About a year ago I decided to try and take my photography to the next level – to go beyond basic snapshots and try and get the wow factor into my images. I hope this article covering my photographic experiences of 2013, and the lessons I’ve learned gives you some ideas for 2014.
This is the story of my year of photographic lessons – maybe you can relate, or are on a similar journey.
Note: the images in this article are in chronological order with my early work near the top, and my most recent images at the bottom. Hopefully you can see where I’ve started from and how much I’ve progressed in a year. You can do this too!
The single biggest thing that made a difference to my photography in 2013 was joining a local club in Dublin, Ireland (www.offshoot.ie). This proved to be the turning point for a few reasons:
Competitions are one aspect of photography clubs which tends to put a lot of people off. However, I found that the competitions are very useful to help concentrate the mind on a particular topic, or learn a new technique. For example: long exposure or macro photography, which I had never tried before.
Getting expert feedback from judges can be invaluable – usually they will want to help you improve, and will provide helpful feedback on your image, e.g.. exposure, cropping, etc. Competitions are also a chance to show your off your work, and let’s face it, we all like some recognition. So winning competitions doesn’t exactly do any harm.
It’s important to get to know the basics on the technical side. It’s no substitute for the photographer’s eye, but the lack of technical skills might prevent you from capturing the image that you want. The good news is there are loads of great sources from the photography club, great websites like dPS, flickr, books, and podcasts. The big lessons for me included:
Getting a good understanding of the above should make a big difference in the quality of your images.
I try to consider the basics above and the results are improving. I generally manage to get a few images that I really like, and I think the occasional one at least that has the wow factor. With a modern DSLR you don’t need to understand all its complexities but you do need to know the key features, to get the most out of it. You don’t want to miss a shot of a spectacular sunset while you trawl through the manual, so understanding the main controls are essential including:
A big milestone for me as I got to know my camera, and got more confident, was stepping out of Auto mode and going Manual. I can attest, when you get it right, it really works. When you get it wrong, delete – it’s the busiest key on my keyboard. I still need to get my head around the focus modes, white balance and some of the more exotic possibilities like HDR.
Unfortunately, when I bought it on a family visit to New York in 2004 I explained to my wife that this $1100 camera was a lifetime investment. After some negotiation with my wife, I made a new lifetime investment in 2013, and am delighted with my Nikon D7100, although I’m still trying to come to grips with its incredible capabilities. I would definitely recommend a tripod also as one essential piece of gear that will improve your results, and help you to with long exposure, night shots and getting sharp images in focus.
Don’t rush into buying a whole load of gear however, wait until you find that your current camera or lens is holding you back.
Note: the images below were all taken with my new D7100.
So where to next? What does 2014 bring, I hear you ask. Now is the time to put a plan together!
This was the biggest lesson of all for me – use everything you have learned to get the best possible result. Use your knowledge of the exposure and composition. Try a different camera angle or point of view, depth of field, lens, or shutter speed to try and create an image with the wow factor.
Above all get out there taking photos and enjoy, there is no substitute for practical experience.
For more tips for beginners – head over here.
Photo Nuts and Bolts – know your camera and take better photos, a dPS ebook.
The post A Year of Photographic Lessons – Journey of a Novice Photographer by Rob Hackett appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Posing is something that can make or break a portrait.
That is what this eBook is all about.
Inside this beautifully designed and illustrated eBook world class photographer (and author) – Gina Milicia – walks you through how she connect with and directs her subjects to take stunning portraits that show their true character.
Gina has photographed thousands of subjects over her 25 years as a professional photographer and in this eBook draws on this experience to give you a great mix of inspiration but also actionable tips that you can start practicing on those you photograph immediately.
Here is a quick peek inside.
Pick your copy of Portraits: Striking the Pose today and you’ll also get a bonus 7 Posting Printable Guides worth $9.95 for FREE!
These handy ‘printables’ fold up beautifully to pop in your camera bag and pull out whenever you need them. There’s 7 sets of poses that include:
In total you’ll have 67 sample poses to give you some great starting points when you next do a portrait shoot.
To buy these on their own would cost you $9.95. To celebrate the launch of Portraits: Striking The Pose for a limited time we’re including them for FREE!
This bonus is just for a few weeks so don’t delay.
We’re particularly proud of this eBook for a number of reasons. It’s beautiful, it’s useful, it’s inspiring and it is great value for money.
For just $19.99 you’ll pick up this comprehensive new Portraits: Striking the Pose eBook and 7 printables with 67 posing suggestions.
Search around the web for other posing guides and you’ll soon see just what great value this is as others sell their guides for hundreds of dollars.
Guaranteed to Satisfy: We’re super confident that this eBook will help you improve your portraits but if you don’t find it suits your needs just let us know within 60 days and we’ll refund your money for in full.
If you’re looking to improve your portrait photography grab your copy directly with this link or if you want more information or are looking to bundle this eBook with Gina’s other eBooks for just $10 more check out the Portraits: Striking the Pose page.
The post How to Pose Portraits: Our Brand New eBook Launches Today by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Starting a photography business is extremely easy with the accessibility and affordability of digital cameras and processing programs. Often the lure of entrepreneurship, with these low barriers to entry, leads to many photography business owners of all business experiences. Experience levels range from lack of business competence, to the need for growth in photography skills to a mixture of skills with varying weaknesses and strengths. Before entering into business it is important to evaluate whether you are technically proficient, ready to deal with business legalities, have a good grasp of business operating costs, engaging in market research and client management.
The first step is to determine if technical proficiency is at a level to provide a quality, consistent product to each client that comes through the door. The importance of delivering consistently rests in word of mouth marketing and preventing disappointment when a client’s expectations are not met.
After technical proficiency comes the battle of business legalities including (but certainly not limited to: business formation, filing appropriate tax documents, acquiring required permits and licenses and using quality contractual documents. These legalities can be acquired through outsourcing to lawyers and certified public accountants, but a good, knowledgeable grasp of business legalities and the requirements placed on business owners is paramount to the success of your business.
Following the previous two business necessities comes the costs of running the business. Having arms around the operating costs will assist you in setting appropriate pricing, and in making future investment decisions. Business operating costs are expenses that are directly related to the operation of the photography business. This is calculated by ascertaining costs of resources used to maintain the existence of the business. Operating costs include: rent, utilities, licenses, fees, insurance, maintenance of equipment, office supplies, income taxes, and wages.
Note: It is a good idea to also include a “rainy day savings” into the operating costs for you to have to fall-back on in times of need.
An ever-required and demanding aspect of business is the initial and constant research on market influences, demands and overall factors that impact how the business will be maintained and marketed. Engaging in research is an organized effort to obtain information about the local market and potential clients. In order to effectively create and implement a successful business strategy, research must be done. Research should include identifying marketing information, trends, and the SWOT (SWOT = Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats to the business) analysis of competitors. The strategies decided upon from out of this research are a key factor to maintaining a competitive edge over competitors and a higher probability for engaging clients.
Juggling all of the previous “business things” can get even more complicated when adding on managing of clients. Having a solid business workflow filled with automation, organization and constant revision is necessity to keep the business moving forward when it becomes easy to be distracted with client management and production of the products and services.
Having the right answers to these considerations does not guarantee a successful business but will increase probability for success, higher level of client satisfaction and less frustration along the way.
The post 5 Things to Consider Before Starting Your Photography Business by Rachel Brenke appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Would you like to make portraits that show more about the person’s character than what they look like? In this article, you’ll learn some new ways to look at your subjects so you can better understand them; and therefore create portraits with depth and more interest.
A portrait is a picture of a person. So, what separates the pictures we make from those made by a photo-booth?
Leaving discussions about mind-body duality aside, it’s safe to say that we’re all flesh and blood. Our photographs, therefore, are of surface appearances. But beauty is more than skin deep.
What we call character, or soul, or ‘I’ is the driving force that makes, shapes, and motivates our bodies; and our inner thoughts and emotions are often written on our faces.
This is my personal approach to portraiture and particularly portrait photography, gleaned from countless hours of reading, and a degree in Literature, Philosophy and Psychology. It’s compressed a lot here, but should be useful if you explore each area independently.
Portrait photography aims to capture and communicate some aspect of a person’s character. I think this shows itself in a few ways
What we do often changes us; makes us. Whether it’s Aristotle talking about excellence as a habit, or Warren Buffett urging graduates to develop the habits of success, habits are an important part of who you are. If you exercise regularly, you get fit. If you eat well, you’ll be healthy. Habits are hard to fake, because they have to be consistent in order to have much effect. Look at your subject; how have habits transformed them?
Satre said that making no choice is still a choice. If I let my beard grow, it can either be a decision to do so, or an unconscious decision not to shave; so decisions can be active or passive. Do they have an afro, or dreadlocks? Both take commitment to grow and maintain so why did they bother? Ask them about the choices that they’ve made with their bodies; it says a lot about their character.
A tattoo is a good example of a decision to pay attention to when making a portrait. It might indicate teenage rebellion, artistic expression or even affiliation with the Japanese underworld. It’s a choice to permanently mark the body; so it’s likely that some thought has gone into it. Likewise with piercings. Is it a yearning to be different? Or to be the same?
This is also a space to think about what they spend most of their time doing; and that’s generally going to be their career. Are they following their passion, living their dream? Or are they worn down in a job they’d rather forget? Both tell stories. Uniforms may be one indicator; but it’s not too difficult to tell a rock star apart from a senior diplomat.
How are the subjects presenting themselves to the world? This can be intentional, like putting on a smart suit with finely polished shoes, or passive, when they are wearing clothes that were chosen ages ago. Chances are that they spent quite a bit of time choosing what they are wearing; at the shop, and on the day. Steve Jobs had his iconic turtleneck sweaters with jeans, and Doctor Who has his bow ties. Which identity have they bought (and bought into)?
Somebody might think of themselves as belonging to a certain nationality, a subgroup or clan; but photographs are silent, and you’ll want to look at the outward expressions of this in order to communicate this message. People often have ‘props’ that can say a lot about them. It might be an expensive watch; a necklace; a well-designed house; or if they’re young, a light sabre or cuddly rabbit. Assuming your subject isn’t naked, what have they brought with them? Ask them about what they’re wearing; you’ll likely be surprised by the answers you get.
Make them laugh! I met the chap who photographed the Beatles back in the 60s and he talked about making people say ‘cheese’. I always thought this was just a quirky thing to say to break the tension, but the idea is that the mouth forms a smile when you say the word ‘cheese’. This works better than telling someone to smile; but not by much. Mainly because expression isn’t just in the mouth; it’s a product of a whole range of muscles in the face. Ask the robot designers in Japan who are trying to replicate human emotions on an android’s face!
So the best way is to actually elicit emotions to create the gestures that you’d like to photograph. There are lots of ways to achieve this, but most need to be taught in person. It is worth noting that people are never just the face they show you; there’s a whole host of different identities that make up their sense of who they are. It’s a matter of bringing them to the fore.
Body language is also an incredibly revealing aspect of non-verbal communication. Every portrait photographer should have an awareness of different postures, and how they can help in reading a person. And of course, it’s possible to pose a subject too. One part of Holistic Photography (which is the philosophy that photography needs both craft/technique and art/vision) is a study of micro-expressions and how to see, and photograph them. Our faces will register emotions before we have time to control them. So you can photograph someone’s ‘real character’ by eliciting these micro-expressions, and then capturing them in the photograph.
One thing I didn’t mention, partly because it’s hard to avoid doing, is the ‘flesh and blood’. Some people just have fascinating faces, topographically. It might be that their eyes are bright green. This is a rare and beautiful eye colour, so chances are other’s reactions to it will have influenced their sense of self – rather like Kafka explores in The Metamorphosis . Likewise, my ginger cousins have developed an identity around their red hair. People, unconsciously or otherwise, live up to these imposed identities. I’m 6’2″. It’s a number; my height. But does it mean more than that? What about a ‘Perfect 10′? It’s just an arbitrary measurement; but numbers are intrinsically linked to our self-worth in our consumerist society. Look for physical features that stand out, that are striking. How is your subject restricted by their physical identity? How are they empowered by it?
Hopefully this gives you some different things to think about when you’re photographing people and want to make portraits with a bit of depth. Holistic Photography goes a lot deeper within each category but my writing isn’t good enough yet to properly communicate what’s pretty simple to demonstrate and explain in person. Therefore, have a look at portraits you admire, both photographic and painted, and look at each of the different categories to see what fits.
Then practice really going beyond the person-as-object photography by finding out more about your subject. Think like Sherlock Holmes. Push like Platon. Light like George Hurrell. And feel like Edith Piaf. Portraiture is like a game of chess; ‘you must think first, before you move’!
The post How to Create Portraits With Depth by Ben Evans appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Earlier I shared 35 stunning night photography images. I hope you got inspired by them because now it’s your turn!
By Simon & His Camera
This week’s challenge is night photography!
There are so many things you can do at night including:
By Justin Brown
By jason
The possibilities go on and on so you have no excuse for lack of subject matter or ideas. So grab your tripod (you’ll need it), your remote trigger, and a friend (helps if you’re light painting and is infinitely more fun than by yourself) and head out into the night to take some photos.
Check out these articles:
By Bill Dickinson
By Adrien Sifre
Once you’ve taken your ‘night photos we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Night Photography by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
