Photography

[fazza91]

Hi everyone,
Havent posted anything for a while, mainly because i havent had any new freebies to tell you about.
Anyway, Im a young photographer and am starting my own photography business. I was just wondering if anyone has got any advice for me, whether it be photography or just general business.
Anyway, thanks for your time guys.

[joeemslie]

Well what sort of photography are you into?

Also, what type of business is it going to be online, exhibition?

Also (as i love photography aswell) got an pics of what you have done would love to see them!

X

[fazza91]

Well i have already done some wedding photography for family and friends, and am pleased with the photos i took
I do not have the photos with me at the moment, as i am using a different laptop, but may try and get them on later.
I am looking to continue with the wedding side and also start with studio and commercial photography. (not online i dont think...not sure what you meant by this)

[daftks]

do you have any photos online, like on a website or something that we can look at?
i do photography as a hobby aside from my design course, if you want to have a look at my website then let me know!

[mcgrou]

This will probably sound like such a noobish tip for a bunch of photographers, but I may as well, you may not have seen it before... :/
When you take a photo, always try and have something significant to the event in the photo, but make sure that the "something" is very colourful... Then when you edit the photo (I do it in Photoshop CS3), you can make the entire photo b&w, apart from the "something".
For example, on my nan's 50th (gold) wed anniversary, I took a photo of a cousin blowing up a golden balloon and... (look at my attatchment)

Sorry if that was a worthless tip but wth

EDIT- Also, I kinda rushed the lassoo-ing, so it doesn't look brilliant

[fazza91]

I am gradually learning to use more of photoshop, but it does take time. It has been hard, considering all the exams iv got to think about to.
I like the photo, even though it was a quick job.
Anyway, i do not have a website for my work as of yet, but will consider making one once i have some more time and also once i have some more pictures to present.
Daftks, could you tell me your site address please?
Last thing, what cameras are you guys using?

[daftks]

Originally Posted by fazza91

I am gradually learning to use more of photoshop, but it does take time. It has been hard, considering all the exams iv got to think about to.
I like the photo, even though it was a quick job.
Anyway, i do not have a website for my work as of yet, but will consider making one once i have some more time and also once i have some more pictures to present.
Daftks, could you tell me your site address please?
Last thing, what cameras are you guys using?

sure thing : + + : : Scarlett Fu - Portfolio : : + + <-- that's my graphic design portfolio, but has some photography (quite selective)
Flickr: daftks' Photostream <-- flickr, a whole load of different photos, whether good or bad..!

i'm more into film photography nowadays...trying to keep vintage alive..!

[fazza91]

i like the one on time square!
How do you find projects to do? or do you take photos and try and sell them?

[Funky]

I've been doing wedding photography for a couple of years couple of tips i can give you are:

1 - pay attention to detail, brides love this and after months of planning every detail they want a record of it eg shoes, flowers, dress detail. Snap away and get everything.
2 - Find something different to all the other local wedding photographers, answer the question why should they come to you than the next person down the street?
3 - Networking is very important, take time to get to know the wedding organiser and the staff at the venues. If you do a good job they are more likely to then recommend you.
4 - Be bright and cheerful, so many times we have been praised because we are not grumpy buggers like so many other photographers they have met.
5 - Lastly cover your back by getting insurance, making plenty of backups, use several different cards during the day anything that will guard against the F'Up fairy visting!
6 - masks are the way to go in PS when doing colour selective images.
7 - black & white images simplify the image and makes the viewer concentrate on the expression.

hope this helps, post some pics would be interesting to see some of your pics.

[mcgrou]

Originally Posted by Funky

I've been doing wedding photography for a couple of years couple of tips i can give you are:

1 - pay attention to detail, brides love this and after months of planning every detail they want a record of it eg shoes, flowers, dress detail. Snap away and get everything.
2 - Find something different to all the other local wedding photographers, answer the question why should they come to you than the next person down the street?
3 - Networking is very important, take time to get to know the wedding organiser and the staff at the venues. If you do a good job they are more likely to then recommend you.
4 - Be bright and cheerful, so many times we have been praised because we are not grumpy buggers like so many other photographers they have met.
5 - Lastly cover your back by getting insurance, making plenty of backups, use several different cards during the day anything that will guard against the F'Up fairy visting!
6 - masks are the way to go in PS when doing colour selective images.
7 - black & white images simplify the image and makes the viewer concentrate on the expression.

hope this helps, post some pics would be interesting to see some of your pics.

Thats how I did mine

[daftks]

Originally Posted by fazza91

i like the one on time square!
How do you find projects to do? or do you take photos and try and sell them?

i'm going through a phase of experimental photography right now, just trial and error with most things. If some of my friends' friends become interested then they ask me whether I can do photoshoots for them or something. Otherwise, I usually try and get some exposure on different art websites / photography websites like FlickR or Deviantart

[Schism]

Originally Posted by mcgrou

This will probably sound like such a noobish tip for a bunch of photographers, but I may as well, you may not have seen it before... :/
When you take a photo, always try and have something significant to the event in the photo, but make sure that the "something" is very colourful... Then when you edit the photo (I do it in Photoshop CS3), you can make the entire photo b&w, apart from the "something".
For example, on my nan's 50th (gold) wed anniversary, I took a photo of a cousin blowing up a golden balloon and... (look at my attatchment)

Sorry if that was a worthless tip but wth

EDIT- Also, I kinda rushed the lassoo-ing, so it doesn't look brilliant

There are easier ways of doing that Hehe.

[fazza91]

Originally Posted by Funky

I've been doing wedding photography for a couple of years couple of tips i can give you are:

1 - pay attention to detail, brides love this and after months of planning every detail they want a record of it eg shoes, flowers, dress detail. Snap away and get everything.
2 - Find something different to all the other local wedding photographers, answer the question why should they come to you than the next person down the street?
3 - Networking is very important, take time to get to know the wedding organiser and the staff at the venues. If you do a good job they are more likely to then recommend you.
4 - Be bright and cheerful, so many times we have been praised because we are not grumpy buggers like so many other photographers they have met.
5 - Lastly cover your back by getting insurance, making plenty of backups, use several different cards during the day anything that will guard against the F'Up fairy visting!
6 - masks are the way to go in PS when doing colour selective images.
7 - black & white images simplify the image and makes the viewer concentrate on the expression.

hope this helps, post some pics would be interesting to see some of your pics.

thanks for the tips mate!
So what got you in to photography at the start then and how did you start?
Do you advertise much then or do you just allow the jobs to come to you through networking?

[Schism]

Originally Posted by Funky

I've been doing wedding photography for a couple of years couple of tips i can give you are:

1 - pay attention to detail, brides love this and after months of planning every detail they want a record of it eg shoes, flowers, dress detail. Snap away and get everything.
2 - Find something different to all the other local wedding photographers, answer the question why should they come to you than the next person down the street?
3 - Networking is very important, take time to get to know the wedding organiser and the staff at the venues. If you do a good job they are more likely to then recommend you.
4 - Be bright and cheerful, so many times we have been praised because we are not grumpy buggers like so many other photographers they have met.
5 - Lastly cover your back by getting insurance, making plenty of backups, use several different cards during the day anything that will guard against the F'Up fairy visting!
6 - masks are the way to go in PS when doing colour selective images.
7 - black & white images simplify the image and makes the viewer concentrate on the expression.

hope this helps, post some pics would be interesting to see some of your pics.

Well, learn something new every day

[crispyste]

There seems to be a lot of money in wedding photography and portraits.

I'm an (amateur) landscape photographer myself, I would get into weddings but I'm worried if I don't do too well I could ruin somebody's big day!

I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D90 as my next freebie - has anybody used one of these?

EDIT: Let me know what you think http://www.redbubble.com/people/crispyste/art - feel free to comment if you want!

[Funky]

Originally Posted by fazza91

thanks for the tips mate!
So what got you in to photography at the start then and how did you start?
Do you advertise much then or do you just allow the jobs to come to you through networking?

I'd been to a few weddings as a guest and people commented on how they liked my pictures and ended up buying more of my prints than the official photographer. So I ended up taking the plunge and doing a paid wedding.

First wedding I was very nervous but I made sure to concentrate on the basics and got through it fine, since then I've never looked back.

I only rely on customers from my website as I haven't gone full time as I'm still holding down a full time job in IT and doing some website consultancy.

[Funky]

Originally Posted by crispyste

There seems to be a lot of money in wedding photography and portraits.

I'm an (amateur) landscape photographer myself, I would get into weddings but I'm worried if I don't do too well I could ruin somebody's big day!

I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D90 as my next freebie - has anybody used one of these?

EDIT: Let me know what you think Art by Stephen Paylor - RedBubble - feel free to comment if you want!

Very nice indeed!

might have to tap you up for some advice, I'm still very much a novice when it comes to landscape photography but want to get into it more as down in Devon we have plenty of nice locations on our doorstep to take advantage of.

[Schism]

Originally Posted by crispyste

There seems to be a lot of money in wedding photography and portraits.

I'm an (amateur) landscape photographer myself, I would get into weddings but I'm worried if I don't do too well I could ruin somebody's big day!

I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D90 as my next freebie - has anybody used one of these?

EDIT: Let me know what you think Art by Stephen Paylor - RedBubble - feel free to comment if you want!

Love some of your shots mate

[messyhead]

A good way into wedding photography is to contact a local established wedding photographer and see if they will take you on as an assistant. If you've got some of your own work to show them then that will help, and let them see that you know what you're doing. You can learn from them, and also learn how to control people to get them into poses etc. I think being a wedding photographer isn't just knowing how to work the camera, but also knowing how to pose people and how to make them feel comfortable with you so it all goes smoothly.

I've been into photography as a hobby for a few years, but not done anything paid. You can have a look at my shots on my flickr.

Flickr: brotherofapesod's Photostream

[crispyste]

Originally Posted by Funky

Very nice indeed!

might have to tap you up for some advice, I'm still very much a novice when it comes to landscape photography but want to get into it more as down in Devon we have plenty of nice locations on our doorstep to take advantage of.

Hey, no probs mate. I'm up in Teesside myself, on the doorstep of the North York moors. But the real scenery starts 2 hours down the A66 - in the lake district