Eat-Sleep-Edit: June 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

Never date/ befriend a photographer

o On a date, don’t wait for a sunny day to go on a picnic, instead wait until it’s overcast and gloomy.

o They rather hold their bulky camera, than hold hands with you.

o They overload their camera bag “just in case” on a vacation, and then want you to carry it for them.

o You can never go on a date with them until after the sun has set, because that’s “the GOLDEN hour”

o You’ll never be able to enjoy TV, movies, or magazines because they’ll point out all the visual flaws.

o When you think they’re giving you their undivided attention, they’re really wondering how they could fix you with a little Clone Tool and Patch Tool, and if the catchlights in your eyes would highlight well.

o They rather drop $1,000+ on new glass than like most girls get a new purse, unless it can carry a dslr.

o They can’t take a photo with them without taking at least five more.

o They spend all their time on the computer (and not for porn.)

o They spend a lot of time with people cooler than you

o They won’t return your calls or text messages, but you can bet they’re still posting photos on Facebook.

o They like looking at weird things in general.

o They will go somewhere and have serious lens envy.

o Everything is watermarked.

o They like trespassing into old abandoned buildings filled with health hazards.

o They always want to show a new photo they took, but don’t really care if you like it or not.

o They’ll take you into places that have “culture" as well a high chance of getting mugged.

o Your birthday present will be a portrait that they’ve taken of you.

o They will always bug you to be a test subject.

o Bringing their camera means, bringing 50lbs of equipment.

o You can’t get them a birthday/Christmas present without spending at least $500

o They are natural hoarders, collecting and keeping piles of old newspapers, packaging, magazines, and “vintage” items.

o You go shopping and they pick up odd things to “put a baby” in!

o They are weird and geeky.

o They have hard drives of photos, but probably have printed 10 images.

o If you’re ever in auto mode, they laugh at you.

o While they are talking to you, they are thinking, “how could I pose him?”

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Vintage cars!

Sometime us "arty" types get tired, I don't mean just physically, I mean artistically, our profession becomes a bit of a chore and we need inspiration. Well tonight I got it! I planned a evening of editing clients photos, but as I drove home I saw South Lyon main street was packed with vintage cars, music blaring and fair food, Apparently this is happening ever Wed evening from now through September. I raced home, grabbed my camera bag and even though cars aren't my thing had a ball! Hope you like the results, please comment below.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Wedding lists

I decided to write this post to help brides know how to prepare their photographer for a wedding. It's all about organization! Your wedding photos are the main thing you have to remember your day. So organize, and plan them.
I am pretty flexible and even if my contract says 5 hours I usually stay longer, to get the shots in the contract. But if you want specific shots make a list. It is essential to make a list of all the people you want in formal photos, how you want people put together, eg bride, groom and brides Mom, bride and mom, bride and day, bride and step-mom, etc. And put their name in.Try make sure you don't leave dear Aunt Mildred out, or step family,weddings can be a time of healing fences so include all family.
Make a schedule and stick to it. If you have booked you photographer for 5 hours and you want specific events photographed make a schedule. GIVE a copy to the wedding organizer, the photographer, your Matron of Honor, your best-man and then tell your guests where and who will be in the formal photos and when they will take place, eg "Formal wedding photos will take place at the park on Beaumont Road after the ceremony, immediate family and the wedding party will proceed there and all other guests will proceed to the reception."
Also if you have any specific poses you want, or photos with items, put those in a bag/box, put your lists on a clipboard in that box too.
The more you communicate with your photographer the better, I don't mean text them constantly, but do write down exactly what you want and give it to them.
There will always be photos you wish you had got, the ill child, the invalid grandma, if you work with your photographer they will usually be able to make some extra time to take photos of those people a few days later, but this is a favor so you need to work round their schedule.
And last but not least, your photographer is editing YOUR photos, be nice to them.
You can find more about my photography here
Or follow me on Facebook

Kit for weddings

I often get asked what essential you should have in your Kit for a wedding.I'm sure I will forget something on the list, so feel free to add in the comments!

Comfortable shoes (yes you are at a wedding, but your feet will ache at the end of the day)

At least 2 cameras, even if your back up camera is a simple point and shoot, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a back up
Lenses, now these are your choice, I always have my wide angle for the group photos, my 18-270 for the ceremony makes sure I can get the brides smile and zoom in on Dad wiping a tear away, and then a prime lens for my bridal portraits.
Batteries, you can never have enough, I have got into the habit of finding a plug point as soon as I get to the venue and plugging my charger in, as soon as a battery dies I put it on there, I also have 8 spares.
Memory cards, again, you can never have too many of these
tripod
reflector
a small blanket, just something you can let the bride sit on. (make sure it's a light color, I use a space blanket)
A flash gun (I use a speedlight)
A Flash diffuser (I love the Gary Fong one)
water, a few bottles to drink!

I then have a bag of "essential goodies" that I take to all my shoots, not just weddings. I make sure everything is super small size in here and refill when need be.

Duct tape (Great for everything from fixing broken cameras and taping loose branches out of the way)
Various safety pins
Various bobby pins and hairclips
a nail file
a tiny sewing kit
breath mints
band aids
headache tablets
hand cream
chapstick
fingerless gloves
hand sanitizer
wet wipes
tissues
A FEW DOLLARS in change (the amount of time I grab my camera bag and forget my wallet, those dollars have helped me get a quick snack)
a cereal bar (great for a quick pick me up between shoots)
A small sharp pair of scissors
a lens cleaning kit
a bungee cord
A black Sharpie

You can find more about my photography here
Or follow me on Facebook

Newborns are hard work!

So a newborn session typically takes 3 hours. 3 lovely hours of cuddling a new squishy baby. But also of stopping for feeds, rocking and remembering just how hard a newborn is. No newborn session is ever complete without at least one of us being peed on. More of what I do can be found HERE

You can find more about my photography here
Or follow me on Facebook

Are my photos being used?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #783f04;">I often have wondered if posting my images on <span style="font-size: large;">F</span>acebook, <span style="font-size: large;">G</span>oogle+, twitter, my blog, etc is safe. I do always watermark my images and put a copy write notice but, you never know......or can you find out? I'm going to show you how to have a check to see if anyone is using your images. The common term for this type of search is called "reverse image search" I did this in <span style="font-size: large;">F</span>irefox, but I believe the process is very similar in other search engines, the wording might be a bit different, but if you can learn to use a dslr you can learn to do this!</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The first thing I must however tell you is, if you have a dslr camera, you should be able to put specific info into the metadata,(if you don't know how, do a search with the make of your camera ) Well when you do this make sure you put your name in and phone number. Then in the case of ownership deputes you info is always there.</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">                                                                       </span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4VRcKPFkjqHVtllTY_hLFVGXWgxrNCHc7WHQdrggfxp2eXDLKHTc5R59Fql8PLgS8zDTNu8gkYz_oLUFvQEqpgAgUJQZy6rzUATM3FwhHAz9ZLvhBOY_unSjdQ66fr-iBcHq1Q0eJKA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-03+at+10.38.10+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4VRcKPFkjqHVtllTY_hLFVGXWgxrNCHc7WHQdrggfxp2eXDLKHTc5R59Fql8PLgS8zDTNu8gkYz_oLUFvQEqpgAgUJQZy6rzUATM3FwhHAz9ZLvhBOY_unSjdQ66fr-iBcHq1Q0eJKA/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-05-03+at+10.38.10+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">The first step is to find your image on your site and right click. A pop up box will appear click "copy image location"</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbOaGxgKvRGsKMCs24-99oIVm-h5dzXUCVSlrWWx3_1pQw7X9qaC2UYlbUvT4V6RkTdhfSbEVQ-6TbYUU06K3E-kKT8IFnWMHvmwzDvoXsln7HlLT41oH8vC_3C2ZuhTCNNpxUvVHGm0/s1600/google+search.tiff" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIbOaGxgKvRGsKMCs24-99oIVm-h5dzXUCVSlrWWx3_1pQw7X9qaC2UYlbUvT4V6RkTdhfSbEVQ-6TbYUU06K3E-kKT8IFnWMHvmwzDvoXsln7HlLT41oH8vC_3C2ZuhTCNNpxUvVHGm0/s400/google+search.tiff" width="400" /> </a></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">              <span style="color: #0b5394;"> Take this copied number and paste it in your google search bar. Click search!</span></span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5DOldgCPoWvRx4Q4SOAZ5fbCSRaWl8dIGUJHxDyccx1WXtr1uKmsNyIDjP7ldOZuQAXvYTn53FkCnOy_YhtGY1OfMUwg7V0h5f4GMNRqlGjk1XABeR4AHlaK2LRFPSTOpi6ZluUc0G0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-03+at+10.39.47+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm5DOldgCPoWvRx4Q4SOAZ5fbCSRaWl8dIGUJHxDyccx1WXtr1uKmsNyIDjP7ldOZuQAXvYTn53FkCnOy_YhtGY1OfMUwg7V0h5f4GMNRqlGjk1XABeR4AHlaK2LRFPSTOpi6ZluUc0G0/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-05-03+at+10.39.47+AM.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The next page will look like this on, click on where it says "search by image" </span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">and....</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD-DOnFdFo-RIuyja58wZ6Vtx4NsqxY0W5tfEmhw-nJVo4GR5-xeJLRCDMd5tghuh4yAa_-lv5mYWWUOrO4jWCPpnslcwc6YUG_fJ025IKvND7BQD2dnU1g8HIQD-qvt2GckgH-GFL4E/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-03+at+10.42.27+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMD-DOnFdFo-RIuyja58wZ6Vtx4NsqxY0W5tfEmhw-nJVo4GR5-xeJLRCDMd5tghuh4yAa_-lv5mYWWUOrO4jWCPpnslcwc6YUG_fJ025IKvND7BQD2dnU1g8HIQD-qvt2GckgH-GFL4E/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-05-03+at+10.42.27+AM.jpg" width="400" /> </a></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #783f04;">The next page will show you hopefully that your image isn't being used anywhere else, or will show you where people are using your images, even if they have cropped the image or altered it, like removed the watermark. </span></span></i></span></div>

By definition, " a professional photographer" is someone who makes an income taking pictures. Yes, it’s something we do for fun, but at the end of the day, it’s our profession. In order to have a successful profession, you have to make a sustainable income.

It’s a business and like any business, start-up costs are expensive.

Equipment is expensive, as is maintaining it. The average camera body I use is $3000, lenses $1000 each, Speedlight(Flash) $800, Memory cards $80 each, etc, etc, when I add it all up, my camera bag alone has about $10 000 equipment in it, then there is the pc you need. I have a macbook pro, and photoshop, and add on actions.....That's another 10 000, plus training and college.....

Photography is time-intensive and time is money.Most people think it is just arrive at a shoot, click, click, click, upload, crop, and make money. It's not. I spend on average 30 min editing each image and then often just throw away the results.

So how do I go about letting people know that I do not work for free?

The first reason and it’s simply this: I, as a person (i.e. friend, daughter, advocate, etc.) am a separate entity from my business.

For example, say I have a friend who owns a dress boutique. I would never expect (I hope) to be able to shop this boutique for free, to just take any clothes I wanted.
Why not? The business is a separate entity from my friend and subsequently, our friendship. The same is true for photographers.

We wouldn’t expect a free jewelry from a jeweler, free meals from a chef, nor flights from a pilot. But for some reason, photography has slipped the radar on this and it’s a common expectation that we can do our work for free.

With some good communication and armed with a few examples, we can help others to understand that we’re a separate entity from our business and we cannot make a profession out of something done for free.

Make sure you have price lists available, when friends ask you to do a shoot, say sure, I'll send you my prices, what is your email? Of course offer them a discount or something extra, but don't work for free.