Communicating thru your subject

As photographers we frown and sometimes complaint of the pictures that we took. We complaint about the light, weather, the model. Yes, up to a certain extent I would agree. But in retrospect, if one is shooting human subjects and then frowns at how the picture looks like after wards.....hmmmmmm I would say improve on our communication with them.....it'll work wonders. Tell them what you want........heck tell them a sad story if you have to. If the mood that you want is sad that is....

One thing we need to remember, we are the one who see it all thru the camera's viewfinder not our subject.

Photography in economic turmoil

I was asked by fellow wedding photographers....on how to sustain their photo income in these current economic situations. Well, I simply answered....either u give more added value to your products/services or increase your asking price....however to do that one has to increase their skills as well. The other way is to lower down one's cost without affecting both quality of services and output.

One of the ways that I suggested to them is to shoot indoor (studio) shots using natural light. This in turn will reduce the overall cost in renting a studio. However, the trick to this is to firstly identify the right light to do so. Not all light will replicate studio shots. The angle, time of day, color, temperature etc plays a part as well.

Here's another sample of a shot using natural light to make it looked like a studio shot.

Quality of lights....the importance of.

Having to shoot outdoors in a variety of lights and shooting conditions posed every bit of a challenge to every photographer. Having to identify good light is another. Angle, time of day and strength of ambient light plays a part into every pic. How to blend and mix them to our own advantage takes time getting use to. For me every single lighting conditions (as long as its not totally dark, without the use of a strobe)......will have its own complementing way of using it to our subject. Type of skin, theme etc all takes planning to get it in tune.

For people on a budget, shooting outdoors does not mean that it has to be boring. One can turn it into indoors feel...with some recce-ing and proper planning, this can be achieved.

Here is an example of an outdoor shot trying to make it look indoors.

Gears.....nothing but gears?

Our gears are important. Cameras, lenses, computers, hardware, software etc. We have to know how to use them in order to produce good pics.

However, there are far more important things than the latest technical developments in digital cameras. Yes, there have been some incredible advances in camera technology in recent years and I'm quite sure there are more to come. And as a photographer we should be aware of these advancements, but don't get carried away investing in large sums of money in the latest and most technically advance equipment.

Creating great photographs isn't just about the size of our digital files, but its about the content of the pictures. It's about what we do with our equipment....and if the pictures lack content, then they fail, whatever the resolution of the sensor of our camera wouldn't matter now.

As a photographer, it's important to understand the type and quantity of our equipment we need for the images that we want to make.

Choosing the right equipment is a matter of practical, creative, and personal choices IMHO.

Happy picture making.