30 Things you Should Know to Help you Start a Photography Business

2 of my favourite photography blogs are based in Australia, in some ways I am not surprised by this as down under photography is taken seriously. You see photo galleries even in small towns and professional photographers seem to be genuinely interested in the craft of photography rather than it just being a means of making money. Does that mean I don’t think photography is taken seriously in the UK, well maybe. Not amongst the people who read our blog or come to us as students to learn but I do find many commercial operations are satisfied with the pictures that ‘Sarah’ from accounts can take because she has a good camera. Yes I exaggerate but the idea that making good pictures is just about having a decent camera does seem prevalent. The concept that a photographer with an understanding of communicating through images and experience of different situations and knowledge about the technical aspects is not one that many organisations take to heart when requiring images for a web site or brochures. So it was with pleasure that I found this from Digital Photo School in Melbourne suggesting that being a photographer requires more than just owning a camera.

©Keith Barnes

So here is some of the article from Digital Photo School by Gina Milicia that I suggest you read if you are thinking of becoming a photographer

1. Find the best photography course or workshops that work for you. try OSP as a start

If you are going to invest in a photography course/workshop do some serious research first.

It’s a huge investment so find out who the teachers are. Are they industry professionals that are going to be teaching you relevant styles and techniques?

Is the style of teaching suited to your personality and photography?

Who are the ex students that have gone on to create successful careers?

Consider weekend workshops and online courses held by experts in their fields.

2. Find a great mentor

3. Get as much industry experience as you can

4. Be Flexible when looking for an internships

The details of these points and the other 26 can be found here

 

 

Composition in Photography Tutorials

Well finally we get to see some sun and very welcome it is. Of course the shoot I had to do today was indoors in a church, so low light and candles but at least the walk back to my car lifted my spirits.

We are soon starting our Composition In Photography – Seeing Pictures course (06.03.2013) but some of you who don’t live in Oxford might find the commute rather long so here are some online tutorials that might be interesting

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-composition-tips

http://photo.tutsplus.com/tutorials/composition/master-the-art-of-photographic-composition/

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/other-tutorials/photography-tutorials/10-important-tips-improve-composition-photos/

http://oxfordschoolofphotography.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/4-rules-of-composition-for-landscape-photography/

http://oxfordschoolofphotography.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/how-to-use-natural-frames-to-enhance-photographic-composition/

http://www.lynda.com/Photography-Photo-Assignments-tutorials/Foundations-of-Photography-Composition/80299-2.html

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRwyZ2CPQw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMTRQjAl-m0

 

 

Wildlife photos: How to take the best shots

From the BBC website we have this

Even though the latest digital cameras can take dozens of photographs within a matter of seconds, and reveal instant results, it is still not as easy as you might think to snap a winning image.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition – run by the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide – receives thousands of entries. With the 2013 entry deadline approaching, what could you do to make your images stand out? Watch this slideshow – click here – to get some expert tips.

Enter Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 now and take part in one of the world’s most prestigious photography events. The competition is open to professional photographers, amateurs, young and old, worldwide until 25 February 2013. Full details here

Adults may enter up to 20 images for £20.00.  Entrants aged 17 and under may enter up to 10 images FREE.

Here are some other great tutorials that will help you to get great shots

12 Great Online Tutorials on Wildlife Photography

10 Tips for Improving Your Wildlife Photography

 

 

Exploring Metering Modes

Digital-Photo-School are based in Australia, this article is by a guest contributor to their site called Andrew S Gibson, he lives just down the road from us here in Oxfordshire UK, weird the way the world is so interconnected, great too.

This article is a pretty full explanation of the different metering modes available on your camera and how and when to use them.

“This is the third in a series of four articles about exposure by Andrew S Gibson – author of Understanding Exposure: Perfect Exposure on your EOS camera. You can read the first lesson, which explored the reasons for using program, aperture priority and shutter priority modes, here, and the second lesson, which explained why your camera’s meter gets exposure wrong, here.”

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/exploring-metering-modes#ixzz1wSlasxX9

How to Photograph Babies: 9 Tutorials

by Darren Rowse over at Digital Photo School

There must be a baby boom going on at the moment because today my inbox was hit by 5 separate emails from parents of new born babies wanting advice on how to photograph them.

I turned to our archives for some links to send them and found these 9 ‘how to photograph babies’ tutorials and thought I’d share them here just in case there are others looking for answers.

*Image Credit Nicole Hill.

• Photographing Babies without Losing Your Mind
• How to Photograph Newborns
• 3 Quick Newborn Photography Tips
• Baby Photography 101
• 10 Tips for Photographing Babies

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-babies-9-tutorials#ixzz1v8jvEMFy

Posing Guide: 21 Sample Poses to Get You Started with Photographing Couples

by Kaspars Grinvalds from Posing App. writing for Digital Photo School

Anything from The Digital Photo School is worth a look and this is too. I am a bit surprised that the author has chosen line drawings to illustrate the article as it is about photography but they are precise and avoid problems with backgrounds etc.

“In the previous articles in this posing guide series we looked individually at posing female subjects, posing male subjects and posing children. In those individual person portraits the main subject was a single person and her or his personality. In comparison, couple photography is more about connection, interaction and above all – feelings between two people. And most probably those are very deep and passionate feelings, which makes couple photography so delightful and positive.

Generally a couple should be easy to engage in a photo shoot. If they are initially a bit shy or feeling uncomfortable, just ask them to show you how they felt and looked when they met for the first time. You will invoke them on an emotional level, providing you with natural and loving expressions in their portraits”...MORE

Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/posing-guide-21-sample-poses-to-get-you-started-with-photographing-couples#ixzz1tp9a5Oz1

How to photograph New Years Eve Fireworks

You will need a tripod or a very steady hand so save the drinking until after midnight….

Seriously photographing fireworks is not rocket science (sorry) but a few tips would certainly make it more likely you will get some decent results that go with a bang (sorry).

These tutorials are full of the information you need to get sparkling (sorry) images rather than have you doing cart(catherine) wheels (sorry) in despair as you miss the final blow out.

Happy new year,may the next be better than the last.

From Digital Photo School we have these words of wisdom“

Do you want to know how to photograph fireworks? With 4th July just days away I thought I’d refresh this article in which I give 10 Fireworks Photography tips to help you get started.

Fireworks Displays are something that evoke a lot of emotion in people as they are not only beautiful and spectacular to watch but they also are often used to celebrate momentous occasions.”...read on here

Jeff Wignall also has much useful help here

©Jeff Wignall

16 Digital Photography Tips for Christmas

by Darren Rowse at Digital Phot School

“It’s just a few days until Christmas so I thought a quick tutorial on the topic of Christmas Photography might be appropriate. Hopefully this will give you some good Christmas photo ideas.

Here are 16 Christmas Photography tips and ideas to try that come to mind for digital camera owners wanting to capture the big day:”….MORE

Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/16-christmas-photography-tips#ixzz1h0DujPQ9

Personal Photography Projects

I have always worked to projects or themes, this is a way of always having something to shoot. When I travel I decide what I might like to work with before I go or sometimes the theme occurs to me after I have started my travels. I have projects that have lasted decades, I don’t go looking for these images, I am just so attuned to the elements that make up the theme that when I see them I shoot. My most long standing project has been about light. It is called Eternal Light, nothing religious just the recognition that light is the most important thing a photographer uses, more important than the type of camera, lens or technique: understanding light, seeing it and having the certainty that it will be back in the same place at the same time next year and for eternity; Eternal Light. We teach this as the foundation of our Intermediate Photography course, the next is scheduled to start in February

This article by Peter West Carey on Digital Photo School addresses much of what I consider important about shooting a project or theme.

“Personal photography projects are the spice of life between the humdrum of every day life and shooting. As a professional, there are subjects I shoot because I’m paid to (portraits, weddings, products, etc…) and there are subjects that interest me personally (mountains, goofy road signs, milk jugs, etc…). I’ve learned to mix the two and let work assignments pay for personal projects by keeping a list of what I want to shoot as I travel internationally as well as around my town.

You may not have thought of starting a long term project. Most of us don’t because our photographic interests change over time, more quickly as we start to dabble in photography and learn new techniques. We are all familiar with the Project 365, where the idea is to take a photo a day for a year. Think of this as a Project 365, but spread out of 5, 10, 40 years. Your goal is not to shoot regularly, but to shoot your given subject over and over and over, then compile the images tell a story.”.…MORE

all images ©Keith Barnes

RAW Processing – Weekly Lightroom Edit Episode 1

I am a great believer in RAW, I only ever shoot in this mode, of course that means I spend more time at my computer than is healthy but I do love the cotrol RAW processing gives me. This series of tutorials on the Digital Photo School site by Post Production Pye will give you an insight that might help you to do better and convince you to only shoot in RAW.

Here are the links to part one and part two, if you want the rest then follow DPS and get them directly fed to your computer. These tutorials use Lightroom, if you want the most comprehensive instruction in Lightroom have a look at our earlier posts here is a link to parts 6 and 7, there are the preceding 5 as well just go search for them in our search box