lower resolution images. Cameras today are typically ranging in the area of 8-12 megapixels. By allowing you to use say a 3 megapixel option, you can take many more images, but they cannot be enlarged nearly as much as taking an image at 12 megapixels.

The higher end compact cameras and virtually all DSLR ( Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras, will allow you to select either RAW or JPEG. Note, when shooting in the RAW format, the camera will always use the maximum resolution of the sensor. Although you can get very good quality images shooting at high res. JPEG option, you will lose many of the editing options whan processing these images on the computer. It is always advisable to shoot in RAW format, to give you the maximum flexibility when editing your images on the computer.

There are many options for editing your RAW images. In most cases, the camera maker will supply some software for your computer, and there are numerous software companies producing software for editing RAW images. Two of the most common include Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Aperture from Apple.

If you goto the blog mentioned at the bottom of this article, you will see some sample images taken from an editing session using Aperture. You will notice on the left side of the first image, many of the editing options available when editing a RAW file. You can more easily restore detail in both highlights and shadows, because the RAW file retains every piece of information that was captured at the time of taking the image. With JPEG, you lose image data, because JPEG files are compressed, and hence, some data is lost when the file is created. This data can never be recovered. It is gone for good.

In the second image in the blog, you will see a drop down menu in the Adjustments pane, and the Sepia Tone option is about to be selected. The third image shows the resulting Sepia Tone image. Now, while this can be done with a JPEG file, the beauty of the RAW format is that the original file is never lost. The software just makes these adjusted images to Proxies of the RAW file, so you can always go back to the original RAW file anytime.

Another advantage of shooting RAW files, is that you will always have the maximum amount of data available for enlargeing your images and making great quality prints. Even if you need to print an 8x10 photo from just a small area of the file, you will usually have enough detail to do so. Remember, you can always create smaller files from your large RAW files, but you can not create large files from a small JPEG image, and expect to get a good looking print.

If you need to email your files, the software will also allow you to Batch Process a whole folder of images, creating a small JPEG file from each RAW file automatically, saving you a lot of time and hassle. Then, for anyone that needs a larger version of the emailed file, it will be an easy task for you to provide such an image.

These days, the cost of memory cards has come down so much, that the cost of memory cards is no longer an issue when taking photos. You should always take your photos at the highest resolution your camera will allow. Memoery cards of 2gig and 4gig are now so cheap, you can purchase several and have always have a spare with you. So, happy shooting and have fun taking photos.

Like many professionals, Tom Jackson began his career by shooting weddings. You can make a substantial income shooting weddings with very little overhead. You can get more info on wedding photography, cameras and computer image editing, and see examples of his work, or get more info on how to start your own business, please visit my site here.

Create Black and White Images

2009-07-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Original Color Image.

Converted with Red Channel Overlaid on Grayscale Image

Creating a Sepia Tone print.

Final Sepia Tone.

Are you looking for ways to make some extra cash in these hard financial times? Do you own a digital camera system? Can you edit images on your computer? Do you enjoy taking photos and sharing them with others? If you answered yes to these questions, then you might be able to make a good second income with digital photography. And, if you are interested, you may even be able to make a new career with your photography skills.

Digital photography has come a long way in just a few short years. Cameras are now able to do some amazing things thanks to computer technology. Some of the new systems just coming to market include the ability to take a photo only when everyone is smiling, and the camera can tell you if some one blinked! Wow, now that is amazing.

Photography is a fun and exciting art and people with creative skills will always be in demand. And in this day and age of amazing color camera and printer systems, many people are looking back at the art of black and white photography. Black and white photos gave always had an intrinsically artistic aura about them. Ansel Adams developed the Zone System, in an effort to make black and white photography more predictable and consistent. In his day, this was a time consuming and labor intensive task.

But, with the computer systems of today, and the inexpensive ink jet printers available, just about anyone can create good black and white images.

So, if you are interested in creating black and white images from your color photos, let me show you a couple of techniques to create great images. You can see samples of the conversions, beginning with an original color wedding photo and the method used to create the black and white versions at the blog mentioned at the end of this article.

If you open an image in Adobe Photoshop, and take a look at the channels, you will notice that the Red channel always has an interesting, bright, almost infra red appearance. In the first example shown in the blog, this Red channel is first copied to the clipboard, the image in converted to Grayscale via the Image, Mode menu option. Once the image is in Grayscale mode, Paste the copied Red channel on top of the newly created Grayscale image. Next, lower the opacity of this new layer to around 50 percent, or just until you have a visually pleasing result. In most cases, the resulting Black and White photo will have a beautiful texture, with a more pleasing result than just the default Photoshop conversion. Of course, this is just one method.

Another method is to use the Black and White adjustment option in the image menu. This method gives you the ability to refine the grayscale appearance of each color in the original image. Many people prefer to use this method, but in my opinion, there are many ways to achieve the result you are looking for, and so I believe you should experiment, have fun, and discover other ways to achieve the desired result.

Now, another option is to create a Sepia print, or a Duotone. This is the recreation of an old technique, where the image has a slightly brownish/reddish tint. The process of achieving this look is via the Duotone option in Photoshop. So, once you have converted your image into a Grayscale image, you go back to the Image menu and select the Duotone option from the menu. This will bring up a dialog box, where you can specify the number of colors you want to use, in this case, a Sepia tone, we want to add a reddish cast, so we will be adding just one other color to the Grayscale image. By clicking on the color square you can select any color you would like to use. Of course, you may want to create an image that has a different color cast, such as a blue etc. Entirely up to you. Once you have selected the color, you then click on the small graph on the left, which will allow you to tweak to effect the color has on the final image.

Now, the final piece of the puzzle is the printer you use to print the results for your client. You will want to purchase a printer with 8 or 9 colors. This type of printer will have two or three black ink cartridges, which will enable you to create a rally beautiful Black and White image, full of the rich tones and lots of detail, to create a truly outstanding image.

Remember, people do not mind paying for quality. If you spend the time to input your creativity to get the images you and your client desire, you will have a client who will be recommending your services where ever they go. Certainly, every time they show someone one of the images you created. Your client will forever appreciate your efforts. And as a photographer, that is what it is all about. Client satisfaction. And client satisfaction leads to income. No one will ever be upset for paying for quality results.

Like many professionals, Tom Jackson began his career by shooting weddings. You can make a substantial income shooting weddings with very little overhead. You can get more info on wedding photography, cameras and computer image editing, and see examples of his work, or get more info on how to start your own business http://www.howtoshootweddings.net

Portraits for Cash

2009-07-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

It is possible to make a good income doing the things you love. Photography is a fun and exciting art and people with creative skills will always be in demand. Considering the hard economic times we are facing right now, many people are looking for ways to supplement their incomes. More and more people are losing their jobs. Finding ways to make ends meet is becoming difficult. But, if you own a digital camera system, then you may have the skills and the equipment you need to make a good second income.

Many of today’s top photographers started out taking pictures of friends and family, before they reached the pinnacle of their profession. Some of the top wedding photographers started taking pictures at the request of friends, before they realized they could make a decent living taking photos.

Often, you will be asked if you can take some portraits. If you have decided to try your hand at starting your own part time business, then taking portraits is a great way to make some extra cash and get some great experience. Remember, as a photographer, you need to understand what the client is looking for, and try to take photos that represent what the client needs. You will add your creativity to the equation, and hopefully you will have a satisfied, paying customer, who will recommend your services to all their contacts.

In the blog mentioned at the end of this article, you will find some sample photos that explain more clearly the concepts covered here. As mentioned, you need to show some creativity and you need to capture the essence of the clients character. That is what a portrait is all about. Capturing the essence of the client in such a way that is interesting and tells a story for anyone who will be viewing the images.

In this case, the client wanted some images to capture the spirit and exhilaration of speed and independence, provided by the car and motorcycle of the client. The car is a special high performance model from the Chrysler factory, with a race tuned, turbocharged engine.

To make the portrait stand out, the first image is shot from ground level. This gives a sense of power and speed. The client is posed beside the car, so one can get a good clear view of both the client and the car. This gives a sense of balance, and shows the client as someone who enjoys taming the power of the machine.

The second image is designed to show the sense of power and speed, by taking photos of the car in motion. The trick here is to have the car and driver moving in a direction around the camera. The photographer then need to pan the camera at the same speed as the car, so the car and the driver will be in sharp focus, but the background and the wheels of the car will show a motion blur, giving a heightened sense of speed.

In the third image, we have an image of the car, her motorcycle and the client. In this image, we bring all the elements together in a way that shows these are the things that matter to the client. Here is someone who enjoys power and speed and the thrill of the open road. Here is a person who is a true independent, self motivated and fun loving individual. This is what the client is looking for in their portrait session, and that is what you have to deliver.

If you enjoy photography, then making images like these will be fairly easy for you. In this type of session, you need to have fun with the assignment and takes lots and lots of images. These days, memory cards are cheap, and reviewing the photos on the computer screen is easy and fun. You need to work with your clients. Make them feel at ease and enjoy the shoot. You will come away with lots of great images to sell if you do this.

Remember, people do not mind paying for quality. If you spend the time to input your creativity to get the images, you will have a client who will be recommending your services where ever they go. Certainly, every time they show someone one of the images you created. Never be afraid to look a little silly if that what it takes to get a great image. Your client will forever appreciate your efforts. And as a photographer, that is what it is all about. Client satisfaction. And client satisfaction leads to income. No one will ever be upset for paying for quality results.

Like many professionals, Tom Jackson began his career by shooting weddings. You can make a substantial income shooting weddings with very little overhead. You can get more info on wedding photography, cameras and computer image editing, and see examples of his work, or get more info on how to start your own business here http://www.howtoshootweddings.net

Extra Cash With Your Digital Camera

2009-06-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a wedding album being prepared in Apple's iPhoto software. This program come with every new Mac computer, and it makes it very easy to create and order custom wedding albums. This is the cover jacket for the album, and all the text starts out as a place holder, so you just select the default text and compose the correct text. All very easy with a very professional finished result.

This is a sample spread page. Creating an album is just a simple matter of drag and dropping images into the frame you want, to get the look you want for each album. You can create a large album for the bride and groom and smaller albums for the parents and friends.

The economic depression we are all facing at the moment, is certainly one of the worst, and some believe, even more damaging the great depression back in 1929. Many people are being laid off and losing their jobs and their income. It is very difficult for most people to continue to pay the bills and the mortgage when this happens. Having a skill with which you can make a part time or even full time income if necessary, can be the difference between making ends meet or filing for bankruptcy.

If you own a digital camera system, then you may have the skills and the equipment you need to make a good second income. Wedding photography can be a very lucrative part time of full time option. In the United State alone, wedding photography is approximately a $5 Billion per year industry. That's a sizable market. And with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business cards, and even tips on using Apple iPhoto, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture. You can see more information at my blog or website.

If you use an Apple Macintosh computer system, you have all the items you need to be able to process, edit, order prints and create photo albums, right from within the iPhoto software. You can create custom wedding books using iPhoto, and fully customize the printed product to please any bride.

iPhoto makes it quite easy to order prints and photo books. The orders are place right within the software, see my blog for sample images of the process. You can add words as well to really get a personalized product for your clients. The bride and groom will love the results, as they are very professionally printed, and relatively inexpensive.

Apple’s iPhoto makes it easy to edit and adjust your images. You can also remove red eye and blemishes. iPhoto ’09 is quite a powerful product if you do not own or wish to purchase other, more expensive software, such as Adobe Photoshop.

One of the first questions I am asked when shooting with a digital camera (after the "which camera do you use, question), is, what format should I shoot? Tiff, High Res. JPEG, RAW etc. And the answer is very simple. RAW! There is NO other option. And you need to make sure that you are using the highest resolution (mega pixels) available on your camera.

You should only be using a digital SLR (DSLR) camera, with the most powerful (expensive) flash you can afford, available for your system. When you shoot a wedding, you will need to use flash for almost every shot you take. Indoors and out, even in bright sunlight. The flash will light dark subjects inside and when you are outside, it will fill in the shadows of your subject, and make the resulting photos look their best.

A very important point to remember when you photograph the bride, is to make sure that there is lots of detail in the wedding gown. With digital cameras, the sensor cannot record as wide a range of light to dark as with traditional film cameras, and whites in particular, can be very challenging to record with detail. This is where you need to be able to balance the flash with the available light to get acceptable results. Otherwise, you may have some angry people calling you after the event. And you cannot arrange a do-over for a wedding, it is a one shot deal. So, make sure you do lots of practice before your first real paying event. A good way to practice is to have you wife/girlfriend/kids dress up in white clothes and take lots of shots and note the settings you need to get detail in the dress, and good even skin tones on the brides face.

Photos of kids at the wedding can help make you a lot of extra money. Whenever possible, set up the kids in the bridal party by themselves. These kinds of photos will sell to the parents, the bride and groom and many other family members, especially the grandparents. Part of your job is to not just take good photos, but to take photos that will sell and keep you in a job and allow you to buy more equipment as you need it. You should always take individual shots of each kid and have the parents help to get them comfortable so you can get some good shots. Always try to choose an interesting background where possible. In order to focus attention on the kids (refer to the photo on my blog, listed at the end of this article) and not the background, I have made a selection around the kids in Adobe Photoshop, and darkened the background a little, so the kids will stand out and be the center of attention in the photo.

Like many professionals, Tom Jackson began his career by shooting weddings. You can make a substantial income shooting weddings with very little overhead. You can get more info on wedding photography, cameras and computer image editing, and see examples of his work, or get more info on how to start your own business at http://www.howtoshootweddings.net

Making Money in Hard Times

2009-03-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

This is the final image after editing with Adobe Photoshop. The original image is below. Also, I have included some enlarged detail images for reference.

We are currently in an economic depression. Many people are being laid off and losing their jobs and their income. It is very difficult for most people to continue to pay the bills and the mortgage when this happens. Having a part time hobby with which you can make a part time or even full time income if necessary, can be the difference between making ends meet or filing for bankruptcy.

You can make a good income with wedding photography. It can be a very lucrative part time of full time option. In the United State alone, wedding photography is approximately a $5 Billion per year industry. That's a sizable market. And with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business cards, and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture. You can see more information and order at my blog or website.

Using Adobe Photoshop will be essential to making a good income with photography as many of the photos you take will require some kind of manipulation, even if it is just a small brightness or contrast adjustment. However, if you can master some of the trickier tools, you will be able to create some stunning photos. You will also be able to contract to other studios for work. Mastering Photoshop is still something that not everyone can do. But id you enjoy creating images on the computer, then you can could be in great demand by others looking for help.

On my blog, you will see images of a cabin in the snow country of Arizona. The client wanted an image that they could frame and put on the wall. They were very proud of their cabin, but to make a really good image required some extensive Photoshop work. The main tool I used was the Clone tool. I think that the Clone tool and the Pen tool are the two most powerful tools in Photoshop. If you master these tools, you will be able to create some really great images.

As you will see, by astute use of the Clone tool, the overhead power lines were eliminated, so we have a nice clear view of the beautiful blue sky. Next, we smoothes out the snow covered road, and deleted the car by Cloning the snow over the car. Next, the sidewalk was smoothed out and the footprints were removed. Then, some Cloning of the snow on the roof to make the roof line look better. Finally, judicious use of the curves and a selection on the cabin itself, brought the warmth and texture of the wood walls to life. These kinds of techniques will enable you to earn money, even in a down economy. Just be sure to practice as often as you can.

One of the first questions I am asked when shooting with a digital camera (after the "which camera do you use, question), is, what format should I shoot? Tiff, High Res. JPEG, RAW etc. And the answer is very simple. RAW! There is NO other option. And you need to make sure that you are using the highest resolution (mega pixels) available on your camera.

You should only be using a digital SLR (DSLR) camera, with the most powerful (expensive) flash you can afford, available for your system. When you shoot a wedding, you will need to use flash for basically every shot you take. Indoors and out, even in bright sunlight. The flash will light dark subjects inside and when you are outside, it will fill in the shadows of your subject, and make the resulting photos look their best.

A very important point to remember when you photograph the bride, is to make sure that there is lots of detail in the brides dress. With digital cameras, the sensor cannot record as wide a range of light to dark as with traditional film cameras, and whites in particular, can be very challenging to record with detail. This is where you need to be able to balance the flash with the available light to get acceptable results. Otherwise, you may have some angry people calling you after the event. And you cannot arrange a do-over for a wedding, it is a one shot deal. So, make sure you do lots of practice before your first real, paying event. A good way to practice is to have you wife/girlfriend/kids dress up in white clothes and take lots of shots and note the settings you need to get detail in the dress, and good even skin tones on the brides face.

Photos of kids at the wedding can help make you a lot of extra money. Whenever possible, set up the kids in the bridal party by themselves. These kinds of photos will sell to the parents, the bride and groom and many other family members, especially the grandparents. Part of your job is to not just take good photos, but to take photos that will sell and keep you in a job and allow you to buy more equipment as you need it. You should always take individual shots of each kid and have the parents help to get them comfortable so you can get some good shots. Always try to choose an interesting background where possible. In order to focus attention on the kids (refer to the photo on my blog, listed at the end of this article) and not the background, I have made a selection around the kids in Adobe Photoshop, and darkened the background a little, so the kids will stand out and be the center of attention in the photo.

Your Wedding Photography Business, Taking Special Photos

2009-01-04T17:12:00.001-08:00

Wedding photography is a very fulfilling activity. You get to meet lots of people. You travel to places you have never been to before. You will see some beautiful sunsets. And you get to be intimately involved in an event full of emotion for the bride and groom, their parents and all the friends and family who attend.

If you enjoy photography, and you have some good digital equipment, then you too can participate in the wedding photography industry. An industry that is worth approximately $5 Billion per year. Many of today’s professional photographers began their careers shooting weddings. It is usually the easiest way to get into the photography industry because nearly all of us know someone who will be getting married. And they will need a photographer.

If you know the bride and groom well enough, you can offer them a deal directly or have one of your friends approach the bride or groom. In the tough times we face today, most couples will love the opportunity to save some money. But you do need to ensure that you provide the couple with a quality product. Check some of the downloadable courses available on the net if you are not experienced.

When I am teaching wedding photography, I always tell my students, that every photo you take needs to be good enough that it is one you would buy yourself if you were the bride. Just because you are starting out in this industry, does not mean that you can deliver an inferior product. You really do not want the wrath of the bride and her mom coming down upon you.

One way I make sure I have saleable photos, is to pose the couple, but not in a way that makes the photos look posed. Yes, many will need to be posed, like the photos of the parents etc. But if you can provide some photos to show off the glamour of the occasion or the fun that the couple had on the day, you will receive lots of orders for prints, and the referral of the couple to others they know who will need the services of a wedding photographer.

Whenever I have the chance, I will use items that are meaningful to the bride and groom in my photos. For instance, if the bride is wearing an item that has been handed down from one generation to the next, I will make sure I cover that item in one or more photos for the bride and her family to choose from and hence, make me some more money. This is a business, and you need to keep in mind that you need to make money so you can invest in new technology, as well as providing your clients with a memorable product.

If you check out the photo on the blog shown at the end of this article, you will see one such photo. The groom owned an old Cadillac which was his pride and joy. It was the main car for the bride and grooms arrival at the church and reception. So, to make a memorable shot, I had the bride take the wheel and pretend to be driving away in the grooms pride and joy, while he tried to hop aboard before she ‘got away’. The couple loved this shot. He had to get both feet off the ground to make the shot work, and I did some Photoshop work to make it look like the car was traveling at a higher speed than it was. I think you’ll agree, the shot came out great and the couple loved it.

Make Money with your own Photography Business

2008-12-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

I am writing this article in December 2008. In the economic crises we are now facing, it can be very difficult to make enough money to pay the bills. Many people are being laid off, and finding work is becoming more and more difficult. One way is to start your own home based photography business using your digital camera. If you own a good quality digital camera, you can start your own home photography business. Wedding Photography is an approx. $5 Billion per year industry.

We currently face some of the most difficult economic times in our history. It is becoming more important than ever that people find a way to make an extra income at home. Many online business opportunities usually make a lot of money for the owners of the site, but it can be very difficult for anyone else to make a part time income. As a photographer, you will be your own boss. You will have a great opportunity to make a real income. And with so many people losing their jobs, having a way to make an income at home is can be a true blessing

Using your digital camera you can make a very good income at home. If you enjoy taking pictures and sharing them with friends and family, then you might consider taking wedding photos on weekends. Wedding photography can be a very lucrative part time or full time career. In the United State alone, the Wedding Photography industry accounts for approx., $5 Billion per year. That's a very large market. And with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. All you need is a course that includes business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business cards, and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture.

In this article, I will explain some technical considerations of picture taking. Available light photography and many people often have questions about the aperture and how to use it effectively.

Available light photography is pretty much as the term says. You take photos using just the available light in the scene. You do not add any light with either a flash or other light sources. However, by using a reflector, you can redirect, or model, the light to give a more pleasing and natural effect. In image above, you will see a sample photo, of a scene from a wedding which does not use a flash.

If you look carefully at the photo, you will notice some very obvious things about the light. Overall, the light is very even right across the whole image, including the background of the image. This is because the light is bouncing off the walls of the church and lighting the whole scene. A flash on the other hand, will only light a small part of the scene, usually just the bride. The problem with flash is that it will product a lot of hard shadows both on the bride and dress, and also on the background. With flash, you would normally see a big shadow of the bride on the wall in the background. By using available light, you eliminate this shadow. Also, the shadows on the brides face are also very soft.

Now, the biggest problem with available light photography, is that the exposures are usually much longer, and so there is more opportunity for the subjects to move a create a blurred image, thus negating all the advantages. So, you need to let people know that this is a special lighting effect and that they need to stay very still for the exposure. The image shown in the blog, had a shutter speed of a quarter of a second. Photographically speaking, that is a long time. Most exposures will be in the order of a hundredth of a second or more, which will freeze the movement of most subjects (maybe not very active children) and give you a nice pleasing photo as a result.

So, available light photography will consider two aspects of the camera to make a correct exposure. One is, as we mentioned, the shutter speed, and the other of course, is the aperture.

Lets take a look at how a correct exposure works. The shutter speed, in a wedding for instance, will freeze the movement of the subjects, so that the images appear sharp and pleasing to the eye. So, the shutter speed determines how long the light affects the sensor on the camera, and the aperture affects how much light hits the sensor. So the combination of how much light hits the sensor for how long determines by the shutter speed, gives us a correct exposure.

The secondary effects of the shutter speed is the amount of movement shown on the image. A fast shutter speed will show no movement, and a slow shutter speed will cause a blur of the image, either from the movement of the subject or by not holding the camera perfectly steady.

The secondary effect of the aperture is how much of the image is in sharp focus. With either shutter speed or aperture, a lot of people get confused about the numbers involved. The aperture shown on a camera lens is usually shown as f5.6 or f8 etc. The confusing part for many photographers, is that the larger the f number, the smaller the lens opening. But do not let the numbers confuse you. The numbers are only written this way because of space constraints. The number is really a fraction, and every number technically should be written with a one on top of the number. So, f8 is really f and 1 over 8. And f16 is really f 1 over 16, or a sixteenth. What this means is that each stop downs, halves the amount of light coming through the lens.

The effect of closing down the aperture this way, is that the smaller the aperture, the larger the depth of field. In other words, the smaller the aperture, more of the image will appear in focus. So, when shooting portraits, we usually want a shallow depth of field, so that the background does not affect the appearance of the subject. But as we adjust the aperture, by letting more or less light reach the sensor, we have to adjust the shutter speed to allow the light to be on the sensor for a longer or shorter period to make a correct exposure.

Making Money with Wedding Photography

2008-11-03T09:31:00.001-08:00

I always try to keep everything light and fun for the bride and groom, as well as the bridal party. You will be able to get some great shots by making sure that they have fun at the same time as you are setting up the shots and taking the photos. The best shots are often the more relaxed, informal ones. You can make quite a lot of money on these shots, as everyone in the shot will want a copy, as well as parents and grandparents.

Have your friends have told you how good your photography is? Are the prints you create appreciated by friends and family? Have they have suggested that you start your own wedding photography studio? If so, you may be asking what is your next step? Well, with a little help, you can get started in your very own business.

You may have been taking photos of friends and family for a number of years now, and everyone makes the comment that you should start your own business. Sounds great, but where do you start. Well, there is a great eCourse with everything you need to get started. This article, covers just a couple of things that you will need to be aware of. The course concentrates on wedding photography, however, the techniques apply to any type of photography. It’s just that with wedding photography, you have a much better chance of making a good part or full time income, without having to go through years of study and research. Many great photographers began their careers by shooting weddings for friends and family, on a part time basis.

It is possible that you can make a lot of money shooting weddings. Many of the top professional photographers began their careers shooting weddings either for themselves or for a studio. Doing it for yourself of course, means that you get to keep all the money. But, please note that as the photographer, you will often be required to act as the wedding coordinator as well, as these days, most brides cannot afford one. And if there is no wedding coordinator, then it is usually the wedding photographer who will make sure everyone is where they should be most of the time. So, a downloadable training course will help in this aspect also, as it covers the entire event in detail. As the wedding photographer, you need to make sure that the bride and groom follow your directions. Make them aware that it is in their interest to follow your directions because they want a whole lot of great looking photos for their album.

As you prepare for an event, you need to make sure that all your equipment is ready, and that you have everything you need for the days event. If possible, be sure to have a series of back-ups, a spare camera body, a spare lens and a spare flash in case any of your prime units fails. There is no excuse for the photographer to have to come up to the bride, and try to explain that your camera just broke, and you cannot take any more photos. Again, a death sentence. Your back-up units do not need to be identical to your prime units, but they should be at least close to the same specs. The camera needs to be able to take images at the same resolution as your prime camera, otherwise there will be a noticeable difference in quality of the final prints. The flash unit can be a smaller unit with a slightly lower light output, but if it happens, then this unit will have to do quite a bit of work, so be careful. Make sure that the spare flash is fully charged before taking photos. I have seen a number of photographers get excited about taking some pictures at an event, and they will often just fire away, taking picture after picture, not realizing that the flash is not fully charged for each picture, and so, most of the resulting images will have serious problems, that may not be able to be recovered on the computer. So, make sure that you have good back-up equipment.

Are you are ready to take the next step? Would you like to start your own photography business? Then you will find that the wedding photography course is designed to get you off to a great start. Everything is in this course, including all the forms you will need. They are provided as a computer file that you can change and edit so you can create your very own designs, with your own information. This alone will help you and your business look very professional and save you a lot of time and money, so you can get bookings and start making some money with your very own wedding photography business.

Learn Wedding Photography - Your Portfolio

2008-09-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

In order to win business from prospective clients, you will, at some point, have to show them images you have taken from past events. Even if you have never been the designated photographer at a wedding, you will still need to be able to show your skills and creativity in order to for you to be hired. Go to a friends wedding and take some photos, or ask the bride if you can take some shots of her in return for a free print.

Showing sample pictures you have taken is probably the best way to get an order for a wedding event. There are of course, many ways to show your pictures, for instance, on a web page or in an album with printed images to show prospective clients.

But in this day and age of technology, there is another way to show your images. One that will allow you to have you album with you at all times. One that will show off your pictures in all their beautiful color. One that allows your potential client to see your work in glorious detail. I am referring to portable devices with high resolution color LCD screens.

An ideal device for the purpose is the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. In this article, I will use the term iPhone to refer to both devices. The beauty of this device, is that in most cases, you need to have a cell phone with you so you can make and receive calls, especially from clients or prospective clients. But at any time, you can show images to people you meet. The iPhone is so portable and functional, it allows you to create many digital albums. You can have an album of wedding images, or you can split wedding photos into multiple albums, and create albums of themes. For instance, a series of brides in outdoor locations. Or sunsets, at the church etc. The iPhone is very flexible, and you can set it up in so many different ways.

You can also have a number of albums that show off images that you take for your own enjoyment. Such as landscapes, or portraits of family groups. Again, having all these albums on one device, means that you can tailor a presentation to just about anyone you meet, for almost any occasion.

And do not forget, you can use it to promote yourself as a product or advertising photographer. Whenever you meet people, if they are in business for themselves, you may have an opportunity to promote your services for their business. They may need some shots of their building for a promotion, or the products they sell for advertising, or for marketing materials, such as flyers or postcards.

With a device such as the iPhone, you will always be ready to promote yourself and your services. You may have a website, but you will not always be at a computer with an internet connection. And sometimes, you may not be able to access your website from some computers, especially in corporate settings, where many sites are blocked if it is not within the corporate web intranet. And although you can always access the web with your iPhone wherever you are, it is always easier to use the iPhone to display your images, quickly and easily.

And of course, if you use these types of devices, you will be able to take advantage of the many other features they provide. You will always have access to email, so if anyone is trying to reply to you about a booking, you can do so while on the road at all times. If you need to send a quote, you can do so easily. If you need to check your calendar for upcoming appointments or events, you can easily check these items. You may even come across an interesting location for photography, and so you can take a photo and place it into your database, always able to refer back to the location at any time. As well, as being able to show the location to a prospective client as a potential place for photos on the important day. You will also have your contact database, so you can make a call to your prospective clients and follow up on any questions they may have. In short, you will always be ready for any situation.

And lastly, but not always, least, you can play a game or two when you are waiting or perhaps enjoying a coffee at your favorite café. And if you have not looked at some of the games and other applications available for the iPhone and iPod touch, you will be amazed at the variety of applications available, starting from free to ten dollars. But, I digress. Never let it be said that I would encourage your use of these devices for anything other than serious business (yeah, right)!

Background Check-Be Sure You Check The Background First

2008-08-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Whenever you are taking photos, either for a big event, like a wedding, or just the family at the beach, you need to take notice of the surrondings. Very often, you will see photos taken by people that would have been very good, but something got in the way, like something in the background or the camera was not held straight, or some other small thing that could have been avoided, but now has lead to a picture that is less than acceptable.

Apart from making sure the camera is held straight, and that the lens cap is off, and your finger is not in front of the lens, the first thing you should look at is the background. This is where most problems occur because the photographer is looking at the subject, not the background. If you do not check the background first, you could end up with tress and other things growing out of the heads of the subjects or worse.

With the advent of digital cameras, it is an easy task to check that the photo looks good, at least on the small screen of the camera. You can tell if there are problems and make any necessary corrections on the spot. Be careful not to get caught up in the emotion, and forget to check these things. Just remember, every time you hold the camera up to take a photo, look at the background, then the subjects, then take the photo.

Also, you need to be aware of where the sun is when taking photos outdoors. If the sun is behind the subjects, it can be very easy for the light sensor in the camera to take an exposure that is adjusting for the sun rather than your subjects. Your photos will be very dark as a result, although you will get a lovely exposure of the sun. And, be very careful if you are pointing the camera in the direction of the sun, as the sensor could be damaged if exposed to such a bright light for too long.

If you are taking photos for a bride and groom, then this information becomes even more critical. In fact, if you are taking photos for anyone who is paying you, then you need to make sure each and every photo is perfect. If you do not plan every photo, you leave yourself open to failure. That means a nice enjoyable day taking photos and making some money to boot, becomes your worst nightmare. Remember, plan to succeed and take care of the small details, and you will have fun and make some money along the way.

If you do find yourself taking photos at a wedding, either for money or as a gift to the bride or groom, then checking the background becomes an even more important task. Now, instead of just making sure that the background is not causing a problem, you now need to be looking at the background for photo opportunites. In the church or at the reception, you need to be constantly searching out suitable backgrounds to use for the bride and groom and the bridal party. Look for any opportuntiy to use a sunset, water fountain, garden, staircase or anything that will enhance the photo. You can check the blog in the resource box for a photo of a bride and groom, taken at the base of a staircase in an office building downtown Phoenix AZ. This is an example of spotting a suitable background, and then making sure the bride and groom follow the photographers direction, in order to take some stunning photos that will sell.

This office complex had such a beautiful wooden staircase, that it was an obvious choice for some photos of the bridal party. In this situation, and wherever you possibly can, if the groom is shorter than the bride, make sure you position the couple in such a way that the groom will look taller. Even if you have to use a phone book or a small box. Use whatever you can to make the groom look taller. It may seem silly at the time, but the photos will look much better, you will sell more photos and hence make more money. The bride and groom will also appreciate your efforts to make their photos look their best.

This will also help with advertising your services. People will see the thought and care you put into every picture you take, and they will tell their friends. Word of mouth is always the best form of advertising. And make sure you have plenty of cards with you to promote yourself. People will not want to write down your details, they will want a business card or postcard or flyer.

7 critical steps for good photography

2008-08-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

In this post, I will concentrate on just one of the things I have mentioned in previous posts, and that is the Memory Card you use to capture your images.

In the old days, there really was not much to be concerned about when it came to taking photos of family and friends, special events or creative photos, such as landscapes etc. You went to the drug store and bought a roll of film, either 24 or 36 exposures, popped it in the camera, and started firing away. At the end of the roll, you took the film out and returned it to the drug store to be processed. In a day or two, or in more recent times, an hour or two, you came back and picked up all your beautiful prints. These were ready to show everyone who would look at you beautiful new photos. There was not much guess work, you just made a choice on the number of photos you wanted to take, and the speed of the film, whether you were taking pictures outside in bright light, or inside say, at a reception.

In those days, losing a roll of film, either because you misplaced it, or the drug store screwed up on the processing, was not always too big of a deal, as you usually had several more rolls of film with other photos to choose from. But in this digital age, just one memory card can store hundreds of photos, even thousands if you shoot in low resolution mode. So, if you lose a memory card, it can be a really, really big deal. That’s why it is important with digital, to have a special case to store your memory cards, to help avoid losing one.

One of the biggest problems though, is, unlike film, memory cards can be very sensitive to the way they are treated, and hence it is very easy to accidentally lose a lot of photos. In this article I will try to spell out some of the precautions you need to take to avoid problems.

Step 1. Always try to purchase a good quality card, from a camera store if possible. The staff at the camera store will usually always be able to offer good advice and a quality card for your camera. A good quality card can sometimes cost a little more, and I am talking about just a few dollars more, than a cheap budget card from the drug store. Sometimes, the drug store card may be ok, but I think it is always prudent to make sure you have a quality product, one that you can get advice about from an expert, and where you will not have any problems returning the card if you have to for any reason.

Step 2. The first thing you need to do when you purchase a new memory card, is to format the card in your camera. This step is crucial. Digital cameras are not all the same, and the card can cause problems, even if you format the card on your computer, instead of the camera. If the card does not format, or you get errors when the camera tries to format the card, then you need to return it immediately to the store for a replacement. Note that not all cards are compatible with all digital cameras. Most of the low end and even high end compacts, have an upper limit as to the memory size of the card that can be used.

Step 3. Never take the card out of the camera while the camera is still writing the file to the memory card. Often, people will take a photo and then almost immediately take the card out of the camera. This can easily corrupt the card and make it impossible to get the images off the card into the computer. If you need to take the card out after taking a shot, just wait for several seconds to make sure the file has been written completely to that card, I usually suggest about 20-30 seconds. This should ensure that the file is safe and sound on the card.

Step 4. Never take your memory card and put it into another camera without formatting the card on the new camera. This means of course, that you need to back up all the files on the card, then put the card into the other camera and format the card before using. As I mentioned earlier, not all digital cameras are the same, and the way they write the files to the card can be different enough that you will corrupt the card and make it impossible to recover the files you already had on the card.

Step 5. Try to keep the contacts of the memory card protected from the elements and any dirt or grease. If the contacts become oxidized or too dirty to work effectively, then you will not be able to record the photos you think you are taking. This can be very embarrassing later when everyone wants to see the results.

Step 6. Always make sure that the camera batteries are charged enough so that the camera can write the files to the card correctly. If the camera battery dies during the process of writing the file, you will lose the file and possibly all the files on the card at the time of the problem.

Step 7. As a precaution, you can purchase software specifically designed to recover images from memory cards. This software is quite inexpensive, and may come in very handy if ever needed.

I have used many memory cards, but have yet to have a problem with one. I have met other photographers who have had problems, but those problems fell under one of the steps above. I think the most common problems are due to that photographer not formatting the memory cards before each shoot. Always back up the card before any shoot, then format in the camera. This will usually avoid problems or at least allow you to detect a problem before any serious damage is done.

If you are interested in making money with your digital camera, please visit my website for everything you need to start your own photography studio. If you have any questions, you may email me at tomjackson@howtoshootweddings.net

Part or Full Time cash at home, Your Own Photo Business

2008-08-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

You’ve probably heard the expression a million times; if you want to make money, a lot of it, you need to be your own boss. So, what do you do. Well, if you own a good digital camera, like a DSLR, then you can make some great part or full time cash taking photographs. If you really enjoy photography, and you like doing the editing on the computer, then you can start your own business.

You own a good digital camera, your friends have told you how good your photography is, the prints you create are appreciated by friends and family, so what is your next step? How about your own photography business. With a little help, you can start your very own business and I can provide a lot of the things you will need, no need to re-invent the wheel.

You’ve been taking photos of friends and family for a number of years now, and everyone makes the comment that you should start your own business. Sounds great, but where do you start. Well, I have created a great eCourse with everything you need to get started. In this article, I will cover just a couple of things that you will need to be aware of. My course concentrates on wedding photography, however, the techniques apply to any type of photography. It’s just that with wedding photography, you have a much better chance of making a good part or full time income.

Let me just say right up front, that you can make a lot of money shooting weddings. Many of today’s top photographers began their careers shooting weddings either for themselves or for a studio. Doing it for yourself of course, means that you get to keep all the money, but you also take on all the responsibility. Please do not take it lightly, as a wedding is a once in a lifetime event. You cannot come to the bride and tell her that you somehow screwed up all her photos, and that you need to redo them. After she gets through killing you, you will realize that you cannot just get a bridal party back together again, with all the outfits, the parents and friends, the minister etc. No, you need to get it right the first time. No do overs.

Please note that as the photographer, you will often be required to act as the wedding coordinator as well, as these days, most brides cannot afford one. And if there is no wedding coordinator, then it is usually the wedding photographer who will make sure everyone is where they should be most of the time. So, my eCourse will help in this aspect also, as it covers the entire event in detail. As the wedding photographer, you need to make sure that the bride and groom follow your directions. Make them aware that it is in their interest to follow your directions because they want a whole lot of great looking photos for their album.

When you are preparing for an event, you need to make sure that all your equipment is ready, and that you have everything you need for the days event. If possible, be sure to have a series of back-ups, a spare camera body, a spare lens and a spare flash in case any of your prime units fails. There is no excuse for the photographer to have to come up to the bride, and try to explain that your camera just broke, and you cannot take any more photos. Again, a death sentence. Your back-up units do not need to be identical to your prime units, but they should be at least close to the same specs. The camera needs to be able to take images at the same resolution as your prime camera, otherwise there will be a noticeable difference in quality of the final prints. The flash unit can be a smaller unit with a slightly lower light output, but if it happens, then this unit will have to do quite a bit of work, so be careful. Make sure that the spare flash is fully charged before taking photos. I have seen a number of photographers get excited about taking some pictures at an event, and they will often just fire away, taking picture after picture, not realizing that the flash is not fully charged for each picture, and so, most of the resulting images will have serious problems, that may not be able to be recovered on the computer. So, make sure that you have good back-up equipment.

If you are ready to take the next step, and start your own photography business, then you will find that the photography wedding course I have designed will get you off to a great start. Everything is in this course, including all the forms you will need. They are provided as a computer file that you can change and edit so you can create your very own designs, with your own information. This alone will help you and your business look very professional, so you can get bookings and start making some good money with your very own photography business.

To more information or sample photos, please visit my website where you will also see some of the many forms included in the course.

16 Bit Printing

2008-08-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

If you would like to make money with photography, and your digital camera, then visit my website for more info at www.howtoshootweddings.net

The wonders of modern technology never cease to amaze me. Growing up with a traditional camera and film and understanding the complexities of color film and the magic of color film processing, was indeed a fascinating period. Apple's Aperture 2 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 supports 16-bit print drivers for Epson and Canon printers, allowing you to produce high-quality output with smoother gradients and better color fidelity, right on the desktop...no darkroom needed.

However, you do need to ensure that you have a consistent 16 bit workflow from the image capture, through to image editing, and finally to the print output. This means that you need to capture your images in the RAW format. It is only with the RAW format that the image will have the required image data to make a difference on the printed output.

Currently, only the Macintosh operating system supports 16 bit printing. This may change in the future, but for now it is Mac only. And of course, you will need to be using the latest versions of Lightroom and Aperture. If you do not shoot in the RAW format, but instead shoot TIFF or JPEG, then you will only be able to capture 8 bit image files. What does that mean?

The mathematical formula for working out the possible number of colors in an image is as follows; for an 8 bit image, this means you are capturing up to 256 possible variations in the brightness of each of the Red, Green and Blue pixels, so you would multiply 256*256*256 for a possible maximum number of colors of 16.8 million. This equates roughly to what the human eye can perceive. However, if we look at 16 bit images, each pixel has a possible brightness value of 65,536 values. So, if we multiply 65,536*65,536*65,536 and get about 280 trillion colors, a little more than what the eye can perceive.

So, will all these extra colors really make a big difference on the final print. It is unlikely that in most situations, that you could really detect that difference, but in prints with lots of gradients, like sunsets with subtle red, blue, orange graduated skies, 16 bit could make a significant difference. This is where the benefit of 16 bit comes into it's own, on subtle gradations or images with large color gamuts.

Which Format? RAW or JPEG.

2008-07-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom RAW image editor.

Lots of people ask me this question; which format should I use when taking photos? And the answer is pretty simple; if you are shooting a wedding, or any important event, then you should only be shooting in the RAW format.

Apple's Aperture RAW image editor.

Interested in making money with your photography? Looking to start your own photography studio? Goto www.howtoshootweddings.net for more information on my course.

If you are a keen photographer, and have been shooting lots of photos, and you may have already been asked to shoot a wedding for a friend. The question is, which format to use. Using the RAW format can be more than a little daunting. Most people have never really had anything to do with this format, because the smaller consumer digital cameras generally do not have this option. Most will have JPEG at various resolutions, and some may have a Tiff option, but few have a RAW option. RAW is usually the domain of the DSLR or high end consumer cameras. The other caveat is that most computer software is only designed to process JPEG images. However, when you are shooting something as important as a wedding, then you need the flexibility that the RAW option gives you.

There are many benefits to shooting RAW.
Firstly, ALL the scene information is captured, unlike the JPEG format. Even in the highest resolution setting, JPEG format still is deleting some of the file information in order to allow more images to be captured on the memory card by creating a smaller file. This can make image editing a more difficult process later.
Secondly, the range of manipulations available with RAW image software, is far and away greater than with standard image editors. If you do not shoot in the RAW format, you will lose the ability to be able to use the many RAW specific adjustments available for this format, which can literally be in the hundreds of adjustments.

Two of the most popular RAW programs today, are Apple's Aperture and Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom. Aperture is Macintosh, so if you are a Mac user, like me, then you can use Aperture. Lightroom, on the other hand, is available on both the Mac and the PC. Both are extremely good at editing RAW files, and the latest iterations of these programs are introducing filters as add ons. So they will become even more capable.

Make Money with your Digital Camera shooting weddings

2008-07-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Wedding photography can be a very lucrative part time of full time option. In the United State alone, wedding photography accounts for approx. $5 Billion per year. That's a sizable market. And with some know how and a decent digital camera, you can be a part of this industry. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture. You can see more information and order at www.howtoshootweddings.net.

One of the first questions I am asked when shooting with a digital camera (after the "which camera do you use, question), is, what format should I shoot? Tiff, High Res JPEG, RAW etc. And the answer is very simple. RAW! There is NO other option. And you need to make sure that you are using the highest resolution (megapixels) available on your camera.

You should only be using a digital SLR (DSLR) camera, with the most powerful (expensive) flash available for your system. When you shoot a wedding, you will need to use flash for basically every shot you take. Indoors and out, even in bright sunlight. The flash will light dark subjects inside and when you are outside, it will fill in the shadows of your subject, and make the resulting photos look their best.

A very important point to remember when you photograph the bride, is to make sure that there is lots of detail in the brides dress. With digital cameras, the sensor cannot record as wide a range of light to dark as with film, and whites in particular, can be very challenging to record with detail. This is where you need to be able to balance the flash with the available light to get acceptable results. Otherwise, you may have some angry people calling you after the event. And you cannot arrange a do-over for a wedding, it is a one shot deal. So, make sure you do lots of practice before your first real, paying event. A good way to practice is to have you wife/girlfriend/kids dress up in white clothes and take lots of shots and note the settings you need to get detail in the dress, and good skin tones on the brides face.

Whenever possible, set up the kids in the bridal party by themselves. These kinds of photos will sell to the parents, the bride and groom and many other family members, especially the grandparents. Part of your job is to not just take good photos, but to take photos that will sell and keep you in a job and allow you to buy more equipment as you need it. You should always take individual shots of each kid and have the parents help to get them comfortable so you can get some good shots. Always try to choose an interesting background where possible. In order to focus attention on the kids and not the background, I have made a selection around the kids in Adobe Photoshop, and darkened the background a little, so the kids will stand out and be the attention of the photo.