Survival tips for new digital photography pros – Part I

If you’re new to the world of professional photography, you probably have a lot of questions. If you’ve been in the game for some time now, you’ve probably noticed that things are changing.
So what follows is the first of 2 parts on my advice on how to survive in these times of 65 megapixel cameras, VDSLRs and social media.

1. Know how to use your camera

When we get a new camera, we’re excited. We run outside or to the studio with it and shoot great pictures. The thing is, there’s a lot your camera can do that will not only make your pictures better, but there’s a lot your camera can do besides taking pictures. Open the manual. Read it from cover to cover. Know what to do when you get that “ERROR34″ code. You will feel much more confident in your ability to shoot, problem solve, and you will generally handle yourself in a more professional manner.

2. Shoot constantly

With your manual all worn out and dog-eared, you can now begin to shoot. Shoot everything, take your camera everywhere. If your camera’s too big or too heavy, invest in a point shoot with a manual mode so you can keep your eye and skills sharp. Camera phones work fine for this as well, as long as you shoot constantly.

3. Shoot RAW

RAW is the most powerful file format for digital cameras. The editing possibilities are endless. There are plenty of free RAW converters out there, and Adobe’s Camera RAW is second to none. Learn it, use it, feel the power.

Adobe Camera RAW

4. Know what you’re good at

In the beginning, you shoot everything. Portraits, still life, landscape. You need to specialize and develop a look for that specialty, or you won’t get hired. You can’t be good at everything, so you should focus on one area and master it.

5. Multiple Revenue streams

So you shoot portraits, what else can you do to make more money? You could try and teach a class on it, you could look into stock photography or you could have a gallery show. Find other ways to make money on your talent and ability. Teaching and seminars or lectures can be very rewarding, and a lot of schools and organizations need speakers on digital media because it’s changing so much and becoming so big. Stock photography, if you can get into it, can make you money on your photos while you focus on other things. It’s not guaranteed to pay your mortgage but it’s a good way to get your images in the public eye. Another thing is galleries, look into exhibition space in your area and what you have to do to get involved. There are many other ways to make money on your photography, sit back and brainstorm.

Exibition, Northern Waters Gallery

6. Never sell yourself short.

Set your rates and stay firm about them. You should never be ashamed of what you charge, you should come out and say them right away. You offer a great service at a great rate. NEVER give a “ballpark estimate.” You will miss something and end up under-cutting yourself. In these times you may need to be a bit flexible for yourself. Set a minimum and work for no less. If you’re not sure what to charge do some research on your competition. Don’t be a jerk and undercut everyone else. Be fair to yourself. As soon as you start shooting portraits for 50.00 you not only hurt yourself, but you hurt the market.

On friday I will post Part II. Stay tuned!

Sci-Fi Predicitions on the future of Digital Photography

Some History

The First digitally recorded Image. Click for source.

Digital Photography has come a long ways since it’s creation. There are a lot of things both the professionals and consumers looked at carefully before deciding to buy that shiny new toy that plugged into their computers, each had it’s own purpose. First it was megapixels. The first digital cameras were around 1 megapixel, some were even less than that. Competition picked up and soon 3 or 4 megapixel cameras were popping up. At this point, digital’s image quality was vastly inferior to film – so the pro’s stuck with their 35mm and 120mm cameras to get much cleaner images. When 6 megapixels rolled around, the pros became interested. With megapixels climbing and resolution improving, it wouldn’t be long before they could go to a camera store and buy one of these fancy things and not get laughed at. At 8-10 megapixels some pros started to convert – Digital was far less expensive and far more practical than film was for commercial applications. Some photographers stayed behind but now there was no doubt that a digital age was upon us. Resolution and megapixels grew almost weekly – 10, 12, 14, 24! It happened so fast, and us pros started to feel comfortable with digital’s image quality, finally.
Video was introduced next, with both 720p and 1080p HD video recording capabilities that is allowing photographers to put “Video” on their list of services to their clients, and currently there are several films being shot with Digital SLR cameras. The RED Camera shocked the world with it’s still photo and video capabilities wrapped into one.
Next up, came ISO. It used to be that if you went anywhere beyond 400 ISO you would get crazy noise and artifacts in your images. Then that was pushed to 800. 1600. Now with the Nikon D3S and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV ISO ranges are going into the hundred-thousands with virtually no noise or artifacts. It’s changing the way we photograph everything, and it’s revolutionizing Photojournalism.
The last frontier for digital photography was dynamic range. It was said that the human eye is capable of seeing detail in both high-lights and shadows, where a typical DSLR could only see detail in either one or the other. HDR photography has changed that significantly, but would require to use 2 or more images to gather enough information and then combine the images in photoshop. Astronomical ISO ranges and HD video was not going to solve this.

Old Technology, new application

Bear with me for a moment. I have a very active imagination, having grown up on Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
I am imagining a camera, tool or device that uses very old technology for something very new. Not necessarily just for taking photographs – it could potentially be used for making 3D models and it already has a military use – but the possibilities are endless.

Your new Histogram

Imagine a device that uses digital imaging with sonar technology. Of course, it would have to be more advanced than the blips you see on the sonars in The Hunt for Red October, I imagine that it could use some sort of low-frequency laser that could scan and recreate a scene rather than the sound waves produced by a typical Sonar. Think about it. It would solve the Dynamic range issues that have been the bane of some photographers existence, and it would make 3D modeling a breeze, at least for gathering information on textures and shapes. Photoshop would no longer be a 2D application, but would be an entire rendering program used for both photographic and 3D purposes. Digital media would truly come together in the same way that video and still photography came together, and it would be a good thing.
Of course, it would also bring bad things – I imagine that still photography would no longer be used in a court of law as evidence (Frankly, I’m surprised it’s still being used today) due to the amount of tampering that could be done with such a vast amount of data. It would be an age of 64 TeraByte compact flash cards, and Fire Wire would be up to version 25.2.
What I’m trying to say here is that the chances of this actually happening is very slim to none. But wouldn’t it be cool? And to be honest, I don’t think the idea is too far fetched with all of the 3D movie technology that is popping up or how we all gasped when it was first revealed that we could shoot images at ISO 2500. So maybe this won’t happen real soon, but the reason we are creative professionals in the first place is because we have active imaginations, and I’d like to keep it that way. Leave your thoughts and comments on the future of our profession!

The new Polaroid

I have spoken of camera phones in the past, stating that they would be the death of the Photojournalism field. While this may not happen anytime real soon, I think that the availability and accessibility to the general public has greatly impacted
“Real news” brought to you by the people. However, it now seems to be affecting the fine art field as well. Photographers like Chase Jarvis and Lisa Wiseman use iPhones for fine art projects and others have even used camera phones to do professional work. This at first did not make much sense to me. Why would professional photographers advocate the use of low-resolution, slow shutter-speed cameras that any 15-year old girl would just toss in her purse? The answer is simple: Camera Phones are the next Polaroids and Holgas.

Photos by Lisa Wiseman

The low-tech-no-extras approach to photography is very refreshing. Most camera phones are in the range of 2-5 megapixels, and they don’t exactly have a large color palette or much dynamic range – but the DO produce unique, one of a kind images. And now it’s easier than ever to put those photos where people can see them on sites like Tumblr and Flickr with new technologies and smart phones.

Photo by Robert Schultze

Be sure to check out the Some-Photog-Tumblog for more camera phone photos.

Show me your pics!

So many photographers I know take hundreds of photos, some of them great, some of them not-so-great… and nobody ever sees them. These photographers usually have a digital archive or several boxes full of negatives. And they say that nobody appreciates what they do, and nobody ever sees their work.
Well, thanks to the internet, they no longer have any excuses. Websites like flickr and Tumblr allow you to easily share photos as easy as sending a text-message or e-mail. And if you have a cellphone that has a camera, boy are you selling yourself short. Cellphone cameras used to be a gimmick, something that pros and amateurs alike scoffed at, but now with social media and the internet, photographers like Lisa Wiseman and many others are using phone-cameras to promote themselves and even do work with them. The technology is improving. More megapixels, higher resolution – Though not as customizable as a DSLR, the simplicity and availability of phone-cameras are beginning to be compared to the likes of the Holga, the Polaroid and other cult cameras. And the ability to share the photos instantly is truly changing the medium. Even websites that don’t focus exclusively on photography like Facebook or even Twitter are being used to show the world the photography of the every-day-man.
I know for awhile I was frustrated because if I wanted to take photos and share them it was a process – I had to lug my camera-bag around and upload the photos to my computer and then finally to the internet – but now it takes almost no effort. I carry around my phone-camera and snap pics whenever I want, and I feel it’s good for me as a photographer – it keeps me sharp and aware. Now go and put that phone-camera to work and show the world your photos!

And be sure to check out the Some-Photog-tumblog!

Photoshoot: Editorial elopement

A couple from Chicago discovered my website a few weeks ago and asked me if I would be interested in covering their elopement. Normally, I don’t shoot weddings because I find them stressful and they make me not like my job, but their story was so… well, for lack of a better term, classic.
They were both teachers at a highschool for under-privileged kids, and their family did not approve of their relationship. So, they jumped a flight to San Francisco to elope and asked me to cover it like a photo-journalist. I like editorial photography a lot, and this is the reason I took this wedding-esque job. I had a lot of creative control and we both had ideas that we bounced off of each other. It all ended 7 locations and 500 photos later with a variety of story-telling and humorous images.