Q/A Specialization In Photography

March 28th, 2008 Dave Scott

Paul in Grand Prairie, TX writes:

Dave

I stopped by your website and it looks like you shoot a lot of different types of subject matter. Isn’t it better to specialize in one or two types of photography?

Paul

I don’t believe so. When I started out, I did a lot of work for newspapers. I was very green, very young, extremely motivated, and was young enough to have the energy to take on almost every assignment offered to me. I needed to shoot a wide variety of subject matter. Rather than helping me find the one or two subjects that I would spend the rest of my life shooting, it actually showed me the similarities in shooting different subject matter. I now look at all subject matter the same way, always keeping in mind the use of main light, fill light, highlights, shadow, camera angle, focal length of lens, background, etc. These are all the things you should be considering when you shoot. Sometimes you’ll have control over everything like when you shoot in a studio setting. Other times you’ll have very little control like when shooting sports in available light. Just remember to stop, assess your shooting situation, and control what you have the ability to control. As you gain more experience you will be able make these assessments before hand and determine if you want to take on a particular assignment or not.

Just remember, your choice of subject matter is wide open. My opinion is that photography is much more than subject matter. I like working with subject matter that is familiar to me and easy to shoot as well as assignments that pose technical challenges and a lot of planning. That’s one of the best things about our profession, we all have plenty of choices.

The image above was produced a few weeks ago for a corporate brochure. I’ll be providing full details about this shoot in a future article. In the mean time, please visit the website of Erick Anderson, the graphic designer on that project. I am sure you will find his work as impressive as I do. www.emoeba.com.

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Clamshell Beauty Lighting

March 26th, 2008 Dave Scott

Brittany is a great make-up artist and likes to model on the side. I wanted to shoot some images for a class that I teach to demonstrate to my photo students how color can greatly enhance an image. The photo I envisioned was a standard beauty shot with Brittany wearing a white, off the shoulder top and the lighting being the clamshell style beauty lighting. The added color would come from the background only. The class saw two versions of the image, the image shown here and one with a pure white background. For this article we will only discuss the image to the left.

For the background I used yellow seamless paper. To gradate the background from orange to yellow-orange I added a strobe with a red gel. In the image, you can see that the background is orange at the top and yellow-orange at the bottom. I encourage you to play around with background lights. Watch the changes that happen when you change gel colors, background paper colors, and don’t forget to change the intensity of your background light. You will be amazed at the endless background combinations. Remember my philosophy is to experiment with your lighting. It’s the best and most fun way to learn.

To light Brittany, I used a very large light source. A 77 x 77 inch aluminum Photoflex frame fitted with a white translucent skin, and two strobes with wide angle reflectors shooting through. The frame was supported 2 Matthews C-Stands, held in place with 25 pound sandbags. The frame was lifted such that its bottom was about 42 inches off the ground. Brittany was kneeling on the floor. This kept the height of the Photoflex frame manageable. If you look in Brittany’s eyes you will see the main catchlights just above her pupils. The large secondary catchlights below the pupils were created with the bottom of our clamshell lighting set-up. Normally, I use a large reflector for this purpose but in this case we had white seamless paper still on the floor from a previous shoot. The light from our main light above reflected back up from the white seamless creating the beautiful secondary catchlights and filled in the shadows below the chin.

The image of Brittany is just as it came out of the camera with the exception of a spot of acne that I removed in Photoshop. Above is a diagram of the lighting set-up.
SHOPPING LIST

• Photoflex 77 x 77 Aluminum Frame
• Photoflex 77 x 77 White Translucent Skin/Fabric
• Matthews 40 inch C-Stand
• Matthews 25 Pound Sandbag
• Seamless Background Paper 107″ x 12 yards Deep Yellow

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Posted in Equipment, Shooting | 4 Comments »

DPSR - Help With Blogger’s Poll

March 25th, 2008 Dave Scott

Rodney Washington, the blogger behind Digital Photography Secrets Revealed, has a poll running now that asks “How Do You Market Your Photography?” He states:

I’ll be using your responses to create a discussion to further understand how to get the most out of your marketing and promotional tools.

Let’s help a fellow photographer out and participate in his poll. Many of you have asked me about marketing and I haven’t written about it yet. Rodney’s site will allow you to get another photographer’s perspective.

Posted in Misc, On The Web | No Comments »

Photojojo - Photography and The Law

March 25th, 2008 Dave Scott

The folks at Photojojo have a post called Photography and The Law: Know Your Rights. They have condensed a document called The Photographer’s Right and made it a bit lighter read. I have two teenage sons who have turned me on to the whole Chuck Norris phenomenon. He’s listed in the post!

The issue of photographer’s rights played a much larger role for me personally long ago when I worked for several newspapers. There are plenty of discussions on how the Patriot Act has lessened photographer’s rights so I’m not going to touch on that here. Keep in mind, however, that finesse, diplomacy and thinking on your feet can be your best tools in getting the shot you need. I’ve been in situations where police have tried to remove media. The way I see it, I could stand and argue and read off my rights (as I’ve witnessed many photographers do) or I could use good interpersonal skills to try to get my way. If that didn’t work I’d walk away, take off my 85mm lens and throw on a 300mm lens with a 1.4x converter and get the images I was being paid to come back with.

For more information on the legal rights of photographers I highly recommend the following book: Legal Handbook for Photographers: The Rights and Liabilities of Making Images

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Just Shoot It

March 20th, 2008 Dave Scott

Cruising around the internet forums and talking in person with other photographers it seems that so many wish they had better camera bodies and/or lenses, always wanting the flagship products that their brand has to offer. Don’t forget, of course, the forum kings that brag about all of the top of the line equipment that they own and use which just adds to the camera envy.

Get equipment that will get the job done for you. Remember, you are in business to make a living, not to brag about equipment. Almost all of the email I receive from Business For Photographers readers states that you folks are wanting to start or improve portrait photography businesses. I’m going to approach this with Nikon examples because that’s what I shoot and am familiar with but I am sure you are all familiar with your own brand’s camera models.

In the summer of 2005 I went digital. I purchased 2 Nikon D50 cameras with the kit lenses. These cameras were about $700 each. This summer will mark 3 years with that $1400 investment. Even though all of my old manual focus lenses work with my digital bodies I didn’t waste money on more camera body than I needed. Over 3 years those D50s have cost me $467 per year. Compare that to my colleagues in my area who shoot less than I do and for lower rates that have purchased 3 Nikon D2x bodies. That’s $15,000! Make your choices wisely and keep a business mind. If your business truly needs a $5000 camera in order to add to your bottom line then by all means do what you need to do to get that camera. Otherwise, get the camera that will do the job to your satisfaction. My D50s have been used for 20×24 portrait enlargements, have shot magazine covers, and numerous magazine spreads.

The photo students in one of my classes were complaining about the “crappy” cameras they had available to them in class. They were Canon Powershot S2 IS cameras which can be seen to the right. I took the camera and instruction manual home for the weekend. While shooting a senior portrait I took out the S2 and got it to fire my strobes by using its built in flash. The image above was produced with the S2.

You don’t need the most expensive camera equipment in order to get the job done. Learn to use what you have and purchase what you need only when you need it. Don’t get caught up in all the chatter on the forums or the marketing in the magazines. Stay focused on your Return On Inverstment. Just for the record, no, I would not recommend the Powershot S2 IS for use in your photography business.

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Increase Your Sales By Accepting Credit Cards

March 18th, 2008 Dave Scott

You don’t have to be a major player to accept credit cards for your photography business. In fact, if you are not accepting credit cards you are missing out on revenue. If you are thinking of starting a photography business or you are already in business you should be implementing ways to maximize your profits so that your business thrives. Accepting credit cards is one of those ways.

My sales went up by 21 percent for services that clients normally use credit cards on. Accepting credit cards hasn’t helped with revenue generated from larger commercial or editorial clients. However, accepting credit cards has added to the bottom line when shooting: Dance Schools, Martial Arts Schools, Sports Teams (team and individual photos), Business Portraits, Family Portraits, Senior Portraits, etc. You get the idea!

OK, I hear it quite often: “But Dave, I have a PayPal account! I send people to the PayPal website and have them pay me that way.” That is a great start but you can do even better! People spend more when they can put a purchase on their credit card. Our order forms for schools and teams include a section for credit card payments. You cannot send people off to the PayPal website for these orders. You have to make things as easy as possible for them to order. They have much more important things to do in their hectic lives. Also, consider when you are making the sale on the phone. A potential client calls and during the phone call decides that they are ready to book their [business portrait, family portrait, etc.]. Get the deposit via credit card during that same call while they are ready to buy. Don’t send them off to a website!

The simple answer for me, because I do not do the volume of a retail store, for credit card purchases was to enroll in PayPal’s Business Account and add the Virtual Terminal for credit card transactions. The Virtual Terminal allows you to enter your client’s credit card information securely via your web browser and get a transaction number and confirmation code right away.

There is a monthly fee for using the virtual terminal and there is a small transaction fee as well as a fee that is calculated as a percentage of the sale. Based on my increase in sale, these extra expenses are well worth it. One great thing about signing up with PayPal’s Virtual Terminal is that there is no time commitment. I know business people who wanted to change their current merchant account but were stuck because of their contract. With the PayPal Virtual Terminal service you have no such long term contracts.

The amount that your sales increase will depend on a few things. However, make sure that you let your clients know that you accept credit cards every chance you get. Be sure to have the VISA, Mastercard, Discover Card, and American Express logos on your website(s). Add “We Accept Credit Cards” to your email signature and to any newsletters you send out. If you use graphics in your emails and newsletters consider adding the credit card graphics with your text notice. Redo your order forms with a credit card section. Remember, accepting credit cards is all about making it easier for more clients to spend more money which leads to an increase in your bottom line.

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Posted in Business | 6 Comments »

Q/A Finding The Money To Start Your Business

March 15th, 2008 Dave Scott

Reader, Anthony, in Houston TX writes:

Dave

It seems to be a catch 22. I am on a shoestring budget and trying to get my photography business off the ground but I am not generating enough money to actually purchase the equipment that I need to do any studio type work. I’d like to buy studio lighting that I can take on location to do portraits and such.

When starting a new business it is important to fund said venture. In photography, I notice that many people believe that they can simply buy a camera and lens and go into business. Photography is no different than any other type of business. You need a certain amount of capitol and equipment in order to get started. And No, regardless of what you’ve read elsewhere, shooting portraits on location with available light with your one camera body and two lenses is not what I consider a photography business.

The way I got my business started in the early 80s was to drop out of college and go to work in a machine shop for 2 years in order to bank enough money to open a studio.

Let’s get back to Anthony’s question.

I emailed back and forth a few times with Anthony to find out a bit more about his situation. What I found out was interesting. Every weekday, Anthony buys two coffees and eats lunch at a restaurant. I did a quick check of what that would cost me in my area. Two coffees would cost me $3.78 and an average lunch would run me around $6.00 (I don’t eat large lunches). Essentially, if I did the same thing Anthony did, it would cost me $9.78 per day.

Now, let’s calculate what I actually do.

COFFEE:
I buy Starbucks Breakfast blend by the pound for $10.50. That pound yields me 36 cups of coffee. My cost per cup of coffee, including cream and sugar, comes to $0.43. My total cost for two cups of coffee per day is $0.86.

LUNCH:
I make my own lunch. I have a sandwich (some type of meat and cheese), chips or crackers, and a piece of fruit every day for lunch. My total cost for lunch is $1.43.

If I spent as Anthony does on coffee and lunch it would cost me $9.78 per day. I actually spend $2.29 per day for the same items. That saves me $7.49 per day. That’s a whopping $149.80 a month! Every two months Anthony could purchase about $300 worth of equipment.

Let’s take a look at what you can get with $300:

• Photogenic StudioMax III 320 Watt/Second ($259.50)
• 33″ Impact Umbrella - White Translucent ($9.95)
• Impact Compact Air Cushioned Light Stand (34.95)

That comes to a total of $304.40. There is your photographic lighting equipment for a one light set-up. Make your purchase and get started learning how to use your new equipment. That means take it out of the boxes and try experimenting. Make mistakes and improve. For a look at business portraits that were shot on location and with one strobe visit one of my business portrait sample pages HERE. All images were shot with one strobe except the top, left image. Can you make money with a one light set-up? Absolutely, yes. The 11 images on that page were part of a 30 person business portrait job.

There are plenty of ways to tighten our belts to make our dreams happen.

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Q&A Equipment for High School Sports

March 10th, 2008 Dave Scott

This question is from Bethany from Calabassas CA. Bethany writes:

Dave

I am an amateur photographer and a mom of two high school athletes. I’ve asked on a couple forums about equipment that I would need and it sounds like I am going to need to spend a lot of money to be able to photograph indoor sports. Also, I shoot Nikon right now but most people on the forums say I’ll need to shoot Canon because that is what all of the pros use.

Any advice?

Thank you!

Bethany

The wonderful Canon vs Nikon debate.

I seriously dislike this debate. When I consider what I was using 26 years ago to shoot sports, I find it comical that anyone makes these statements. Two and a half decades ago I was shooting sports for magazines and newspapers and I was making better images than the folks who keep these debates alive are shooting today. Both brands are excellent. While you see quite a lot of Canon equipment at pro and top NCAA events there are also top sports shooters that are using Nikon. Take the time that many of these guys spend on the forums and dedicate it to shooting sports and you’ll learn to create excellent sports images with either brand.

Shooting indoor sports or outdoor night sports has its challenges. Essentially you need to maintain a fast enough shutter speed to stop action in low light. This needs to be achieved with either fast lenses, high ISO, or a combination of both. If you are going to stay with your Nikon brand, my recommendation is a D300 camera body and a 70 - 200mm f2.8 lens. If I was starting out today that would be my starting combo.

You may get a lot of people advising you to get the camera with high FPS (frames per second). It’s not necessary. The top magazine shooters use strobes in the rafters for basketball games. The strobes take one or two seconds to recycle. They time their shots as I have done in the images with this post. The D50’s max rate is about 1 frame per second. Practice and you nail your shots too!

The basketball image on this page was shot with a Nikon D50 (approximately $500) and a Nikkor 85mm f1.4 lens (approximately $1025). Exposure was 1/350th second at f1.7 and ISO 1600 (the D50’s max ISO).

The football image was created with a Nikon D50 (approximately $500) and a 20 year old Nikkor 300mm f2.8 lens (20 years ago $5300, now $4500). Exposure was 1/250th second at f2.8 and ISO 1600.

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Welcome to Business for Photographers

March 7th, 2008 Dave Scott

Welcome to Business for Photographers. I’m Dave Scott, a professional photographer for the last 26 years.

As imaging technology has gotten more advanced since my beginning in this line of work and with the internet making information extremely accessible, I’ve noticed some negative trends. When a technology is introduced that allows the masses to compete with professionals there are certainly going to be big changes in the way business is done within that line of work. However, the basics of business will hold true, the good shooters with good business practices will make good money and the rest will not.

I have continued to work through all of this change partly by adapting but mostly by continuing to do the same things that have worked for over two and a half decades. I’m not worried about the new breed of shooter who charges cut rates for sub par work. Their clients are not the clients that I seek and they should not be the clients that you seek.
If you want to improve your photography and make a living at it, you have to constantly learn from good sources. Preferably ones that actually make a living in the field. You’ll eventually begin learning on your own as you start to understand the concepts involved in making great images and then applying them.

I enjoy teaching. In fact I teach at one of my local high schools, two periods a week (as a guest instructor) and through a private photo club that I run two Saturdays per month for students of that photo class. Additionally, I host photographic workshops for amateur and professional photographers.

The high school students that I teach are truly inspiring. They soak up every detail and work very hard. However, one of their most inspiring qualities is that they are not afraid to make mistakes or experiment. I encourage all of you to go back to the attitude that we had when we were young and ready to take on the world and apply it to your photography. I’m looking forward to providing quality tips and hopefully inspiration to help you to take your photography and your business to the next level.

The image at the top of this post was shot by one of my student who also happens to be my son. Students created the 4 light set-up, dialed in all of the lighting, and shot a bunch of fun tests with each other over the course of 2.5 hours. When the model arrived, each student directed her to achieve the image they had preconceived. They were allowed to shoot no more than 15 frames to achieve their goal. With the exception of a tiny bit of color correction this image is as it looked straight out of the camera. The photographer, Ryan, is a 15 year old sophomore.

The image below shows their set-up.

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