Whitespace - WordPress Blogsite Templates for Photographers and Visual Professionals

Never Shoot a Portrait at 50mm

loudpixel — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:10:16 +0000

Matt Pratt shared a link today to an episode of The Grid on Kelby TV, advising us all to “never shoot a woman at 50mm” (you’ll find the discussion around 13 minutes into the video—thanks, Matt). It struck my curiosity. When new photographers ask me what they should buy first, I often tell them to start out with an inexpensive 50mm lens, simply because that’s what I was advised to start out with when I took my very first class at the Chicago Photography Center.

Thinking back, my first classes were much more focused on objects than people, so the lens made sense for what we were doing. As it turns out, when people ask me what lens to start with, it’s important to know what they’re hoping to shoot with that lens.

As an experiment, I set up my D700 on a tripod with my SB-900 Speedlight and an umbrella off to camera left. I shot all of the photos above with the single light in the same place. I used a remote, and I kept my settings unchanged at 1/125 second, f/6.3 and ISO 400. These are all straight out of the camera with no work in Photoshop, except to organize them all together here.

As you can see, the lens distortion really starts to stretch out my face at about 60mm. It accentuates all of my worst features (it makes my face look long and my forehead look huge). So for the naysayers who think 50mm is just as good as any other length (I’ll admit I would have thought the same before my little experiment), I encourage you to think again.

A Whitespace Update

loudpixel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:04:14 +0000

Things have been a bit quiet around here while we catch up on life and travel. We were in New York last week, and we’ll be in San Francisco and Costa Rica over the course of the next month.

In the meantime, we’ve set up some fall goodies for you on the Whitespace store. Take some time to check out our blogging actions and snazzy blogsite template, and set aside some time to consider how you want to present your brand.

Happy fall everyone!

Angela Renee | Wedding Gear That Fits Your Style

loudpixel — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:07:29 +0000

Some of Angela Renee’s earliest memories are of creating drawings for art shows. She majored in painting in college and used photography as a base for the art (painting from photos), which eventually led her toward the moving image and video portraits. A friend asked Angela to video her wedding, where she met a photographer and decided she might like to give that a try.

Video essentially became the gateway to photography. Angela second shot with a number of photographers to learn her style, and she’s been shooting on her own for about two years now.

A few topics from today’s show:

Selecting the equipment and gear load that works for you (both technically and for lugging around)
Carrying backups
Letting go, outsourcing and work life balance
Creating a schedule for yourself
Building a business as a new photographer
Showing the work you want to make
Ask clients how they found you and what made them want to meet with you
Facebook marketing
Determining who your ideal client is

Recommended Resources:

Zach Arias
Digital Wedding Forum
Creative Live
Tangents (Lighting) with Neil van Niekerk
MJ Studio Solutions (color correction outsourcing)

Check out some of Angela’s gorgeous work below, and be sure to check out her blog to see more.

Steve Koo | From Engineer to Full Time Photographer

loudpixel — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:12:44 +0000

Steve Koo went to school for engineering and pursued an engineering job after school. Photography started as a simple hobby—but when he was asked to shoot a friend’s wedding (which he originally dreaded), he ended up falling in love with wedding photography. When the down economy led to a job layoff, Steve seized the opportunity to become a full time photographer.

A few topics from today’s show:

Networking with other photographers (offering to buy lunch, coffee or a beer to sit and chat)
Superb customer service
Work life balance (Steve started out working 70-80 hour weeks with no days off, and his quality of life suffered—he’s now focusing on an efficient workflow to spend more time with his wife)

Recommended Resources:

View some of Steve’s beautiful work below, and check out his blog to see more.

Amanda Wilcher | Getting Your Work Published

loudpixel — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:46:39 +0000

Amanda Wilcher always had a creative spirit, so photography was a natural outlet for her creative expression. She started with personal projects to learn how to use the camera as an extension of creativity—she photographed friends first, which eventually led to her first wedding (and a first wedding story that rivals Dale Benfield’s).

A few topics from today’s show:

Being more than just the photographer (being a friend)
Thinking on your feet during weddings
Knowing who your “target bride” is, and showing the work you want to shoot
Specializing to stand out
Transitioning to a new city (or in Amanda’s case, a new country! Hear how she has handled her business as she followed her hear to Dublin, Ireland)
The power networking (with a great story about how networking saved Amanda when she lost all of her gear the night before a wedding)
Getting published

Recommended Resources:

See some of Amanda’s stunning work below, and be sure to check out her blog for more.

Jaclyn Simpson | Working With Other Vendors to Create Styled Shoots

loudpixel — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:32:55 +0000

I first met Jaclyn Simpson while riding on a city bus in Chicago. She and Jenn from Jennifer Kathryn Photography had made a stop at Paper Source (one of my favorite places), and we somehow discovered that we had photography in common. We followed up with coffee, and I was lucky enough to be a part of an amazing Fast Track group with them in Chicago before I moved to Michigan. A year later, I knew I had to share Jaclyn’s career story with the photography world.

After second shooting and starting her business, Jaclyn could never bring herself to make the final leap into full time. In 2009, a lay off ended up being the push she needed to get to it (a blessing in disguise). She’s been a full time photographer ever since.

A few topics from today’s show:

Second shooting
Connecting with photographers and other vendors (set up meetings and work together)
Observing the work of others in order to break it down and translate it into your own style
Styled shoots (if you don’t get those “kind of shoots,” you can make it happen yourself)

Recommended Resources:

Industry events (e.g. Thursday Therapy, WPPI, PUGs, SMUGs)
The E-Myth by Michael Gerber (I’ve read this one twice now)
Lights, Camera, Capture by Bob Davis
Davis Workshops
The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan by Dane Sanders
Second Shooters Seminar

Check out some of Jaclyn’s very pretty work below (and spectacular details with help from Fleur), and find more on her blog.

David Bock | Marketing Through a Business Transition

loudpixel — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:01:11 +0000

David and Cathy Bock are an award winning husband and wife photography team. Both studied graphic design in college (with a few photography classes here and there for fun), and both pursued graphic design full time after graduation.

Their first exposure to wedding photography was during their own wedding. They saw how much fun their photographers, Bobbi and Mike, were having at their wedding, and they became inspired to pursue photography as a career themselves. They’ve been running their photography business for four years now.

“The only experience we had for wedding photography was watching Bobbi and Mike at our wedding…looking back at it, I wish I would have done some more second shooting…”

A few topics from David’s interview:

Going for it—after Cathy quit her day job, the duo booked five weddings that week
Learning the technical side of photography through workshops
Calling and connecting with other photographers
Getting referrals
Investing in resources that will improve your workflow (time is money)
Using Google voice to set up better work life balance
Transitioning your photography business from one location to another

Recommended Resources:

More pretty photos from Cathy and David coming soon.

Angie Garbot | Learn Your Photography Style

loudpixel — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:20:49 +0000

Photo above by Melisssa Diep Photography

Angie Garbot started her career with the same mentality that many of us start with—go to school, get a job and work 40+ hours a week. After burning out from her 80-90 hour a week IT consulting business, Angie met with a life coach and decided to turn her passion for photography into a full time business. She started out taking classes at the Chicago Photography Center to gain more confidence in her technical skills (this is where I eventually met her) and second shooting for another photographer. She’s been a full time photographer for seven years now.

A few topics from today’s show:

How to fill in the gaps when you’re not quite confident technically
Second shooting
Networking
Finding a mentor
Referral marketing
Defining your style and process
How much to spend on equipment

Recommended Resources:

Fast Track Photographer by Dane Sanders
Networking Monkey (Chicago Networking search)
Lights, Camera Capture: Creative Lighting Techniques for Digital Photographers by Bob Davis

See some of Angie’s beautiful work below, and be sure to check out her site for more.

Meg Borders | Create a Plan For Your Business

loudpixel — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:07:51 +0000

Like many others, Meg Borders became interested in photography after her daughter was born. And like others before, Meg made some mistakes during the early days of her business. She finally put her business on hold to create a plan and work on branding—and her new focus on senior girls has allowed her to thrive.

A few topics from today’s show:

Don’t rush into business—have a business plan
Take time to concentrate on branding
Give yourself time to discover which aspect of photography you like the best
For outdoor portraits, don’t leave clients an option on timing—Meg always shoots her senior sessions two hours before sunset
Be who you are, and don’t try to be someone else

Recommended Resources:

Check out some of Meg’s gorgeous work below, and see more on her blog.

Benjamin Derkin | Authentic Marketing

loudpixel — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:23:10 +0000

Benjamin Derkin of Derk’s Works Photography has been making money from photography for seven years and working as a full time photographer for three. He also teaches workshops for beginning photographers with the folks at Prize Winning Photography.

A few topics from today’s show:

Selling yourself authentically
Making money through art
Artistic value
Creating business allies
Focusing on people and relationships
Experimenting with marketing

Recommended Reading:

Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuck
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith
IDPURE Magazine
CMYK Magazine
How Magazine

Check out Benjamin’s inspiring work below, and see more of his work on his blog.