5 Simple Tips to New Photographers

5 Simple Tips to New Photographers

1. Prepare to run a business. Most people that are good at photography aren't good business people. Take some business courses or join the Professional Photographer Association for support and education.
2. Gear
Don't buy too much camera t first. Buy the cheapest thing you can while you learn. I was shooting great images back in 2003 with a 6mp D70. There is actually a guy in NYC selling 11x14's for thousands of dollars shot with a D70. Want to know more: Read this:http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/notcamera.htm . When you do build up your skills and go pro. Buy two aluminium weather sealed bodies. Like the Nikon D700 or Nikon D300. Weather sealed aluminum bodies will hold up to the rigors of shooting in all types of weather and situations. You don't want your camera to break when its banged, dropped or rained on during a shoot.
More on gear. Always , always always show up to a shoot with no less than two cameras, two lens, and two flashes. Even good cameras break. You don't want to be embarrassed, loose a customer or possibly get sued if your gear fails. I've had a cameras, lens and a flash go bad while shooting. No sweat I had an extra.
Buy only cheap lights at first. I have an Adorama 150 watt strobe that cost $60. It's light, compact and great for in home shoots. I still use it today. Buy one of these with an umbrella to start out. Or a couple of JTL-160's. I bought two of these when I started and used them for 5 yrs until they broke. Now I have an expensive set of Interift's I carry to wedding's. But to start I bought cheap. And later you can use those cheap lights for kicker or hair lights.
4. Work for free: Do your first shoots for free. First of all everybody kinda sucks a first. I did. So shot hundreds of pics of your friends and family for free practice. Shoot atleast 2 weddings for free before you ask for money. And if you're still not up to par shoot more for free. Enjoy learning the art of photography. Read , look at other photographers work, work for a pro for free and don't go pro unless you're good. Not when you're mom tells you you're good but when complete strangers think you're good. If you jump in too soon you'll get a bad name. And then you'll go out of business. Your technical skills with the camera and lighting have to become second nature. A so called "Eye for Photography" will do you no good if you can't capture technically what your artistic eye sees. Once your technics are up to par then you can focus on important things like composure and framing. In other words putting your "Eye for photography" to work.
5. Loving photography is important but not enough. Lots of people love photography. I'm told everyday by people they'd love to do photography for a living. But what they don't see is all the time after the shoot. For every hour of shooting plan on, one hour of image editing, one hour of uploading or placing the order and one hour of working with the Customer. Likewise consider the cost. If you make $100 you'll keep about $30 of that. You have to pay for processing, 25% for Uncle Sam, 10% for local taxes, marketing, equipment maintenance, and on and on and on. Let me temper hat with this. Only shoot what you love. Don't just shoot what pays. For instance, team sports photography pays good but bore me to death. Why because if I don't like it I will suck at it and get a bad name. I don't do assembly line photography. I'm not wired that way. Again shoot waht you love and you'll excell.

Well hope this helps photography dudes and dudets.

Sony A850 Evaluation

Warning this is a photo nerd article:

I recently bought a Sony a850. After 15 years of shooting Nikon this was a big adjustment (I still kept my Nikon D700). I evaluated this camera for about 3 weeks. There were times when I thought of selling and going with another Nikon . But after getting to know if I've decided its a wonderful camera and I'll keep it.

Compared to the D700:

1. Higher resolution allows bigger crops and enables to print billboard size prints if that's what you like to do. (Although resolution is not nearly as important as camera manufactures lead you to believe see:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm)

2. The most important thing a camera does is record color. This is far more important than resolution and even sharpness. The Sony a850 has pleasing colors that are very similar to the Nikon d700. Not surprising because Sony has been making Nikon's sensors for years.

3. Low Light, High ISO performance. This is also very important if you're a wedding or sports photographer. High ISO performance allows you to shoot images with relatively low noise in low light situation w/o a tripod. The Sony is ok at this giving good results up to 1600. The Nikon D700 blows the Sony away in this category. I regularly capture acceptable images at ISO 3200 with the Nikon. It is literally twice as good. But still the Sony is still pretty good at this.

4. Ergonomics: Nikon is the leader in the industry in ergonomics. Every Nikon Camera I've ever owned was easy to learn to use ( Excepting the ergonomics disaster that was the N70). Having said that the a850 isn't terrible in this category. The most annoying thing is adjusting the exposure compensation. You have to push the exposure comp button while simultaneously turning the the control dial with the same hand. Hard to do unless you happen to have a 6th finger. But despite this draw back overall is pretty good.

5. Image stabilization: The a850 has a sensor that provides image stabilization within the body. Most other camera manufactures, including Nikon, do not. Nikon and Cannon a few select lens that offer image stabilization. And even fewer lens if your shoot full frame. This limitation narrows your choice of lens and makes them more expensive. Meanwhile, any Sony/Minolta lens you buy will automatically have image stabilization in the Sony body. Which means you can buy a cheaper lens from 20 yrs ago and you're good. I have a 50mm 1.7 Minolta lens that cost $60 bucks. Sharpe as hell and image stabilized by Sony body. This is a huge advantage for the Sony.

6. Focusing system: The Nikon has 51 auto focus points in the view finder. It's accurate and fast so I rarely use manual selection of focus points. Actually never. The Sony only has 13 and isn't nearly as fast or accurate as the Nikon while in auto selection mode. So I almost always use the manual focus setting on the Sony. Which is fine if your subject is standing still. Not so good for sports, kids or wedding receptions. I only shoot the Nikon in those situations.

7. Shutter Speed: This is a clear advantage to the Nikon with 5 frames per second compared to the Sony at only 3 fps. Again the Nikon is better for moving things.

8. Build quality. Both have weather sealed aluminum bodies. Both feel rugged and heavy in your hand. Qualities you must have in professional photography. In the course of shooting a wedding or sporting event you will likely bang or even drop your camera. You don't want if falling to pieces on such occasions. Equally important is weather sealing. Don't shoot professionally without it. I've been rained on, fallen in creeks and been up to my chest in water shooting professionally. In each situation no sweat with a weather sealed body. Get one.

Conclusions: So which camera is best. Neither. Each is designed for different purposes. The Nikon D700 is designed to shoot low light fast moving situations where fast focusing and high ISO are possible. The Sony a850 is designed to shoot high resolution for portraits or landscapes when HUGE prints are needed. I use each respectively for these purposes. And don't be afraid to buy from two different camera manufactures. Its really not all that more expensive. And if you're married to one brand you may miss out on a great camera. Hope you enjoyed this terribly nerdy post.

FIRE!!!!!

To be sure yo should never play with fire....unless you're a professional photographer. Fire can add drama to a shot. Check out these super HOT images of seniors from three different school. They weren't afraid of a little heat. Drum sticks and baseball bats ablaze. I haven't set a guitar on fire yet like The Who but I can always dream.

CA Senior: Saranda Mae

It's fun to meet seniors from all over the state from different schools. Saranda, a CA senior , found us through a friend of my wife's. Check out her super cool shoot. If you look close the other girl in one photo is named, Melanie, my Mustang. Melanie, however, was out shined by Saranda's fierce eyes and glowing smile. Sorry Mel.

Growing

One of the most gratifying things about being a photographer is looking back at your work to see how you've grown. Equally gratifying is seeing how your customer's families have grown . In July I got the chance to do both. In 2008 I had the opportunity to do Senior Pictures for Andrew Arledge. This year the Arledge family brought their daughter Ashley for her Senior Pictures. So in this blog post I thought I'd highlight the Arledge family. Look closely in Andrew's pic to see his reflection beside the bowtie. And see Ashley's contrast from a thoughtful Cowgirl to an exuberant leap from the bed of her truck.

Barber Wedding

One of my favorite things to do as a photographer is to shoot weddings. Especially when your bride and groom are easy going and great to work with like Aaron and Jill. On October 3rd I had the fortune to photograph Aaron and Jill Barber's wedding. The small church in Mt Pleasant TN was packed with friendly guest and family. I was pleased to have a wedding so close to home. Most of my weddings are more than an hour away. The reception was at Park Place in Columbia which has some of the best catering around. Served and prepared by owner and caterer Cheryl Craig she make some of the best italian food on the planet. The Wine was provided by Keg Springs winery from Hampshire. The best man Brian owns the winery. Friendship has its perks. We wish Jill and Aaron the best.

Jason and Meredith

It was a pleasure to serve as Jason and Meredith's wedding photographer in August. It was truly a heart warming ceremony. There were 4 musical performances during the ceremony including: a guitar and vocal performance by Meredith's sisters, a pianist, a flautist and violin ( that's fiddle and flute for all you folks) and a vocal duet from the bride and groom.
Jason is a surgical resident at Vanderbilt Hospital and Meredith works at Vandy as an RN. As remarkable as those careers are its not the most memorable thing about these two. Foremost, in their lives is a love for Christ that calls them both to medical missions. This devotion to Christ was shown and felt by the two during their wedding day. Good luck to Meredith and Jason in marriage and there future missions work.