Tuesday, January 24, 2017

As a Photographer am I only allowed to shoot one genre?

When you take a look at yourself, a deep look at yourself, how do you identify yourself? Are you just a mother, or lawyer, or fast food worker? I doubt it. I am sure that there are a number of us that look at ourselves and identify as a number of different things or genres. For example, I am a mother, wife, step-mother, daughter-in-law, daughter, sister to some, friend, Veteran, nurse, and hobby photographer. So if I can identify my personal self in these different ways why should I limit my photography to just one type of photography?

The other day I listened to Nick Page on the Portrait Sessions podcast that is part of the Improved Photography Network and he took questions from the Facebook group to answer during that particular podcast. There were a number of questions that were asked, but the one that stood out the most to me was when someone asked him what his favorite type of photography was. Before I go any further let me give you a bit of background on Nick Page so that you can understand his answer. Nick Page is an amazing photographer from the Walla Walla, Washington. He does landscapes, senior portraits, weddings, well pretty much you name it he does it. So with this in mind here was his answer to the question. He said that he loves landscapes and that is by far his favorite, however landscape photography does not pay the bills. He also gets bored quickly and when that happens he starts to nit pick about the lighting and will only go out at certain times, and makes life very difficult for himself. However by opening up and shooting many different areas of photography he does not give himself the chance to get bored and from what I understood he uses the landscape photography as his "me time". I love this about Nick and the other photographers that are out there are using multiple out lets of photography but are finding ways to blend them together and making incredible images.

As a photographer I think that it is important to shoot more then one particular genre. Some would disagree but let's think about this for a moment. If you are a portrait photographer what would you be bringing to the table making a small leap to lets say sports photography? Yes there is a learning curve. There are more things to think about and there are things that are out of your control, such as lighting and posing, however what is that going to force you to do? It is going to force you to think outside of the box. Are you going to nail every single shot, no. However it is going to help you learn new skills. With these new skills that you have learned you can now take them back and potentially apply them in some way to your portrait work. Or maybe the other way around. Here is an example. This is a shot from one of my senior sessions.

This is a beautiful young lady in a perfect environment. I really only had to do minor things with this to make it work. However there are places that this one session took me. I showed several of these photos to some of the parents on a wrestling team. The wrestling team at the local high school does not always get the recognition or the things they need. For the most part they are very under supported. So I was asked by the booster club to shoot the team photos and individual photos of the wrestlers. Which then led to photos like this,
The parents love the photos. Are they perfect? In my opinion no. However I learned a lot. For example The background that is used for this particular photo I built in Photoshop! If you would like to read that article How to Create your own background in photoshop. In the article I explain how I slowly built three different backgrounds because I was not happy with what I had to work with. 

Now I will admit that I would have never shown the photo had my son not been on the wrestling team, so as you know there is always more to the story. I have also done more for the team since doing their team photos. We have taken some action shots for the senior banner for senior night, and we have also taken some photos to create some keepsakes for the seniors as this is their last season as wrestlers before they head off to college or the military. 

I have loved bouncing from pet photography to seniors to family to team to sports photography. It has kept me on my toes and it is forcing me every day to learn. The same as it does for any other photographer that does the same. It also helps you develop a style I believe. As I have looked at more photographers work that do the same thing there is a running theme. It does not seem to matter if they are shooting landscape or sports they are finding ways to edit in the same way. Which is leaving their mark so to speak. It is a way of knowing that is there photo because there is no one else out there that edits exactly like thy do. I will admit that I am still working to find that in my work as some of mine is dark and moody while other shots are very bright and happy. However that could all just be me too. 

I do not believe that it is wise to limit yourself to being just a newborn photographer, or just a wedding photographer. Branch out, try new things, and learn from them. It will improve your photography overall in my humble opinion. I know that it is helping me learn a number of things that I do not think I would have ever taken the time to learn if I was not shooting in different genres.

How do you feel about shooting in different genres of photography? Is it helpful, or doe it hurt the photographer? Please leave your opinion in the comments below. 

If you would like to be a part of the email group and submit ideas for topics please sign up! The sign up is located on the side bar. 

Also if you are interested in viewing more of Nick Page's work click here.

Looking forward to hearing from each and every one of you! 

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Why do Photographers charge so much money?

I am sure that there are a number of you, clients and photographers alike that are in different groups on Facebook or forums and are constantly reading about people complaining about the price of a photographer. For one reason or another the individual does not understand why the quote is so high "just to push a button". I must admit that there was a time that I wondered this too, but now, I understand.

First of all let me point out that no matter where you are that your price point is going to vary. It is going to vary due to the economical status in your area and it is going to fluctuate based upon how much you value your time, effort and work. However I want to give a break down of the nuts and bolts of what a potential photographer is looking at.

So I will use myself as an example. Here are my base costs.

I use Smugmug to display and deliver my work to my clients =$250 per year=$21 per month
I typically shoot within a 50 mile radius of my home. Gas is $2.00 a gallon and I drive a truck that gets about 21mpg. So Round trip I am looking at spending at least $6-$7 on fuel. I use Creative cloud in order to keep up to date with Lightroom and Photoshop=$10 per month. Then I have to have electricity to run my computer and the programs so that is at least another $20 just for that. So this means that even if I do not have a session in a month I still have $31 in expenditures that I will have to be able to cover as soon as I can get a session booked.

So lets say that I do have a session booked and it is 20 miles away. Right off the top I have $31 for the Smugmug website and creative cloud suite that I pay for every month. I also now have $4 in fuel to consider. This brings the expense to $35 total to cover only the cost of the business. But how about the work that I must but into the session? How much is that worth? This is one area where the cost becomes the most variable. At a minimum I believe that you should be paying  yourself at least minimum wage for your area and for me I believe that is $7.25 an hour. So the session is an hour long. This means that the session should only cost $42.25 right? Wrong!!

There is more that occurs after the session and there are other factors to consider as well. First of all lets think about the editing of the session. Let's say that was a 3 hour process. The labor alone for that at the minimum wage rate is a total of $21.75. Plus there is the cost of electricity to run the computer that is used to run creative cloud.  So lets add another $4 just for electricity.

So just for the bare minimums, and I am sure I probably missed something the minimum charge to the client should be $68. Of course this does not include prints, or other gifts or anything else that the photographer may offer. This is the bare bones cost of what the client should be paying. However I sure there are a number of people who are shaking their heads and screaming at me as they read this saying that I am under valuing them and that I am not taking into account a number of other costs. You are absolutely right, I am under valuing you and I am not taking into account all of the costs for your specific business.

When I began this post I did not talk about the cost of start up, purely because it is not something that many think about. This is something that comes out of pocket, and hopefully is repaid through the revenue from the business as it grows. But there are still a number of things that we have not discussed.

For example, there is the insurance. How many people know that a photographer maintains insurance? It is not just for their gear, but it covers their business as a whole. This can cost anywhere from $10-$100 a month give or take depending on the insurance company. There is also the wear and tear on the vehicle that the photographer is driving which is averaged out to 57.5 cents per mile when it is broken down on the taxes each year. There is also insurance for that vehicle which will depend on the company but we will round it out to $100 per month. A photographer also has to be able to advertise and promote themselves through various means so we will say that this is budgeted on the low end at $150 a month. If the photographer decides to rent a studio in my area the starting price is $500 a month and goes up from there. This rent typically includes the electrical and other amenities from what I have been able to find.

So lets but all these numbers together for each session
Session with 3 hours to post process at minimum wage $68
Business insurance $ 3
Wear and tear on the vehicle $23.20
Vehicle Insurance $10
Studio Rental $50 (If the photographer can get 10 sessions in one month)
Internet $90 per month needed for Creative Cloud to operate

These numbers total up too a grand total of $163.20 (based upon 10 clients a month)

$163.20 from one session to cover the bills... yet the photographer has to make 10 sessions in order to cover everything and they are only really paying themselves for a total of 4 hours of work.

I will make a disclaimer that this is not an exact number, and that it not hard fact for every single photographer out there. This is a very base line number, and this is assuming that a photographer is going to get 10 clients in one month. Something that can be very feasible, however at $163.20 there is no way the photographer is going to make a living. Yes the business is paying their bills, but is the photographer putting food on the table? Are they paying the mortgage for their home? Are their children getting what they need? Considering this is based on 10 clients a month and we only paid the photographer $7.25 an hour for a total of $290, and this is before taxes I am going to say no, this is not happening. Not at the rate that we are currently set at.

$290 in a month is not going to pay the bills for that photographer. In most cases that doesn't even cover the cost of groceries for a month. So this is just simply unacceptable. So what can be done? Well the photographer could stay at the same rate and increase their session numbers. I can agree with this however there are still some things to consider. Will it make their creativity suffer? Will they begin to rush because they are over booked and not give the customer service that clients are looking for? If that is the case what will happen? The photographer loses business, and still cannot pay the bills. So is there another way?

Of course, there is always a different way to handle a situation. A photographer can increase their prices to a point that pays them for what they are worth, and also covers the business bills as well as what their family needs. Am I saying to increase your fees to such a point that you only need one session a month? NO! That would kill the idea of having a business all together. However increasing your prices to where the bills are paid and family is taken care of is more then reasonable.

The next time that a client asks why your prices are so high explain to them that they are not high,  you are trying to provide for your family, and feel free to refer them to this post.

As I said before the numbers are not exact, and things are going to change on a case by case basis, however this can give you an idea of where to start, or an idea of how to explain why your prices are the way that they are. Remember it is not as simple as clicking a button on a camera. There is so much more to being a photographer.

I would love to hear what you would like to add to this post or what could be improved upon. Please join my email list, you can do this from the side bar. Also I would love to hear what you would like to know more about. Please feel free to email your suggestions or leave them in the comments below. Looking forward to continuing to grow with each and every single one of you.




Wednesday, January 18, 2017

How to create your own background in photoshop

How many times have you gone out and done a session, gotten home and realized just how horrible the background of the session was? This was honestly not something that I had ever encountered until recently. In previous posts I have been discussing the session that I did with my son's wrestling team. We were unable to shoot their session in the school gym that has a beautiful floor and great lighting, and were forced to shoot in the wrestling room. A room that has ten different types of light bulbs that do not all work, and lets be real, it looked and smelled like a sweaty man cave. There were no real places for me to shoot, so I had to make do with what I had and that was not much. At first I was not super concerned, and then the parents started to talk. They told me how grateful they were that I was doing this, and that I was taking my time out for the boys when the school half the time forgot to send the normal photographer, and that there were years that the whole team was left out of the yearbook. I was appalled. I couldn't believe that the school treated these kids like red headed step children. It didn't make sense to me that the school failed to take care of a team that is ranked number two in the region, and has five or six members ranked at the state level. So this changed the game for me. I wanted to give them something special and something that they could be proud of. Something that they could showcase and show that they were wrestlers and that was something to be proud of, not that they were the red headed step children of the school. So I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Knowing that I had literally nothing to work with, I thought that I could make some adjustments in Lightroom and everything would be OK, but in just in case I took a background shot before I started with the team.
This is what I had to work with. On either side there are cement columns and just no real room to move around and work. The parents told me that when they occasionally do get a photographer that is where the kids stand and they take their photos. I was in shock. I knew that I had to do something. So when got home I went to work. I actually ended up building three different backgrounds.

The first background:
As you can tell there is not a huge change. I increased the vibrance of the yellow, and dropped the warmth of the over all photo and made several adjustments to the white balance, and than I added a vignette to the photo in hopes of making the cement columns on either side of the V disappear.

The second background:
This was built off of the first. In the first background I did not like the bricks and the columns that stood out. Also there are areas that are damaged that I could not hide, so I thought that it would be best to go a bit darker in hopes to try and hide the deformities that I could not remove from the background. So what I did was took the photo into Photoshop and added an exposure layer to blacken out the bricks, but removed it and also enhanced the V a bit, and tried to enhance the reflection of the V on the mat underneath the V, one to give the background depth, and two to give it a different look from other photos that I had seen. I will admit that I was not a huge fan of how dark this is, but there was no way that I could clone stamp or heal, or even content aware fill all that was wrong in the background. I will admit that I wish that I could have made the floor a bit lighter, however I could not for the life of me get Photoshop to cooperate on this and make it happen. And as I am still learning masking and overlays and layers as a whole, it was a struggle to get this far.

After creating the second background I realized that there was still imperfections that I still had not eliminated from the background. There was damaged wall under the V and I was not sure that I could fix that or hide it. I tried on multiple attempts, yet failed. So my next idea was to create one more background.

The third background:
With this background I decided that the only way to get this right was to take everything out but the floor. So I took the exposure layer and extended it down to the floor line to hide the last of the imperfections that I could see in the photo. I then went to the school website and downloaded the school logo. This logo was on a white background. So i uploaded it into Photoshop and removed the V from the white background using the quick selection tool. Once I had selected everything I needed I used the drag tool and moved it to my background and positioned it in the corner of the photo. I then took the clone stamp tool and "copied the reflection from the original V to match under the new one that I had created. Once that was done, I darkened the exposure on the original reflection with a brush and desaturated it. I also used the healing brush to blend the change into the mat and make it look as though nothing was there. Once that was complete I was able to flatten my image and begin the process of moving players into the various backgrounds.

The placement of the wrestlers into the backgrounds was not that difficult. All it really required was the use of the quick selection tool and the move tool. There of course was some resizing of each wrestler to make everything look balanced. But over all a very workable, but time consuming process.

Now that you have seen what I did I would love to know how you would do this! I am still learning how to edit every day and any tricks and tips to making editing in Photoshop and Lightroom easier is always great! Please leave your tips and tricks in the comments. I look forward to talking to all of you.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Editing sports team photos


Editing, post processing, it all means the same. A lot of time in front of computer, and in some cases it can be a very taxing experience for the photographer. I truly believe that all photographers are perfectionists hence the reason that we edit, or post process which ever term you prefer to use. I also believe that we seek the approval of others above all else, other wise I am not sure there would be all the photography groups on Facebook. I say all this to say, that over the last few weeks I have learned quite a bit in this area.

In my last post Wrestling Team Photos, and what I learned I talked about what I learned while actually shooting for the high school wrestling team. Now I am home, and all the mistakes are so much more noticeable as I am trying to edit and make these the best photos that these kids have ever had. With this in mind I thought that I would share a few more things that I have learned, and things to watch for.

1. Lighting.

We all know that lighting is key. With this shoot I struggled much more than I thought with this. I used an on camera flash for the individual shots, and thought that bouncing the light would be enough. I have realized now that this actually did not work at all. I was holding the camera in the portrait orientation and so the light was not bouncing the way that I had anticipated for one and created some shadowing that I was not prepared for. Another issue is the lighting of the room. There were different types of light bulbs in each of the light fixtures. I thought that we were far enough away from the tungsten lighting to not cause an issue, however I am still having to make adjustments in post because you can see that the players are to "warm" due to the lighting.

2. Background.

Sometimes there is just nothing that you can do about the background, and this is the situation that I was in. This is what I had to work with:

Not that great right? Let me tell you it was horrible. What you can't see is that there are columns on either side of the frame, so there was not alot of room to move these kids from left to right so that the V could be seen. It was a nightmare once I got in front of the computer. So I decided that I would build my own. This took some time and some work in Photoshop but I built a background. I know this sounds like a lot of work but believe it or not it was not that bad. I will write a separate post about how I built the background in case you chose to do the same. Just keep in mind all backgrounds are different and in Photoshop I may show you how to do it one way, but I can promise there are 10 different ways to do it.

3. Player Posing.

During the session I made the sad mistake of trusting someone else to pose each of the players purely because I had never shot or seen wrestling photos done before, so the parents wanted to go with the "poses we have always done". I was OK with this because it was going to be a learning experience for me and that was the part that counted. So I was up to the challenge. However now that I am in post I realize that I should have taken some control of the posing. I said before there was some shadowing that I was not anticipating and it was not just on the wall. The way that the students held their hands or positioned their heads or feet caused shadows to fall on their faces and body that I was not prepared for. Now that I am in post production I am having to find ways to get rid of or hide them. 


As you can see in this photo right from the beginning there is shadowing behind the player, and if you look closely there is also shadowing on his leg from the way that his hand is positioned. Another area with shadowing is the player's left side of the face. It is not much, but it is enough to cause me great concern. So the question becomes how to fix the problem. Part of the issue is corrected with the creation of the background that I discussed just moments ago. That corrects the shadowing behind the player, but does not correct the shadowing on the player. There are several ways that this can be done. In regards to the shadowing on the face I will use a brush in light room and brush in some light. This will hopefully eliminate the shadow on the face and give it even tone, if not I have a brush that is to even out the tones and lighting of the skin that I purchased from Pretty Pretty Presets. The shadowing on the leg created from the position of the hands I will use the content aware and fill tool in Photoshop as I feel this will be more effective in this area than trying to brush light in as I did on the face. 

As I said before there are hundreds of ways to do things in Photoshop. How would you correct the second photo?

If you are interested in the gear used for this program here are the affiliate links. Use of these links does not add cost to you, if you make a purchase through one of these links it gives me a small commission and helps me continue to grow and move forward with what I love, photography. Thanks so much for your support!


Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Wrestling team photos, what I learned

When I was first starting out as a fledgling photographer I had this great thought process that I was going to become this great sports team photographer over night. My goodness I never realized how over my head I was really getting. I offered my services for my son's recreational basketball team and thought that I would start with his team that season and move on to picking up more teams the following season. Needless to say after dealing with extremely picky parents, and fighting with these little ones to get them to hold still for 10 minutes to take the individual and team photos I realized that I may not be ready.

Fast forward about 3 years. My son is now in high school and a wrestler. I learned that the wrestling team is treated as the red headed step children of the school, and they do not receive the same treatment as other sports such as football. In fact one of the parents told me about how the team did not get photos at all one year, so they were not recognized in the yearbook. Another year they did not take their photos until April, right before the print deadline for the yearbook, because they were forgotten until the last minute. (Mind you the season ended in February) It honestly made me a little angry that these kids were being over looked by the school on a regular basis. These kids work hard everyday during practice and twice as hard during a tournament, and all the while trying to represent their school the best way they know how. So I decided to take action. I talked to the booster club members and got the go ahead to take the pictures for the kids so that way they would have something this year, and I figure that this will be something I do for the rest of the time my son is in high school. Now I am sure you are thinking, how much are you getting paid? Truth be told I am getting nothing, and I am charging next to nothing for the prints. Why, because in listening to the conversations that the kids were having they were going to be the ones to pay for their photos, with no help from their parents. With that in mind, I am not in this for the profit, these kids deserve to have their memories and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Now on to the shoot. I learned a lot from this shoot. Here is the top 5 things I learned.

1. Be ready for the worst lighting ever.

 The night before pictures the kids had a tournament that was held in the school gym, the lighting was beautiful, the floor was amazing, and it was all that I could ask for. I really wanted to shoot their photos there. When this was brought up I was immediately shot down. I was told their was a basketball game the next day and the wrestlers didn't belong in there. I was told that their home was the wrestling room, and well, that is where their photos needed to take place. The wrestling room has three different tones of light due to different light bulbs in each of the lighting fixtures and the room itself is just a little ugly hole in the wall of a room. Nothing like every other area of the school that I have seen thus far.

2. Test shots are a must!

When I arrived to take their photos I looked around the room and was mulling over what to do. I was worried about lighting, white balance, and overall where to shoot. I had to shoot the individual and the team shots. When I picked the location for each shot I took several test shots with no one in them to make sure that I was going to be happy with the set up, and it was the best thing that I could have done! It gave me an idea up front of what everything was going to look like and it helped me determine my camera settings up front, along with the need for flash and at what power.

3. With a large group there has to be another person to help.

These kids were anything but easy to get moving. They were not dressed in their gear when I got there, and they were much more worried about eating than about getting their photos taken so that practice could start. Luckily I had several parents there to help direct traffic and assist with setting up the team and individual shots, they even helped pose the kids. It made this all so much smoother for me.

4. Take multiple shots! I promise you won't regret it.

I took multiple shots of everything that I did. Why? Because I did not want to be dependent on one photo and have no way to work with someone blinking, or having a weird smile, or having some other inconsistency that I would not be able to fix in post production. Why you ask? Well for example, I took 4 team photos, in three I have people looking different ways and not at the camera, and in the best photo I still have one person with their eyes closed. The bonus, I should be able to do a head swap in Photoshop, why? Because I have other photos that have this individual with his eyes open, so it should be a quick fix.

5. Pay attention to your gear, especially your flashes. Chimping is not a bad thing!

I knew that the kids needed to practice, and I knew that I was cutting into their time, so I was really trying to move along their shoot in an orderly fashion, however I realized when I looked back at the pictures that I was rushing. I was not paying attention to my gear like I should have been. I noticed that I had several photos that the lighting was off. Why? Because I did not allow the flash enough time to recycle. So now I have created more work in post processing for myself to make these photos right. Had I been paying attention and chimping I think that I would have caught this and slowed down to prevent this extra work later. There are a number of people that will say that it is unprofessional for a photographer to chimp, but I could not disagree more. There is no reason that you cannot chimp, because you are ensuring the quality of the image up front and it gives you the chance to make minor adjustments as soon as possible versus spending extra hours in post processing praying that you can save the image.

Every single shoot is going to be a learning experience. I enjoy that it is a learning experience. It keeps me on my toes, and it gives me a reason to improve and a new goal to work towards. It also gives me more to research which helps to expand my knowledge base. I really don't think that I am ever not going to make a mistake during a shoot, but I am hoping that I am learning each time and the mistakes get smaller and easier to manage. That is my goal. However I never want to stop learning. If I stop learning I know I will get bored and and quit. However I do not have anything to fear with that.

If you are interested in the gear that I used here is my list, and I have also placed affiliate links if you would like to look at prices. Please remember clicking on these links do not cost you any money. It only assists me in receiving a small commission in order for me to continue doing what I am doing.

Camera:Nikon D7100
Lens: Sigma 24-70
Flash: Altura Flash kit

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Thursday, January 5, 2017

A camera in one hand and ambition in the other... where do I start?

***** There are affiliate links in this post*****



So here it is the first of the year... and of course we all have new presents. Some of us got things that we wanted, and others, well, maybe not so much. However I am guessing that you got what you were asking for.

So here you are with a new camera and now there is a whole new world out there and you are ready to start clicking away. There is just one problem, well several problems. There are dials and buttons and menus to choose from. Depending on the camera there may only be a few menus and one dial, as this is the case for most point and shoot cameras, but if this is a a DSLR, well, the learning curve just got pretty steep.

I personally believe that every one should take the time to learn their camera to the point that they are able to maximize its potential. Even a point and shoot camera can take great pictures. Believe it or not so can your cell phone. It is all in the way that you use the camera. Now please understand that I am not saying that you can go out and take a photo any where in any condition with your phone, because the truth be told you can't. Remember that every camera has its pro's and con's as well as its own performance limitations. As long as you can maximize within the abilities of your equipment I think that you will be pleased with the outcome.

For example when I deployed I took a Nikon Coolpix with me. This little camera took a beating. It survived many sandstorms and took the abuse of riding in my cargo pocket for a year. From being on the ground working to flying in a helicopter it went everywhere. I really thought that this camera was going to die on me with sand getting into it, however it didn't. This camera survived for over a year after I cam back. Now during the time of using this camera I taught myself how to use all of the functions. The one that I linked too is a newer model of the one I had, but holds the same idea. There was a portrait, sport, landscape, and auto setting. In the beginning I used the auto setting more than anything, but than I began to realize that there were times (like flying in a helicopter) that I needed more. So I would try different settings. I learned that for a faster mode I needed to use the sport setting, and when I was trying to catch a sandstorm rolling in I could use either auto or portrait depending on what time of day it was. I realized by the end of the deployment that I was outgrowing my little camera. It did not do well in low light situations, and there was just not enough zoom length to keep me happy. I began to notice that I was battling noise in my photos, and that there were times that no matter what I did the poor little camera could not keep up. But based upon the situation that I was in this was the best thing I could have asked for. I would never have taken my current camera a Nikon D7100 into this type of environment. It would have destroyed the camera and I would have lost my whole entire investment as I am sure that the lens would have been damaged by the sand as well. Above all I was happy with the pictures that this camera was able to produce. Had I not had this camera I would not have been able to bring home memories such as these.
Langstuhl Germany

Saddam Hussein's Palace, Baghdad

These pictures may not be the best, but as I said, working within the restrictions of the camera and my knowledge I was able to produce these. 

So where do you start? How do you begin to learn to maximize this amazing camera that you just received. Begin with the manual. I will admit that you should be prepared to not understand a word that it says, but start there. At a minimum it will give you the basic idea of the menu's knobs and selections that you have the option of making. Once you have done this it is on to the outside world. Take it out, take pictures and learn how far you can push your camera. Start in one setting, such as auto, and push it as far as you can. This way you know what the boundaries of that setting are, and than repeat the process with each additional setting. This will assist with learning where your camera performs well and where it is not meeting your expectations. Once you have worked through these settings it is time to move on to manual mode, if your camera has this of course. This will give you total control of every aspect of the camera. This will give you the chance to push the camera even further than the predesigned settings that you have already worked through as you can change the settings of the shutter, iso, and aperture all independent of one another. As a side note I would also take the time to learn about the basics of photography, things such as the exposure triangle and the rule of thirds. This way you are learning not only the mechanics of your camera, but also the art of photography. 

I hope that this was helpful and gave some ideas as to where to start with your new camera. I would love to see your photos as well! Please feel free to post them in the comments below so that we can all enjoy them. 

Also I am working to put together a newsletter and have direct communication via email with all of you. If you would like to have access to the newsletter or would like to just have someone to chat with regarding photography please enter your email address in the sidebar!

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

A new year, new beginnings

Well we have all made it. We have circled the sun once more, and with that circle completed it is time to start moving forward and working to better ourselves in all that we do. Be it weight loss, improving our mental stamina, improving our communication with others, or improving on a hobby such as photography the new year is the time to start.

I decided that when I started off this new year that I had several things that I wanted to improve upon, and add into my life in a hope to improve it and hopefully it will assist those around me. First thing that I want to work on is improving my photography skills. This is not just behind the camera it is also the editing and communicating with others as well. I want every person that sees my work to enjoy it and potentially gain something from it. I also want to improve my blogging skills in hopes to gain more readers, and above all to help others with their passion in photography, what ever that passion may be. Finally one of my personal steps for me is to shed some extra pounds that I have put on since leaving the military. Hopefully these goals are not to lofty and something that I can reach, although it is going to take help from my readers as well.

Over the last year I have tried to document what I am learning as I am shooting and interacting with my clients in a hope to help those who read this blog. I want to be able to help on both sides of the fence. Meaning I want to be able to shed light on this whole photography thing for photographers AND their clients. I am still learning what my reader base is and there seems to be a bit of both and I plan to continue to try and foster that type of readership and growth in an effort to make life easy for every one moving forward this year.

Moving forward please be aware that I am going to be posting affiliate links. These links will only be to items that I have personally used and that I am willing to put my name on. This is something that I take very seriously, so unless I have personally used it I will not be linking to it in this setting. Yes if you click the link and make a purchase I do make a small percentage as an affiliate, but as I said I am only going to recommend what I know works and is great for use. This is something that you can trust.

Over the last year there were times that I struggled with topics to talk about. Sometimes, as a stay at home mother and photographer you just kinda get trapped in your own little world and forget to step outside of it. With this in mind I would love each and every one of you that is reading this to go over to the sidebar and enter your email address. This way we can talk more directly, and you will have the chance to give me things to research and to talk about on the blog for every one else to learn. There is no stupid question and if you have that question I am sure there are others out there that have the same question as well, however they are just to scared to ask. With this in mind if you do not want to ask on the blog you can ask via email and maintain anonymous if you wish.

I am looking forward to 2017 with each and every single one of you. Here is to a new year of learning!