I find it flattering. I probably get one or two emails a month from aspiring photographers asking for my advice on building a successful nature photography business. While, I am nowhere close to running one of those, I do have some thoughts on the subject as I strive, like them, to become a recognizable, respected nature photographer.
The answer I do have for people that contact me is probably not a satisfying one. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to build a successful business as a nature photographer, and getting more and more difficult all the time. In my business life I have run divisions of companies, and I would probably sum up the current state of nature photography as follows: “the supply far exceeds the demand.”
In other words, there are too many people taking nature photos and not enough people buying them; the world is flooded with cheap or free nature photographs. As you can probably imagine, the words “cheap or free” are not a sound basis for a flourishing business. That said, the opportunities do exist to make a living wage from nature photography.
So, what does it take to succeed as nature photographer in today’s world? Well, I have summed up the TOP 5 things I believe are key. Please note that this is merely my opinion; others have their own business models that may differ from mine.
DON’T SUCK. Although this seems self-evident, it really needs to be said. Because the competition out there is so good, there’s only room for success at the top. Be ruthlessly self-critical of your own work, and always strive to get better and to do something that hasn’t been done a million times before.
Shoot Big. Although you can build a successful business shooting your local landscapes and wildlife, if you want to make a name for yourself nationally or internationally, you probably need to photograph charismatic mega-landscapes and mega-fauna. That means extra expense and time traveling to exotic locations, but it is an investment that pays off in the long run. Of course, it helps if you happen to live somewhere that is really cool, but if you live in Cambridge, Ontario like I do, you really have to crack out the credit card and sign up for a frequent flyer program.
Get Noticed. These days, if you are not big on the Internet, you don’t exist. Heavy participation and promotion online are vital. You should have a good-looking website and a blog, but neither will help you if you don’t have visitors. Lots of traffic to your site means nothing if you can’t make any money from it. Your site needs to offer products and services that will keep your finances in the black and help you pay your mortgage every month.
As for me, I monetize my site primarily through Adsense and currently talking to corporate advertisers to be on my site.
You should also promote your work by participating on a number of online photo sharing forums and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Get Published. Even though traditional print publishing is on the decline, it is still a hugely vital source of potential business. Submit to magazines and other publishers as much as possible. It helps if you can write well; magazines are usually looking for articles first, photos second. If you can provide both, you’ve got a good chance of making a big paycheck. Articles in magazines are also a great way to promote your website.
Run Photo Workshops. Almost without exception, every professional nature photographer I know makes a majority of his or her income running photo workshops. The digital revolution has flooded the world with aspiring photographers with money to spend. There are literally thousands upon thousands of people out there who want to learn more about photography, visit beautiful scenic locations, and enjoy a good time doing what they love in the company of like-minded individuals. If you really want to make a living as a professional nature photographer, be prepared to spend some time teaching. But before you decide to start running those photography workshops… do some research by attending some workshops on your own to learn how to put on one by yourself.
I know people who think that running a workshop is easy and try their hand at it. Very fast, they realize it’s not as easy as it appears. To be successful you have to make your attendees happy, and that’s not always as easy as it sounds.
Conducting a successful workshop requires you to be like a chameleon. No two workshops are alike. Things always come into play that have to be adapted to; weather conditions, subject availability, group size, the level of proficiency of the attendees and more. I like take the time to prepare and send out two pieces of information before an attendee come on a workshop. The first is information regarding what to expect from each workshop PRIOR to the attendees leaving home for the workshop. This not only gets everyone excited with anticipation, but it educates them on things such as weather predictions, what to bring, as well as a complete outline of a typical day is so there are no surprises when they get to the workshop location. The second is a reminder notice. I remind them that it is their responsibility to know how their camera, lenses and accessory basic functions work. There is nothing worse than leading a workshop and one person does not know the difference between F/2.8 and f/18. That person will take more of your time, leaving the more proficient photographers on their own more than they deserve.
Usually groups will vary in skill level, more will be beginner photographers. I totally encourage this. Getting off on the right foot and developing good habits in the beginning is really important. It’s also interesting to see customers who have $5000.00+ cameras, along with expensive lenses using their equipment in the wrong way. Unfortunately, this is not unusual and it is my job to correct this situation, while not insulting or offending the customer. Again, I try and keep the surprises to a minimum however, there always are a few. Like everything else in photography, preparation is mandatory to avoid too many surprises. There is nothing worse than looking out at 3AM to see cloudy rainy conditions, when the prediction the night before was for a great sunrise. But, it happens!!!
Running a successful workshop is not easy. Late spring and summer feature long days. 16 hour days, and for some workshops, 3-5 days in a row are typical for attendees. That easily transcribes into 18-20 hour days for me. So, eating at abnormal times and getting little sleep throws your body clock off, yet you have to stay fresh when you are teaching the paying customers. It is also important that everyone get the nourishment they need and stay well hydrated, so not only do you have to worry about the photography elements, making sure your attendees needs also have to be top of mind. This is just as important as getting to prime locations at the right time.
Another factor is making sure that all the attendees are happy and are getting the attention they paid for. The bigger the group, there is a greater chance that different personalities can affect things. Also, different needs and expectations all have to be taken into account every hour of the day.
For the most part I am quite sure that everyone gets what they come to my workshops for. In a large group, there are always one or two people that for one reason or another don’t seem to be as happy as everyone else. All I can do is continue to work hard and do my best to get them to quality locations and try and help in making them better photographers. I tell everyone in the beginning that I am here for as much or as little attention that they want. It is also not uncommon for one or two folks who wander off by themselves, and that’s fine, as long as they know I am there for them if they want my help. In essence, I am a photographic instructor, tour guide, and psychoanalyst, making sure everyone is happy and getting along with each other.
Over the years, I’ve seen other workshops run haphazardly. I see instructors doing more shooting than their customers offering them little or no real attention. In these circumstances, I can only hope my customers realize the difference between what I offer and others offer.
No two workshops are alike and Mother Nature has her own agenda. Trust me, I have seen this hundreds of times... the forecast at 10:30pm shows a perfect sunrise... then you get everyone up at 4:00AM and to the location by 5AM and having a non sunrise, but that’s life in nature. I’ve also been in situations that upon arrival early in the morning the chances for a great sunrise was nil, and in the last minute the clouds parted and we had spectacular light. You never know and you work with what you get.
Another factor you must remember is that most folks don’t spend 3-4 days partaking in intensive photography. By day 3 or 4 everyone is tired. Motivation becomes important. I plan an itinerary for every workshop but remain flexible to weather and light conditions.
Scouting the area prior to the beginning of the workshops is also something that has to be done. So a 3-4 day workshop for me is actually a 5-6 day event. Where will the sun rise, when is optimal light, where should we stand to have the light at our backs, what will the wildlife be doing? You have to consider, bugs, pests, spiders, and creatures that want to eat you... Do you have enough power to power laptops, charge batteries, is the GPS working and make sure the emergency kit is packed properly.
You have to think like this, “The attendees well being is in your hands. They are relying on you to keep them safe. But they also expect you to put them in the right place, at the right time, just as Mother Nature wants you to be in order to click the shutter”
If you do this all right, positive word of mouth will spread, and the busier your workshops will be. The more money you will make.
Click here to see some of the animal photos taken on my photo workshops
Click here to see some of the landscape photos taken on my photo workshops
I wish you all luck in building your nature photography business,
Kev
Monday, 21 November 2011
Friday, 18 November 2011
So you want to start a photography business...
Whether you are a talented amateur photographer, or have a great deal of experience working professionally, starting your own photography business demands that you make important choices about the market segments you will serve, and how you sill serve them. These choices will determine what kind of operations you must develop and how to direct your marketing and the services you will offer clients. As I will explain later, it is increasingly difficult to cover all types of photographic work due to the competition from specialists and other external factors, so do your homework on what your business should be...
You should also keep in mind that because of modern technology in the form of DSLR cameras, you do not even need the room for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop. There is no need to clutter yourself with equipment you do not need; you can rent equipment when you need it. You even have the freedom to work part time until you can devote yourself full time to photography. All you need to be is a serious photographer and a dedicated business person.
While the technical skills needed to make a successful photographer have never been easier, other aspects have changed our business. The market for photographs of virtually every type has widened, the world seems to have an insatiable appetite for photographs. However the price has fallen as the marketing net has broadened. Sites like shutterstock have sliced into our profits like a hot knife through butter. The good news is, photographers are needed in many more fields. For instance many people now, mor ethan ever, remember special occasions with photographs and more people are taking photos of their kids, and as the number of people that own cameras increases.
Another way to generate an income is to teach photography. With the growing number of amateur photographers out there, the need for people to run workshops and teach photography is also growing. In my opinion, it seems to be recession proof. Photography is an escape, and during a recession people need an escape more than ever. They will therefore find the money to invest in themselves. Taking photos that one can be proud of does wonders for a person’s ego! And while the economy and investments twist in the wind, who doesn’t want to give themselves an ego boost.
So you see, it can now easier than ever to turn your dream into reality and create a worthwhile business out of an engrossing passion. However in today’s modern world there is more to than simply pointing a camera and shooting a picture. You need to be aware of marketing techniques, and here marketing simply means growing the potential of transferring ownership of a product, in this case an image from a buyer to seller. You also need to be aware of any local gaps in the market in your local area, understand the power of the internet and know your competition. You should try to always be aware of your competitor’s prices. To undercut an existing photographer is one choice, but to neglect to value your skills and not charge enough to cover your overheads is another matter entirely. Remember this, it’s an important point. Reduction in price to gain business is a slippery slope. Sell your value to justify your competitive price.
Writing a business plan is a great place to start. It helps to keep you focused on the areas you specifically want to exploit. A business plan helps you to define your goals and strategies, it will be changed and updated, but it will help you to keep things in perspective and keep you focused. You should always refer back to it when things become confusing or complicated. Everyone’s business plan will be different, as every objective will be different, but there are certain common factors that make up a good business plan which will help your business grow. It allows you to develop a professional attitude to your business, which not only helps you to increase your earnings, but also help you to finance your business when needed.
For the photographer a business plan should include your business name, or your own, with full details of the proposed location of the business, a copy of your logo, as well as details of your copyright notices. You should also consider what is the form of your proposed business is going to be (sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation). This should be followed by a table of contents, which focuses on a logical order. Included after this should be the type of business you intend to pursue, in a fair amount of detail, and it should contain the services you intend to offer. This section should include any future goals or avenues you would like to explore, stating your clear objectives. This is so you can check at a later date whether your objectives are on course, or if you have got sidetracked. If you envision at any time you may need financial help, then you should include your personal business history to show how viable you are as a business person.
You should also state a clear and concise marketing plan that should demonstrate how your business will differentiate from the businesses of your competitors. You should be able to establish who your customers will be, how large the potential market is, as well as where your market will be, as in wholesale or retail or a combination of both. You should also be able to determine how long this type of market will be available to yourself.
The next section should clearly define your opposition, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This should include the ways you may be able to exploit any gaps in the market in the specific area where you live. A section should follow this on how you intend to market and promote your individual services. This is called a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You should apply this to your business and your competitors.
A financial segment should be included as to how you intend to manage the day-to-day bills of the business. How you intend to price your services, and what factors influence this pricing structure, which includes a section on your competitor’s financial structures. This means a fair amount of detective work as well as homework. Get your friends to ask from quotes from the local competition. Or try an even more direct approach, tell your competitor’s that you intend to start a new business, and that you do not want to undercut them, as this reduces the cake for everyone. They may well offer to help you construct a pricing structure that ensures everyone’s livelihood. It is in their interests to help. Not everyone will be cooperative, but it may mean you can get a truer picture of the market factors that govern your area.
Make a list of all the equipment you will need in your first year, as well as how and where you intend to purchase. Note any difficulties that may arise in obtaining your supplies. Note whether the prices of your supplies have a seasonal fluctuation, which may help you influence you when to buy. You should make a note of any local licenses that will be necessary, as well as any zoning restrictions that may restrict the growth of your business. You should also conduct a study of all your business insurance requirements.
The final segment should be devoted to how you intend to finance the growth of your business, as well as isolating what your financial needs will be. This should include a projection on your future earnings, as well as an accurate assessment of your outgoings. This should be assessed on a monthly basis for the first year and on an annual basis for the following three to five years. An important aspect of the financial statement is an assessment of the break-even point of your business, in other words the minimum you will have to take to pay your expenses.
Financing your photography business can come in many forms. There are numerous small business loan avenues through local and federal government agencies and there is the route of a business/personal loan or line of credit. You can also build the business slowly, rent equipment as you need, use your own money and credit and build the equity over time.
You can also approach government agencies and companies to sponsor specific initiatives. If you are a landscape or nature photographer, maybe there are local and national dollars available to sponsor a book etc.
The opportunities for aquiring money is out there, its just not easy to aquire. If it was easy, everyoen would be getting it. My advice, believe in yourself and your abilities, dig hard and talk to everyone. You will find the money if you are passionate enough and believe in your abilities.
Once all this has been done, take action. Planning is important. But planning isn’t enough. You have to take action on your plans and put them into place. Follow through and make sure your business is always moving forward.
Good Luck,
Kev
You should also keep in mind that because of modern technology in the form of DSLR cameras, you do not even need the room for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop. There is no need to clutter yourself with equipment you do not need; you can rent equipment when you need it. You even have the freedom to work part time until you can devote yourself full time to photography. All you need to be is a serious photographer and a dedicated business person.
While the technical skills needed to make a successful photographer have never been easier, other aspects have changed our business. The market for photographs of virtually every type has widened, the world seems to have an insatiable appetite for photographs. However the price has fallen as the marketing net has broadened. Sites like shutterstock have sliced into our profits like a hot knife through butter. The good news is, photographers are needed in many more fields. For instance many people now, mor ethan ever, remember special occasions with photographs and more people are taking photos of their kids, and as the number of people that own cameras increases.
Another way to generate an income is to teach photography. With the growing number of amateur photographers out there, the need for people to run workshops and teach photography is also growing. In my opinion, it seems to be recession proof. Photography is an escape, and during a recession people need an escape more than ever. They will therefore find the money to invest in themselves. Taking photos that one can be proud of does wonders for a person’s ego! And while the economy and investments twist in the wind, who doesn’t want to give themselves an ego boost.
So you see, it can now easier than ever to turn your dream into reality and create a worthwhile business out of an engrossing passion. However in today’s modern world there is more to than simply pointing a camera and shooting a picture. You need to be aware of marketing techniques, and here marketing simply means growing the potential of transferring ownership of a product, in this case an image from a buyer to seller. You also need to be aware of any local gaps in the market in your local area, understand the power of the internet and know your competition. You should try to always be aware of your competitor’s prices. To undercut an existing photographer is one choice, but to neglect to value your skills and not charge enough to cover your overheads is another matter entirely. Remember this, it’s an important point. Reduction in price to gain business is a slippery slope. Sell your value to justify your competitive price.
Writing a business plan is a great place to start. It helps to keep you focused on the areas you specifically want to exploit. A business plan helps you to define your goals and strategies, it will be changed and updated, but it will help you to keep things in perspective and keep you focused. You should always refer back to it when things become confusing or complicated. Everyone’s business plan will be different, as every objective will be different, but there are certain common factors that make up a good business plan which will help your business grow. It allows you to develop a professional attitude to your business, which not only helps you to increase your earnings, but also help you to finance your business when needed.
For the photographer a business plan should include your business name, or your own, with full details of the proposed location of the business, a copy of your logo, as well as details of your copyright notices. You should also consider what is the form of your proposed business is going to be (sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation). This should be followed by a table of contents, which focuses on a logical order. Included after this should be the type of business you intend to pursue, in a fair amount of detail, and it should contain the services you intend to offer. This section should include any future goals or avenues you would like to explore, stating your clear objectives. This is so you can check at a later date whether your objectives are on course, or if you have got sidetracked. If you envision at any time you may need financial help, then you should include your personal business history to show how viable you are as a business person.
You should also state a clear and concise marketing plan that should demonstrate how your business will differentiate from the businesses of your competitors. You should be able to establish who your customers will be, how large the potential market is, as well as where your market will be, as in wholesale or retail or a combination of both. You should also be able to determine how long this type of market will be available to yourself.
The next section should clearly define your opposition, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This should include the ways you may be able to exploit any gaps in the market in the specific area where you live. A section should follow this on how you intend to market and promote your individual services. This is called a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You should apply this to your business and your competitors.
A financial segment should be included as to how you intend to manage the day-to-day bills of the business. How you intend to price your services, and what factors influence this pricing structure, which includes a section on your competitor’s financial structures. This means a fair amount of detective work as well as homework. Get your friends to ask from quotes from the local competition. Or try an even more direct approach, tell your competitor’s that you intend to start a new business, and that you do not want to undercut them, as this reduces the cake for everyone. They may well offer to help you construct a pricing structure that ensures everyone’s livelihood. It is in their interests to help. Not everyone will be cooperative, but it may mean you can get a truer picture of the market factors that govern your area.
Make a list of all the equipment you will need in your first year, as well as how and where you intend to purchase. Note any difficulties that may arise in obtaining your supplies. Note whether the prices of your supplies have a seasonal fluctuation, which may help you influence you when to buy. You should make a note of any local licenses that will be necessary, as well as any zoning restrictions that may restrict the growth of your business. You should also conduct a study of all your business insurance requirements.
The final segment should be devoted to how you intend to finance the growth of your business, as well as isolating what your financial needs will be. This should include a projection on your future earnings, as well as an accurate assessment of your outgoings. This should be assessed on a monthly basis for the first year and on an annual basis for the following three to five years. An important aspect of the financial statement is an assessment of the break-even point of your business, in other words the minimum you will have to take to pay your expenses.
Financing your photography business can come in many forms. There are numerous small business loan avenues through local and federal government agencies and there is the route of a business/personal loan or line of credit. You can also build the business slowly, rent equipment as you need, use your own money and credit and build the equity over time.
You can also approach government agencies and companies to sponsor specific initiatives. If you are a landscape or nature photographer, maybe there are local and national dollars available to sponsor a book etc.
The opportunities for aquiring money is out there, its just not easy to aquire. If it was easy, everyoen would be getting it. My advice, believe in yourself and your abilities, dig hard and talk to everyone. You will find the money if you are passionate enough and believe in your abilities.
Once all this has been done, take action. Planning is important. But planning isn’t enough. You have to take action on your plans and put them into place. Follow through and make sure your business is always moving forward.
Good Luck,
Kev
Sunday, 13 November 2011
The Great Lake Basin
From the snow covered Atlas Mountains framing a red desert in Morocco, to the Eiffel tower glistening in a pool of water at night, to a breathtaking sunrise over the mountains in Switzerland, I have viewed some breathtaking scenes that will stay with me for a lifetime. Yet, I overlooked a world renowned geological formation that has the ability to give us some jaw dropping images. That geological formation would be the Great Lakes...
The Great Lakes comprise over 21% of the world’s fresh water supply; the lakes have close to 20,000km’s of shoreline and contain approximately 35,000 islands. Three of North America’ s largest cities are situation on the Great Lakes, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit, and the total population surrounding the Great Lake basin is approximately 34 million.
For the scenic photographer, the shoreline of the lakes has the highest concentration of lighthouses anywhere in the world. In fact, the lighthouses that dot the Michigan coastline are part of the largest collection of maritime landmarks in the United States. Michigan alone boasts 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.
If shipwrecks and underwater photography is your thing, there are literally hundreds of shipwrecks scattered throughout the Great lakes. Locations to key in on when researching are, Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. It is here is where the greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies. You should also consider the Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan to Whitefish Point. This area is now known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.
In addition to shipwrecks, Georgian Bay and the East coast of Lake Huron on the Canadian side photographers can also enjoy spectacular underwater geological formations, including underwater caves, rocky overhangs and ancient corals.
When it comes to shoreline differentiation the Great Lakes offers photographers an abundance of opportunities. From the wetlands along Lake Ontario's shoreline, to the sand dunes along Lake Michigan, the rocky shores of Lake Superior and the geological wonders of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, the Great Lakes shoreline abounds in diversity and opportunity for photographers. Whether seascape is your passion, birding, under water, nature or architecture, taking a trip to the Great Lake basin is a “must do” on your photography bucket list.
For birders, the Great Lake Basin is a mecca for your style of photography. Whether it’s during the summer months or during migration, the area offers the avid birder thousands of species of birds to photograph. Migration periods especially produce an incredible opportunity; both the Mississippi flyway and that Atlantic flyway cross over the lakes. It is said that there are 462 known species of birds in Canada. While some of these are year-round residents, many fly south for the winter to more favorable grounds for feeding and breeding. From Point Pelee west to Windsor, the area is known for their bird migration.
For landscape photographers, the choices are endless. The Georgian Bay rock formations such as Flowerpot Island or Tobermory’s grotto that seem to transport you to the southern Atlantic Ocean are an absolute breathtaking view.
Or there is the shoreline of Lake Ontario and Erie that offer the avid photographer beautiful sunsets and sunrises, and turn around with your back to the water after the sun has peaked the horizon to find deer, birds of prey and other photographic interests.
As with any photo outing, do your research first, identify what you want to achieve, look at local area photographers work, talk to people that have visited the area, and travel at the right time of year to suit your needs.
Personally, my favorite locations to shoot in and around the Great Lake Basin are as follows:
Spring – Canadian shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay for the spring storms crashing on the geological formations and rebirth of life along the Great Lake basin.
Summer – Coastal shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie for the calm shorelines and abundance of birds.
Fall – Northern shores of Lake Superior for the fall colours and incredible fall storms.
Winter – Along the shoreline of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. This is where the snow is abundant and the local people still get out and enjoy the season.
Regardless of when or where you go... i would put this area on your bucketlist.
Happy Shooting
Kev
The Great Lakes comprise over 21% of the world’s fresh water supply; the lakes have close to 20,000km’s of shoreline and contain approximately 35,000 islands. Three of North America’ s largest cities are situation on the Great Lakes, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit, and the total population surrounding the Great Lake basin is approximately 34 million.
For the scenic photographer, the shoreline of the lakes has the highest concentration of lighthouses anywhere in the world. In fact, the lighthouses that dot the Michigan coastline are part of the largest collection of maritime landmarks in the United States. Michigan alone boasts 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.
If shipwrecks and underwater photography is your thing, there are literally hundreds of shipwrecks scattered throughout the Great lakes. Locations to key in on when researching are, Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. It is here is where the greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies. You should also consider the Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan to Whitefish Point. This area is now known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.
In addition to shipwrecks, Georgian Bay and the East coast of Lake Huron on the Canadian side photographers can also enjoy spectacular underwater geological formations, including underwater caves, rocky overhangs and ancient corals.
When it comes to shoreline differentiation the Great Lakes offers photographers an abundance of opportunities. From the wetlands along Lake Ontario's shoreline, to the sand dunes along Lake Michigan, the rocky shores of Lake Superior and the geological wonders of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, the Great Lakes shoreline abounds in diversity and opportunity for photographers. Whether seascape is your passion, birding, under water, nature or architecture, taking a trip to the Great Lake basin is a “must do” on your photography bucket list.
Spring – Canadian shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay for the spring storms crashing on the geological formations and rebirth of life along the Great Lake basin.
Summer – Coastal shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie for the calm shorelines and abundance of birds.
Fall – Northern shores of Lake Superior for the fall colours and incredible fall storms.
Winter – Along the shoreline of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. This is where the snow is abundant and the local people still get out and enjoy the season.
Regardless of when or where you go... i would put this area on your bucketlist.
Happy Shooting
Kev
Friday, 11 November 2011
A Few "Search Engine Optimization" Tips for Photographers
As a photographer that wants to build a presence online you have it tough when it comes to achieving a noticeable ranking in search engine results. There are so many competitors out there trying to get to the same clients, if you are not doing the right things to be seen… you’re sunk. By that I mean, if you are not on the first page of a search return, chances are you will never be found by that potential client.
As a photographer that has worked in the online community for the better part of the last decade I have seen the advancements in search engines capabilities in ranking websites based on relevance to the search term entered. And I even scratch my head at times, so, I cannot imagine the frustration some of you out there are feeling.
I thought I would post this blog entry to help you look at the basic things you can do today to help your images be seen by more potential clients.
Image Keywords
Search engines do not see images; they read descriptive text that describes what a photo is. Therefore it’s important that you make sure you give your images three things when describing the image. Detail, location and relevance. Place yourself in the shoes of a searcher looking for something. Be as descriptive as you can. Here is a photo and a few samples of keyword phrases to show what I mean
a) Falling down pier – short tail, hard to rank for
b) Falling down pier on lake Ontario – longer tail, added location
c) Falling down pier on lake Ontario at Fifty Point Conservation area at sunrise – extremely long tail, but covers three phrases
For the first keyword, the chances of being seen are going to be difficult. For the longer tail keywords, you can expect less traffic, but more relevant searches, and thus lower bounce rates for potential visitors to your site, and people are more likely to actually want to buy the image they find. For the third example you are covering a couple of bases: “falling down pier”, “pier on Lake Ontario” and “Lake Ontario at fifty point conservation area at sunrise”.
Once you have worked out the keywords to use, it’s time to work out where on your web page the keywords should go.
Your URL
This is often over looked, but can have a positive impact on your SEO initiatives. Take a look at the company you registered your URL with. See how long you can register the URL for. The longer the better. Don’t do it a year at a time. The longer you register the URL the search engines will give you the benefit that they interpret your long term commitment to the site.
Remember, they want to return the most relevant results when someone searches on their site. If you can show them that you intend to operate your site for a long time, chances are they will determine that your content is more relevant to the search performed.
Page Speed:
Much has been talked of regarding how to improve page speed of a website and there are thousands of useful articles available on how to reduce page loading time. You need to set expiry date against the images and other files known as leverage browsing cache, use CSS Sprite, compress JavaScript, externalize CSS files and other different sort of things to speed up the website. There is a remarkable tool there to help you in this process. It is known as GOOGLE PAGE SPEED ONLINE. Just put in the exact URL and you will get all the details you are looking for and it offers a quality score to improve on.
How to name the images
It’s been recognized within SEO that file names can have an impact on results. This is reflected too within search engine optimization for images. Use dashes rather than underscore to separate keywords in the file name. This comes straight from Google. Follow the same strategy for your image naming convention. Don’t go overboard with the number of keywords in your image, otherwise it’s going to be considered spam by the search engine crawlers.
I wouldn’t put any more than five relevant keywords built up as a phrase in an image name. If you need to describe it more, use the ALT or title tags to do so.
Tagging
Tagging photos is something that many of you will be familiar with. If you are using WordPress for a photoblog, then the natural thing to do is to tag the photo with “falling pier”, “lake Ontario” etc.
Flash
Flash is not a good idea if you are trying to get your images properly indexed. If you must use it, I’d recommend offering an alternative for Google, but if you can implement your site using jQuery for the flash type effects instead, you stand a better chance in the Search Engine Result. Standard issue HTML will always win against a site which uses Flash, simply because even though Google can read flash content, it can’t parse out ALT and TITLE tags while flash is enabled.
Cross site linking
You can’t really talk about SEO in any capacity without talking about cross site linking strategies. If you can link heavily within your site to other pages using the keywords as the link text, then this will improve your images chances of being found. For those of you who don’t know already – link text is the text which is underlined e.g. falling pier
Don’t be tempted to link directly to the image itself, remember that no tags exist when you link to an image directly, so Google isn’t able to work out what the image is about.
Blogging
Basically, a blog is a website with content arranged in chronological order. Once set up, a blog is easy to publish as you don't need any HTML / web coding skills. Blogs have a fill-in-the-blank interface where you enter your content. Then you click a "Publish" button and presto, your new content is automatically converted into HTML code and published to a viewable page.
Here's where search engine optimization comes into play. By default, blogs do many things well that can help them earn search engine ranking. In many cases, blogs can achieve solid ranking faster than regular websites. A blog is easier to publish than a regular website, so you can post content to it more often. Search engines like websites with frequently updated content.
A general rule of thumb is to publish something to your blog at least once a week.
Enjoy watching your website traffic grow!
Kev
As a photographer that has worked in the online community for the better part of the last decade I have seen the advancements in search engines capabilities in ranking websites based on relevance to the search term entered. And I even scratch my head at times, so, I cannot imagine the frustration some of you out there are feeling.
I thought I would post this blog entry to help you look at the basic things you can do today to help your images be seen by more potential clients.
Image Keywords
Search engines do not see images; they read descriptive text that describes what a photo is. Therefore it’s important that you make sure you give your images three things when describing the image. Detail, location and relevance. Place yourself in the shoes of a searcher looking for something. Be as descriptive as you can. Here is a photo and a few samples of keyword phrases to show what I mean
b) Falling down pier on lake Ontario – longer tail, added location
c) Falling down pier on lake Ontario at Fifty Point Conservation area at sunrise – extremely long tail, but covers three phrases
For the first keyword, the chances of being seen are going to be difficult. For the longer tail keywords, you can expect less traffic, but more relevant searches, and thus lower bounce rates for potential visitors to your site, and people are more likely to actually want to buy the image they find. For the third example you are covering a couple of bases: “falling down pier”, “pier on Lake Ontario” and “Lake Ontario at fifty point conservation area at sunrise”.
Once you have worked out the keywords to use, it’s time to work out where on your web page the keywords should go.
Your URL
This is often over looked, but can have a positive impact on your SEO initiatives. Take a look at the company you registered your URL with. See how long you can register the URL for. The longer the better. Don’t do it a year at a time. The longer you register the URL the search engines will give you the benefit that they interpret your long term commitment to the site.
Remember, they want to return the most relevant results when someone searches on their site. If you can show them that you intend to operate your site for a long time, chances are they will determine that your content is more relevant to the search performed.
Page Speed:
Much has been talked of regarding how to improve page speed of a website and there are thousands of useful articles available on how to reduce page loading time. You need to set expiry date against the images and other files known as leverage browsing cache, use CSS Sprite, compress JavaScript, externalize CSS files and other different sort of things to speed up the website. There is a remarkable tool there to help you in this process. It is known as GOOGLE PAGE SPEED ONLINE. Just put in the exact URL and you will get all the details you are looking for and it offers a quality score to improve on.
How to name the images
It’s been recognized within SEO that file names can have an impact on results. This is reflected too within search engine optimization for images. Use dashes rather than underscore to separate keywords in the file name. This comes straight from Google. Follow the same strategy for your image naming convention. Don’t go overboard with the number of keywords in your image, otherwise it’s going to be considered spam by the search engine crawlers.
I wouldn’t put any more than five relevant keywords built up as a phrase in an image name. If you need to describe it more, use the ALT or title tags to do so.
Tagging
Tagging photos is something that many of you will be familiar with. If you are using WordPress for a photoblog, then the natural thing to do is to tag the photo with “falling pier”, “lake Ontario” etc.
Flash
Flash is not a good idea if you are trying to get your images properly indexed. If you must use it, I’d recommend offering an alternative for Google, but if you can implement your site using jQuery for the flash type effects instead, you stand a better chance in the Search Engine Result. Standard issue HTML will always win against a site which uses Flash, simply because even though Google can read flash content, it can’t parse out ALT and TITLE tags while flash is enabled.
Cross site linking
You can’t really talk about SEO in any capacity without talking about cross site linking strategies. If you can link heavily within your site to other pages using the keywords as the link text, then this will improve your images chances of being found. For those of you who don’t know already – link text is the text which is underlined e.g. falling pier
Don’t be tempted to link directly to the image itself, remember that no tags exist when you link to an image directly, so Google isn’t able to work out what the image is about.
Blogging
Basically, a blog is a website with content arranged in chronological order. Once set up, a blog is easy to publish as you don't need any HTML / web coding skills. Blogs have a fill-in-the-blank interface where you enter your content. Then you click a "Publish" button and presto, your new content is automatically converted into HTML code and published to a viewable page.
Here's where search engine optimization comes into play. By default, blogs do many things well that can help them earn search engine ranking. In many cases, blogs can achieve solid ranking faster than regular websites. A blog is easier to publish than a regular website, so you can post content to it more often. Search engines like websites with frequently updated content.
A general rule of thumb is to publish something to your blog at least once a week.
Enjoy watching your website traffic grow!
Kev
Thursday, 10 November 2011
online marketing pointers for photographers
Most photographers seem to be aware of the potential of social media for their photography business but most don’t know where to start. Because there is this confusion, people either skip it entirely or do the wrong things. Either way, it just doesn’t work for you and you are left feeling that you missed a huge potential. Sound familiar?
Most of your social media marketing is going to be about engaging with your potential and existing clients so it's best to pick just one or two services and concentrate on those to maximize your efforts. Joining a multiple of sites will leave you exhausted trying to keep up with the communication and posting… you will have less time for actually making money and taking photos.
The first thing I would suggest is a Blog for a long term strategy. Plan your posts to ensure you are posting a minimum of one thing a week. This has long term search engine benefits and if done at the same time each week. Your followers will also be able to form a habit of knowing when your posts go online.
The second thing I would suggest is a micro-blogging platform like Facebook or Google+ for short updates. These sites are an online destination where you can post your products and services and join communities to have fun. I would not be doing any hard selling on these sites, that’s not what they are for. Just join post and have fun. A friend of mine runs a few companies, some are posted on Facebook. One in particular is an "Event Management" business. He has all the information of his services on the Facebook profile but never sells… but rather sends out videos and posts humorous comments and polls that people watch for. He is building his business on his perceived knowledge and likability… and it works. People hire him because they like him and he is perceived as a trusted expert. There may be better "Event Managers" out there but Steve proves that people buy on trust, emotion and relationships.
Whatever platforms you decide on, give yourself a schedule and allocate a specific amount of time to post updates. BUT STICK TO IT. A regular update on what is going on, a few tips here and there, put up photos that you have recently taken should take you 15-30 minutes once each week to post to your blog, and 5 minutes a day to check your Wall on Facebook or Google+. And if there are any comments on your wall, make a response to any comments and post your own update.
Never go to your Blog or your social media page without a clear idea of what you're going to write about! Turn off the e-mail alerts when visitors post to your blog or wall and don't fall into the time sucking mistake of checking it continually like email! Instead, focus on what’s going on over the last day and just comment on that.
Always remember the goal is to make your social marketing page a hub where your clients can connect with you, so you have to keep pushing them to go there and keep encouraging them to join the conversation! Effective methods of pushing people to your social media efforts are Twitter, links to your social media accounts on your website, QR codes on your business cards and marketing materials and cross marketing your social media initiatives.
Twitter is a great way to post your blog posts, recent photos taken and Facebook updates to a different group of people. I now have 400 people that receive my Twitter posts each week and it generates 12% of my website traffic.
A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols). Here is the QR code I use to get people directly to my website.
Now that I said all this and possibly got you thinking a little more about social media, you should also be tracking what is generating leads and revenue for your business. There is no use spinning your wheels in the mud and not getting anywhere.
So, let’s look under the hood of KPep Photography for a second and see where my business leads come from.
I have a website, http://www.blogger.com/www.kpepphotography.com.
I have business cards with my email address, twitter account, QR code on the back
I have a Google account with a place page
I have a Twitter account where I follow almost 900 other photographers and various other people. There are almost 900 followers of this account. I use the account to post out my blog entries, new photos I take and any other photography information.
I have a LinkedIn account where I make sure my twitter posts show up. I have a couple hundred contacts on LinkedIn and they will see my twitter posts, be able to access my website and see any conversations I have in the photography groups on LinkedIn. On LinkedIn I belong to 6 photography groups and will post tips, tutorials and post up Polls for other members.
Facebook... I have three pages... a personal one with over 1100 friends, a page for the Photographers Lounge with now almost 300 LIKES and a page for our podcast that has just about 200 LIKES...
My website is posted on six directories, I am registered and occasionally post on 6 photography blogs.
I also write for http://www.blogger.com/www.photonews.ca, http://www.blogger.com/www.canadiannaturephotographer.com, and Photo technique magazine. Each has a website where links to my website and twitter account exist when they run one of my articles online.
I have a flickr account that I rarely use anymore. I have over 600 photos posted on there that have links and proper keywords that associate those photos with my name and website.
All the images on my website, all the blog posting, and anything I do online have had meta tags applied that will increase my chances of showing up in local searches for the initiatives that I want to promote.
Here is the breakdown for website traffic on http://www.blogger.com/www.kpepphotography.com because of my marketing initiatives.
Twitter sends me 15% of my monthly traffic and I get contacted 30% of the time from potential contacts through here.
LinkedIn sends me 8% of my monthly traffic
QR codes generate 2% of my monthly traffic
Google searches generate 10% of my monthly traffic
Facebook sends me 20% of my monthly traffic
Traffic from grips website is 3% of my monthly traffic
The companies I write for account for 7% of my monthly traffic
Bing searches account for 4% of my monthly traffic
Flickr still accounts for 6% of my monthly traffic and I get contacted 30% of the time from potential contacts through here.
Direct traffic generates 25% of my monthly traffic and I get contacted 40% of the time from potential contacts through here.
• I have seen increases in my traffic from direct Google searches over the past 30 days due to increased focus on meta tagging and other SEO initiatives.
• I have seen a decline in traffic coming from flickr, probably because I stopped posting recent images on the site.
• My direct traffic has also started to increase. Although I find it hard to believe that is top of mind awareness, but rather friends and family looking to see what photo they want as an X-Mas prezzy ;-).
• Social marketing accounts for over 50% of my total traffic
I am going to start focusing more on SEO and key in on what’s called “Longtail SEO” and attempt to drill down to get more qualified clients. An example of longtail SEO is tagging items on your site with terms like, “Canadian landscape photography workshops Kitchener Ontario”
For social marketing, I will continue to work on Facebook and linkedin and see how far twitter can take me and I am looking at Pinterest and have registered an account to start to see how to maximize that online venue.
I hope this article helps you. I will post more on the subject in the coming months.
Happy networking,
Kev
Most of your social media marketing is going to be about engaging with your potential and existing clients so it's best to pick just one or two services and concentrate on those to maximize your efforts. Joining a multiple of sites will leave you exhausted trying to keep up with the communication and posting… you will have less time for actually making money and taking photos.
The first thing I would suggest is a Blog for a long term strategy. Plan your posts to ensure you are posting a minimum of one thing a week. This has long term search engine benefits and if done at the same time each week. Your followers will also be able to form a habit of knowing when your posts go online.
The second thing I would suggest is a micro-blogging platform like Facebook or Google+ for short updates. These sites are an online destination where you can post your products and services and join communities to have fun. I would not be doing any hard selling on these sites, that’s not what they are for. Just join post and have fun. A friend of mine runs a few companies, some are posted on Facebook. One in particular is an "Event Management" business. He has all the information of his services on the Facebook profile but never sells… but rather sends out videos and posts humorous comments and polls that people watch for. He is building his business on his perceived knowledge and likability… and it works. People hire him because they like him and he is perceived as a trusted expert. There may be better "Event Managers" out there but Steve proves that people buy on trust, emotion and relationships.
Whatever platforms you decide on, give yourself a schedule and allocate a specific amount of time to post updates. BUT STICK TO IT. A regular update on what is going on, a few tips here and there, put up photos that you have recently taken should take you 15-30 minutes once each week to post to your blog, and 5 minutes a day to check your Wall on Facebook or Google+. And if there are any comments on your wall, make a response to any comments and post your own update.
Never go to your Blog or your social media page without a clear idea of what you're going to write about! Turn off the e-mail alerts when visitors post to your blog or wall and don't fall into the time sucking mistake of checking it continually like email! Instead, focus on what’s going on over the last day and just comment on that.
Always remember the goal is to make your social marketing page a hub where your clients can connect with you, so you have to keep pushing them to go there and keep encouraging them to join the conversation! Effective methods of pushing people to your social media efforts are Twitter, links to your social media accounts on your website, QR codes on your business cards and marketing materials and cross marketing your social media initiatives.
Twitter is a great way to post your blog posts, recent photos taken and Facebook updates to a different group of people. I now have 400 people that receive my Twitter posts each week and it generates 12% of my website traffic.
A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols). Here is the QR code I use to get people directly to my website.
Now that I said all this and possibly got you thinking a little more about social media, you should also be tracking what is generating leads and revenue for your business. There is no use spinning your wheels in the mud and not getting anywhere.
So, let’s look under the hood of KPep Photography for a second and see where my business leads come from.
I have a website, http://www.blogger.com/www.kpepphotography.com.
I have business cards with my email address, twitter account, QR code on the back
I have a Google account with a place page
I have a Twitter account where I follow almost 900 other photographers and various other people. There are almost 900 followers of this account. I use the account to post out my blog entries, new photos I take and any other photography information.
I have a LinkedIn account where I make sure my twitter posts show up. I have a couple hundred contacts on LinkedIn and they will see my twitter posts, be able to access my website and see any conversations I have in the photography groups on LinkedIn. On LinkedIn I belong to 6 photography groups and will post tips, tutorials and post up Polls for other members.
Facebook... I have three pages... a personal one with over 1100 friends, a page for the Photographers Lounge with now almost 300 LIKES and a page for our podcast that has just about 200 LIKES...
My website is posted on six directories, I am registered and occasionally post on 6 photography blogs.
I also write for http://www.blogger.com/www.photonews.ca, http://www.blogger.com/www.canadiannaturephotographer.com, and Photo technique magazine. Each has a website where links to my website and twitter account exist when they run one of my articles online.
I have a flickr account that I rarely use anymore. I have over 600 photos posted on there that have links and proper keywords that associate those photos with my name and website.
All the images on my website, all the blog posting, and anything I do online have had meta tags applied that will increase my chances of showing up in local searches for the initiatives that I want to promote.
Here is the breakdown for website traffic on http://www.blogger.com/www.kpepphotography.com because of my marketing initiatives.
Twitter sends me 15% of my monthly traffic and I get contacted 30% of the time from potential contacts through here.
LinkedIn sends me 8% of my monthly traffic
QR codes generate 2% of my monthly traffic
Google searches generate 10% of my monthly traffic
Facebook sends me 20% of my monthly traffic
Traffic from grips website is 3% of my monthly traffic
The companies I write for account for 7% of my monthly traffic
Bing searches account for 4% of my monthly traffic
Flickr still accounts for 6% of my monthly traffic and I get contacted 30% of the time from potential contacts through here.
Direct traffic generates 25% of my monthly traffic and I get contacted 40% of the time from potential contacts through here.
• I have seen increases in my traffic from direct Google searches over the past 30 days due to increased focus on meta tagging and other SEO initiatives.
• I have seen a decline in traffic coming from flickr, probably because I stopped posting recent images on the site.
• My direct traffic has also started to increase. Although I find it hard to believe that is top of mind awareness, but rather friends and family looking to see what photo they want as an X-Mas prezzy ;-).
• Social marketing accounts for over 50% of my total traffic
I am going to start focusing more on SEO and key in on what’s called “Longtail SEO” and attempt to drill down to get more qualified clients. An example of longtail SEO is tagging items on your site with terms like, “Canadian landscape photography workshops Kitchener Ontario”
For social marketing, I will continue to work on Facebook and linkedin and see how far twitter can take me and I am looking at Pinterest and have registered an account to start to see how to maximize that online venue.
I hope this article helps you. I will post more on the subject in the coming months.
Happy networking,
Kev
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
HDR Photography Tutorial
You either love “High Dynamic Range (HDR)” photography or you hate it. There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to people opinions. My thought is that the mention of HDR conjures up thoughts of grungy, high contrast, unrealistic photos that look more like an artistic rendering of a scene rather than a photograph.
When I decide to use HDR in a photograph, the purpose is to produce a quality photo which is better than that of a normal photo. I use it to attempt to overcome the limitations of my camera and allow for a full range of exposure and colour to “POP” out of my image. The result is a more vibrant image.
The real advantages to HDR photography are as follows:
HDR photography captures higher dynamic range
Let's imagine a situation where one photographs (without a flash) a high contrast scene where the subject is against the sky. Typically there is a problem in the result. Either the sky is over exposed, or the subject is under exposed. This end result does not produce a scene that your eyes actually saw as you stood there behind the camera. Your eyes can clearly see details in both the subject and the sky. However, the digital camera isn't able to see as high contrast as a human eye does. Enter HDR in post processing…
Awhhhh, my son, God luv him. We had climbed up Mount Dumyat in Scotland and he had to pee. So, he decided to pee right off the side of the mountain versus going over in the bushes.
In photography, the goal is often to capture the view and the mood that was seen and experienced. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of digital cameras, some details are often missing in photos. In high contrast scenes, a digital camera isn't able to capture both the brightest and the darkest areas simultaneously. HDR photography offers a solution to this problem.
The high dynamic range and the way HDR photo saves image information, give new possibilities to digital image processing. One can do very strong digital image processing operations to an HDR photo without losing any image information. A properly created HDR photo can include very large amount of image information and therefore give the photographer a possibility to create exactly the kind of photo he or she wants.
HDR photography Can Produce Noise Free Photos
An HDR photo is created by merging several photos that are taken with different exposures. If there are enough exposures, each part of the photo has optimal exposure in several shots. I don't know the merging algorithms of HDR programs but presumably they take best parts of the photos and / or do some averaging between the pixels in different shots and therefore noise is reduced effectively. Anyway, according to my tests HDR makes it possible to produce photos that are noise free even in the darkest shadows.
This is an HDR photo taken at night on Michigan Ave in Chicago. This was one of the first HDR images I ever did. When I saw it I was hooked, minimal noise, nice colours and the detail was impressive.
For the landscape photography the process can really enhance an image and separate your photo from the others. The software options are abundant. Personally, I use Photomatix. I have used NIK software , Topaz Adjust and used HDR in CS5, but I always find myself reverting back to old faithful, Photomatix 4.
Here is a list of HDR programs that you can consider:
HDR Express
Topaz Adjust
Lightroom Enfuse
Photomatix 4
Nik HDR Efex Pro
HDR Darkroom
Adobe Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro
To see a complete review of each program please visit HDR Software’s website once you finish reading about the possibilities of HDR photography here.
OK, now on to the process of creating an HDR image. In this tutorial I will be using a combination of Abobe CS5 and Photomatix 4.0 to get the end result.
The original images
You can use anywhere between 1 to 5, 7 and sometimes 9 photos. It all depends on you really, and occasionally it will depend on the scene. The harsher the contrast, the more photos used seems to produce a better image.
I tend to shoot 3 to 5 RAW images in the field and range the exposure by +/- 1EV. If you shoot one image and decide when you get home that you want to produce an HDR image from the single photo. Your choices are to do HDR rendering on the single image, or, produce 3 to 5 images from the original in jpg or TIFF with a range of exposure. I simply RAW edit the original and use the exposure slider in the RAW editor to produce photos of varying degrees of exposure.
Here are the original images we are going to start with for this example. I tend to shoot a balanced photo and then over expose a few images and then under expose a few images.
As you can see there are 5 images down the left. To the right is the minor RAW edits I made. The larger photo is the original photo I took before I over and under exposed the other four images
RAW Editing
The RAW editing is just simple color adjustments, eliminate any sensor or lens dust, a few tonal adjustments, minor clarity adjustments, a bit of balancing and that’s about it. I do not sharpen the images or prepare them for printing just yet… this is just a cleanup of the original 5 images before I open them up in Photomatix.
Please note that sharpening the images too much in this step will lead to issues once you perform your HDR editing. Leave that to the end when you import the Photomatix document back into CS5.
HDR Processing
Here you have the photomatix screen when you first load the original images. Make sure you check off the box to eliminate ghosting if there is moving objects like clouds in the image.
As you can see down the left side of the screen shot, my settings are there. I generally do not deviate too far from these settings when I am applying HDR on a landscape photograph.
for this image i chose exposure fusion. You can also set the editing mode to tone mapping. I tend to do that with a photo with less contrasting foregrounds adn backgrounds.
Final Processing in CS5
Once I have finished the final editing in Photomatix I reopen the jpg or TIFF document in the RAW editor one final time. This time I run through my final steps of checking balance, colour, clarity, saturation, camera lens correction etc.
I then open up the image in CS5 and perform my final edits to finish the photograph. For this image I felt I had to perform some cloning for the bad ghosting in the clouds, I colour adjusted the green to make it pop a bit more and i played with the exposure levels to get the overall tonal look I wanted.
Final Image
As you can see below there are two images, the first photo is the original properly exposed image and the second one is the final HDR image.
Now, here are a few more HDR Images from that morning on Puslinch Lake near Cambridge, Ontario.
Everyone has their own method of producing an HDR image and they may use different software than I do.
Find out what works for you, master the technique, and enjoy the end results.
Happy Shooting,
Kev
When I decide to use HDR in a photograph, the purpose is to produce a quality photo which is better than that of a normal photo. I use it to attempt to overcome the limitations of my camera and allow for a full range of exposure and colour to “POP” out of my image. The result is a more vibrant image.
The real advantages to HDR photography are as follows:
HDR photography captures higher dynamic range
Let's imagine a situation where one photographs (without a flash) a high contrast scene where the subject is against the sky. Typically there is a problem in the result. Either the sky is over exposed, or the subject is under exposed. This end result does not produce a scene that your eyes actually saw as you stood there behind the camera. Your eyes can clearly see details in both the subject and the sky. However, the digital camera isn't able to see as high contrast as a human eye does. Enter HDR in post processing…
In photography, the goal is often to capture the view and the mood that was seen and experienced. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of digital cameras, some details are often missing in photos. In high contrast scenes, a digital camera isn't able to capture both the brightest and the darkest areas simultaneously. HDR photography offers a solution to this problem.
The high dynamic range and the way HDR photo saves image information, give new possibilities to digital image processing. One can do very strong digital image processing operations to an HDR photo without losing any image information. A properly created HDR photo can include very large amount of image information and therefore give the photographer a possibility to create exactly the kind of photo he or she wants.
HDR photography Can Produce Noise Free Photos
An HDR photo is created by merging several photos that are taken with different exposures. If there are enough exposures, each part of the photo has optimal exposure in several shots. I don't know the merging algorithms of HDR programs but presumably they take best parts of the photos and / or do some averaging between the pixels in different shots and therefore noise is reduced effectively. Anyway, according to my tests HDR makes it possible to produce photos that are noise free even in the darkest shadows.
For the landscape photography the process can really enhance an image and separate your photo from the others. The software options are abundant. Personally, I use Photomatix. I have used NIK software , Topaz Adjust and used HDR in CS5, but I always find myself reverting back to old faithful, Photomatix 4.
Here is a list of HDR programs that you can consider:
HDR Express
Topaz Adjust
Lightroom Enfuse
Photomatix 4
Nik HDR Efex Pro
HDR Darkroom
Adobe Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro
To see a complete review of each program please visit HDR Software’s website once you finish reading about the possibilities of HDR photography here.
OK, now on to the process of creating an HDR image. In this tutorial I will be using a combination of Abobe CS5 and Photomatix 4.0 to get the end result.
The original images
You can use anywhere between 1 to 5, 7 and sometimes 9 photos. It all depends on you really, and occasionally it will depend on the scene. The harsher the contrast, the more photos used seems to produce a better image.
I tend to shoot 3 to 5 RAW images in the field and range the exposure by +/- 1EV. If you shoot one image and decide when you get home that you want to produce an HDR image from the single photo. Your choices are to do HDR rendering on the single image, or, produce 3 to 5 images from the original in jpg or TIFF with a range of exposure. I simply RAW edit the original and use the exposure slider in the RAW editor to produce photos of varying degrees of exposure.
Here are the original images we are going to start with for this example. I tend to shoot a balanced photo and then over expose a few images and then under expose a few images.
RAW Editing
The RAW editing is just simple color adjustments, eliminate any sensor or lens dust, a few tonal adjustments, minor clarity adjustments, a bit of balancing and that’s about it. I do not sharpen the images or prepare them for printing just yet… this is just a cleanup of the original 5 images before I open them up in Photomatix.
Please note that sharpening the images too much in this step will lead to issues once you perform your HDR editing. Leave that to the end when you import the Photomatix document back into CS5.
HDR Processing
Here you have the photomatix screen when you first load the original images. Make sure you check off the box to eliminate ghosting if there is moving objects like clouds in the image.
As you can see down the left side of the screen shot, my settings are there. I generally do not deviate too far from these settings when I am applying HDR on a landscape photograph.
Final Processing in CS5
Once I have finished the final editing in Photomatix I reopen the jpg or TIFF document in the RAW editor one final time. This time I run through my final steps of checking balance, colour, clarity, saturation, camera lens correction etc.
I then open up the image in CS5 and perform my final edits to finish the photograph. For this image I felt I had to perform some cloning for the bad ghosting in the clouds, I colour adjusted the green to make it pop a bit more and i played with the exposure levels to get the overall tonal look I wanted.
Final Image
As you can see below there are two images, the first photo is the original properly exposed image and the second one is the final HDR image.
Now, here are a few more HDR Images from that morning on Puslinch Lake near Cambridge, Ontario.
Everyone has their own method of producing an HDR image and they may use different software than I do.
Find out what works for you, master the technique, and enjoy the end results.
Happy Shooting,
Kev
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Must see video of a whale and a surfer
I usually dont just post a photo or video on my blog, but you should see this video of a close call of a surfer and a whale...
See video here
See video here
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