I attended a webinar this week about social media. The webinar was put on by Tyler Garns. If you are on TWITTER you can follow Tyler at @tylergarns
The information he pumps out is extremely valuable to anyone owning a small business and wanting to grow their revenue through maximizing online.
I am going to split this blog out into three parts because of the vast amount of information I have to give. This posting will focus on what influences website traffic to your website, the “Attract” portion of these BLOG entries.
What influences website visitors?
The primary influencer to a small business’s website still is “familiarity with your brand”. Generally this accounts for 38% of your monthly traffic. This is people that know you or your company name and will search for your name on a search engine query. Or they will come directly to your website by entering in your URL. I suggest that you go to your analytics tool and look at the referral traffic to your site, find out where the traffic is coming from, and add up the searches with your name or company name to the direct traffic to your specific URL.
This will show you how familiar people are with your name or brand, and how that translates to a percentage of your overall traffic
The second most influential for website traffic is promotional emails. In my experience I know this to be true. If you are doing email blasts or newsletters, and you are doing it right with deep linking you will see the benefits. If this is something you are doing in your mix of marketing, the statistics say that this will generate approximately 19% of your website traffic.
Where that traffic from your newsletter lands is entirely up to you. I like to drive people right to specific pages on my website. Why? Because I know what pages I have higher conversation ratios of taking browsers to paying clients.
The following marketing initiatives seem to bunch up and represent the second tier of marketing influencers to your website.
Search Engine Results accounts for 8%
TV, Newspaper, Radio and Magazine account for another 8%
Word of mouth recommendations yet again accounts for 8%
Traditional internet advertising accounts for 7% of your traffic generation.
To be honest I do not know many photographers that advertise on TV, Radio, newspaper or magazine; and frankly there are very few that even do traditional internet advertising.
I would suggest that us, as photographers spread the 15% that these advertising mediums traditionally account for and distribute that over our newsletters, social media, SEO and SEM tactics. What we do, do as photographers is influence our search engine results and if we are paying attention to our reputation, we can influence positive word of mouth.
Search engine results being on average 8% of a small business web traffic is low to me. While I just let it go on the webinar because there were many types of small businesses in attendance, I disagree with this stat for a photographer. If you are trying to grow your business, and you have a website you will be focusing significant amount of your time on keywords and meta tags on your website to ensure higher ranking in search results. I know I do, and I pay as much attention to this as I can, both on my blog and on my website that showcases all my photos. Search engine results, and subsequent click thru to my website accounts for just over 10% of my website traffic… and growing.
I am sure if I purchased keywords this would grow, but I decided to focus on SEO versus SEM, I am saving the money and I only invest my time. And yes, time is money, but when faced between watching TV or doing SEO on my site, doing the SEO usually wins over a mind numbing episode of Grey’s Anatomy… Now, the Big Bang Theory is another story. Not much gets in the way of me and my thirty minutes with Sheldon, Leonard, Penny, Raj and Howard.
The last grouping of influencers seems to fit together nicely as well. It will prompt those of you that do not participate in social media to question whether it’s worth the effort, but for those of us that participate in social media already have the answer, and that answer is yes, absolutely.
The statistics show that for small businesses the following seems to generate smaller percentages of traffic.
Interaction on Social Networks accounts for 5% of the traffic
Blogs and discussion boards account for 3% of the traffic
Shopping comparison sites and product review sites account for 4% of the traffic.
Personally, as a photographer that participates in social marketing, I can say firsthand that social marketing is the largest influencer of traffic to my website. BUT… a word of caution. You are either doing social media or you are not. There is no half way here. Commit yourself to it and you will drive traffic.
Social media is a huge topic unto itself so I am not going to go into all the details here. Social media can consist of using websites such as… Facebook, Google+, Farmville, Flickr, 500px, youtube, Gowalla, Instagram, twitter and many, MANY others.
The trends that do seem to be taking hold that you might want to look at are, “Urbanspoon”, a geo based application that will find places to eat, be entertained etc, Google and Facebook places to list your businesses on to be found. Other trends that are on the rise are Foursquare, Gowalla and Groupon. But one that I would suggest you get involved in is YELP… get engage here and see the rewards for traffic generation, and subsequent conversation because the traffic are qualified prospects.
The next posting will be about converting traffic from browsers and tire kickers to actual clients… that will come out next Friday at 6pm EST.
In the meantime, if you want more information please contact me below.
If you also want to be on my mailing list, please email me and I will put you on the distribution list that goes out 4x a year.
Contact me by clicking here
Until next time, happy shooting!
Kev
Showing posts with label canadian landscape photographer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian landscape photographer. Show all posts
Friday, 16 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Being Sponsored – The PROS and CONS - with an update on this entry
Imagine getting free gear from a manufacturer because our photos are so great! Wouldn’t it be fantastic!?
I talked to a few manufacturers at a recent trade show because I was thinking about writing this article. I thought I would ask them each how many times they get contacted by photographers every year, their response, well; it was more laughter than figures. But I did catch them both say it runs into the thousands each year. The advice I received from the people that make the decisions on whether you are even going to be considered a sponsored photographer... “You have to be a top tier photographer and a top tier marketer before we would even consider looking at your portfolio.”
If you are like me you think about being sponsored by a camera company. Well, let me rephrase that, I used to think it would be great. Not anymore. After talking to a few photographers that do get free gear I realized that it is not that special. Sure, you get more expensive gear, the kind us mere mortals dream about using. But the reality is that the sponsoring company holds all the power and the photographer gives up so much more than they really should.
Quite often the company will get the rights to use of the photographer’s images to promote the product you are using. Your work then ends up in promotional pieces everywhere in exchange for a camera and a few lenses. On the flipside, if you actually sold images directly to a company; you would make more than enough to go out and purchase the gear you got for free... and be able to go buy your spouse something nice because they put up with the crazy hours of a professional photographer.
Even worse than not getting the value that your images are worth, there is something that one photographer referred to as “being muzzled”. As a sponsored photographer you will not be allowed to express your honest opinion about the company’s products. Let’s face it, camera companies all make fantastic products, they also all make products that are not that great. Once you are sponsored, you are going to be expected to say that all this company’s products are great. I don’t know what you think... but doesn’t your personal credibility come into question if you are out there saying you don’t believe there have ever been issues with a camera we all know was flawed from the moment it hit the shelves?
Let’s also not forget that a camera manufacturer will want you to use only their lenses... You may not be able to use those Tamron or Sigma lenses that sit in your bag that you have grown to love.
I guess if you want to try for a sponsorship, who am I to suggest otherwise. You will have better gear than me and I will suffer from lens envy if we are shooting side by side. You will no doubt have the gear and definitely the notoriety that I don’t.
But I will have free speech, the best equipment my money can buy. I will not be tied to just one manufacturer and I will still have the opportunity to sell my images to anybody and everybody that will buy them. But then again, you have the better gear and opportunities I dont have...
Which would be better in your opinion?
Regardless if you are sponsored, or not,
Happy Shooting!
UPDATE TO THIS ENTRY - December 9, 2012
I wrote this blog post originally over a year ago and my photography career has really taken off in the past 14 months... I started a new company that has run workshops and runs seminars... and I have recently started to develop solid business relationships with some companies based in the photography business and in the peripherial of the photogrpahy business. So... guess what, I now have sponsors... but the key here is that they are "mutually beneficial business partnerships"
I will say this. I did not accept a "business partnerhsip" with just any company just to get free gear. I created mutually beneficial relationships with companies that have products I believe in... I still will not endorse a product that is not worthy of a positive review. My integrity is too important for the sake of a piece of gear worth a couple hundred dollars... but i do now use products from various companies... and I will review them, I will endorse them and I will, more importantly, use their product to help my students take better photos and help me on my own photogrpahic journey.
The key here for me... "mutually beneficial relationships"... i help them sell gear and get their name out there and in return, for the large numbers of clients that I can get their gear in front of I am paid in one form or another" ... and my partners work with me becasue I am an extension of their company. I believe wholeheartedly in their products and am an advocate for their business philosophies and their product.
I talked to a few manufacturers at a recent trade show because I was thinking about writing this article. I thought I would ask them each how many times they get contacted by photographers every year, their response, well; it was more laughter than figures. But I did catch them both say it runs into the thousands each year. The advice I received from the people that make the decisions on whether you are even going to be considered a sponsored photographer... “You have to be a top tier photographer and a top tier marketer before we would even consider looking at your portfolio.”
If you are like me you think about being sponsored by a camera company. Well, let me rephrase that, I used to think it would be great. Not anymore. After talking to a few photographers that do get free gear I realized that it is not that special. Sure, you get more expensive gear, the kind us mere mortals dream about using. But the reality is that the sponsoring company holds all the power and the photographer gives up so much more than they really should.
Quite often the company will get the rights to use of the photographer’s images to promote the product you are using. Your work then ends up in promotional pieces everywhere in exchange for a camera and a few lenses. On the flipside, if you actually sold images directly to a company; you would make more than enough to go out and purchase the gear you got for free... and be able to go buy your spouse something nice because they put up with the crazy hours of a professional photographer.
Even worse than not getting the value that your images are worth, there is something that one photographer referred to as “being muzzled”. As a sponsored photographer you will not be allowed to express your honest opinion about the company’s products. Let’s face it, camera companies all make fantastic products, they also all make products that are not that great. Once you are sponsored, you are going to be expected to say that all this company’s products are great. I don’t know what you think... but doesn’t your personal credibility come into question if you are out there saying you don’t believe there have ever been issues with a camera we all know was flawed from the moment it hit the shelves?
Let’s also not forget that a camera manufacturer will want you to use only their lenses... You may not be able to use those Tamron or Sigma lenses that sit in your bag that you have grown to love.
I guess if you want to try for a sponsorship, who am I to suggest otherwise. You will have better gear than me and I will suffer from lens envy if we are shooting side by side. You will no doubt have the gear and definitely the notoriety that I don’t.
But I will have free speech, the best equipment my money can buy. I will not be tied to just one manufacturer and I will still have the opportunity to sell my images to anybody and everybody that will buy them. But then again, you have the better gear and opportunities I dont have...
Which would be better in your opinion?
Regardless if you are sponsored, or not,
Happy Shooting!
UPDATE TO THIS ENTRY - December 9, 2012
I wrote this blog post originally over a year ago and my photography career has really taken off in the past 14 months... I started a new company that has run workshops and runs seminars... and I have recently started to develop solid business relationships with some companies based in the photography business and in the peripherial of the photogrpahy business. So... guess what, I now have sponsors... but the key here is that they are "mutually beneficial business partnerships"
I will say this. I did not accept a "business partnerhsip" with just any company just to get free gear. I created mutually beneficial relationships with companies that have products I believe in... I still will not endorse a product that is not worthy of a positive review. My integrity is too important for the sake of a piece of gear worth a couple hundred dollars... but i do now use products from various companies... and I will review them, I will endorse them and I will, more importantly, use their product to help my students take better photos and help me on my own photogrpahic journey.
The key here for me... "mutually beneficial relationships"... i help them sell gear and get their name out there and in return, for the large numbers of clients that I can get their gear in front of I am paid in one form or another" ... and my partners work with me becasue I am an extension of their company. I believe wholeheartedly in their products and am an advocate for their business philosophies and their product.
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
Thursday, 27 October 2011
You don't take a photograph, you make it. - Ansel Adams
In order to take a great landscape photograph I believe you have to capture the spirit of a location. But in order to do that you have to use different techniques to truly achieve this.
I always say that nature is rarely perfect. Your images need a helping hand and with the right technique you give yourself the best chance of taking one of those shots you want to show off to the world.
The landscape photography tips below will help you make more of the photo opportunities that you'll come across when you are in search of that perfect landscape photograph.
1. If you have a DSLR camera that gives you control over settings such as shutter speed, aperture and exposure values “EV”, set your camera on “Aperture Priority” and use a small aperture of f/16 or f/20. This will let you keep everything in focus and the camera will set your shutter speed automatically. For the advanced photographer, use your manual settings and adjust your EV setting to achieve proper exposure after you set your aperture and desired shutter speed.
2. Early morning and late evening are the best times for shooting landscapes. Blue hour photography and golden hour photography are the only time I venture out to take my landscape images. The reasons; the sun is not as harsh as a stronger high sun and the low angle of the sun reveals shadows and textures.
3. The best landscapes are rarely found at the side of the road. So be prepared to go for a hike with a map or a GPS Unit in an effort to seek out the most interesting locations that not everyone takes a photo of. You can also download Photographers Ephemeris and do some pre-planning before you leave home.
4. Wide angle lenses are commonly used for landscapes because they will allow you to include more in the frame and open up the vertical perspective. But, the wide angle lens pushes the scene away… you can also consider using a longer focal length lens and compressing the depth of just a part of the entire scene.
5. If shooting the entire scene before you, whenever possible, place something of interest in the foreground of the shot to create a sense of depth. At the same time, ensure that you use that small aperture to keep everything in focus.
If you do not have something to ground the scene, focus one third up from the bottom of the image. This way you will maximize focus of the entire scene.
6. Another great but simple landscape photography tip is to anchor your camera to a tripod to slow down your pace of working when shooting landscapes. This means you'll take fewer but better pictures.
Also, if you are shooting in low light your exposure times will be elongated, forcing you to mount the camera to eliminate camera shake.
7. Carry a cable release. The timer function on the camera is no substitute for a cable release, BTW. The cable allows you the release the shutter when YOU want to release the shutter, not 2 sec or 10 sec or 15 sec from when you want to release. The release makes it so you don't have to touch the camera at all which will definitely minimize camera shake...especially important for those longer exposure shots. As an aside, if your camera allows it, use the mirror lock up function.
8. Keep on the lookout for scenes that will let you crop the top and bottom of the image to produce a more dramatic panoramic composition.
9. Use a circular polarizing filter to darken the sky and saturate the colors in the landscape (this is the one must-have filter for landscape photographers).
10. Meter your scene and use graduated grey or neutral density filters to darken the sky and reduce the contrast between the landscape and the sky. Polarizing filters aren't much use for bright cloudy skies but graduated filters are. Frequently, the sky looks burned out in photos because your digital sensors don't have the range to record the brightness differences between it and darker foreground scenery.
11. Use color correction filters to change the color of light on a landscape. These filters can either warm up the landscape or cool it down, depending on the filter color used. In this image, a sepia graduated filter was used upside-down to color the foreground rocks only.
You can either do this in the camera or you can do this in Photoshop later.
12. Try using a soft focus filter to add an ethereal quality to the scene. These filters blur the bright areas of a scene into the shadows to give the image a glow.
Again, you can do this in the camera or apply the soft focus after with gaussian blur in Photoshop
13. If you’re up for experimentation, try making your own filters. There's never a guarantee you'll get good results, but your photos will certainly look different. You can make a filter out of anything that's at least partially transparent - a bit of old stocking, Vaseline rubbed on an old filter (don't ever rub Vaseline directly onto a lens - you'll ruin it permanently!) Or you could try breathing gently on your lens (in cool conditions) to get a soft-focus effect.
14. Use the Hyperfocal distance to obtain the fastest shutter speed with greatest depth of field. Hyperfocal allows you to get everything sharp, from things close up to the camera to those far away. It's more reliable than just setting the focus at infinity. You will need a camera that allows manual focusing though. Click here to learn what Hyperfocal distance is.
15. Shoot RAW images rather than JPGs. The RAW image will take up more room on your memory card but the RAW image will give you greater latitude for image manipulation in post processing. This is a “Must Do” in my opinion. I shoot all my images in RAW.
16. Be original! Develop your own style and unique vision. Any competent photographer can duplicate someone else’s work. Truly great photographers produce unique images and avoid cliché photography. Go for non-standard viewpoints, say from ground-level rather than eye-level. Imagine the world as seen from an animal's viewpoint rather than a human's! Think what the scene would look like to a flying bird or a ground dwelling squirrel.
17. Tell a Story! People who look at pictures will enjoy looking at a story over a snapshot any day. Telling stories with your camera forces you to slow down and think about what you are doing. What is it about this scene that makes you want to make a photograph? What moves you or attracts your eye? Is there a theme, a phrase or a point of view that you want to capture and preserve? Where is the beginning, the middle and the end?
Happy Shooting!
I always say that nature is rarely perfect. Your images need a helping hand and with the right technique you give yourself the best chance of taking one of those shots you want to show off to the world.
The landscape photography tips below will help you make more of the photo opportunities that you'll come across when you are in search of that perfect landscape photograph.
1. If you have a DSLR camera that gives you control over settings such as shutter speed, aperture and exposure values “EV”, set your camera on “Aperture Priority” and use a small aperture of f/16 or f/20. This will let you keep everything in focus and the camera will set your shutter speed automatically. For the advanced photographer, use your manual settings and adjust your EV setting to achieve proper exposure after you set your aperture and desired shutter speed.
2. Early morning and late evening are the best times for shooting landscapes. Blue hour photography and golden hour photography are the only time I venture out to take my landscape images. The reasons; the sun is not as harsh as a stronger high sun and the low angle of the sun reveals shadows and textures.
3. The best landscapes are rarely found at the side of the road. So be prepared to go for a hike with a map or a GPS Unit in an effort to seek out the most interesting locations that not everyone takes a photo of. You can also download Photographers Ephemeris and do some pre-planning before you leave home.
4. Wide angle lenses are commonly used for landscapes because they will allow you to include more in the frame and open up the vertical perspective. But, the wide angle lens pushes the scene away… you can also consider using a longer focal length lens and compressing the depth of just a part of the entire scene.
5. If shooting the entire scene before you, whenever possible, place something of interest in the foreground of the shot to create a sense of depth. At the same time, ensure that you use that small aperture to keep everything in focus.
If you do not have something to ground the scene, focus one third up from the bottom of the image. This way you will maximize focus of the entire scene.
6. Another great but simple landscape photography tip is to anchor your camera to a tripod to slow down your pace of working when shooting landscapes. This means you'll take fewer but better pictures.
Also, if you are shooting in low light your exposure times will be elongated, forcing you to mount the camera to eliminate camera shake.
7. Carry a cable release. The timer function on the camera is no substitute for a cable release, BTW. The cable allows you the release the shutter when YOU want to release the shutter, not 2 sec or 10 sec or 15 sec from when you want to release. The release makes it so you don't have to touch the camera at all which will definitely minimize camera shake...especially important for those longer exposure shots. As an aside, if your camera allows it, use the mirror lock up function.
8. Keep on the lookout for scenes that will let you crop the top and bottom of the image to produce a more dramatic panoramic composition.
9. Use a circular polarizing filter to darken the sky and saturate the colors in the landscape (this is the one must-have filter for landscape photographers).
10. Meter your scene and use graduated grey or neutral density filters to darken the sky and reduce the contrast between the landscape and the sky. Polarizing filters aren't much use for bright cloudy skies but graduated filters are. Frequently, the sky looks burned out in photos because your digital sensors don't have the range to record the brightness differences between it and darker foreground scenery.
11. Use color correction filters to change the color of light on a landscape. These filters can either warm up the landscape or cool it down, depending on the filter color used. In this image, a sepia graduated filter was used upside-down to color the foreground rocks only.
You can either do this in the camera or you can do this in Photoshop later.
12. Try using a soft focus filter to add an ethereal quality to the scene. These filters blur the bright areas of a scene into the shadows to give the image a glow.
Again, you can do this in the camera or apply the soft focus after with gaussian blur in Photoshop
13. If you’re up for experimentation, try making your own filters. There's never a guarantee you'll get good results, but your photos will certainly look different. You can make a filter out of anything that's at least partially transparent - a bit of old stocking, Vaseline rubbed on an old filter (don't ever rub Vaseline directly onto a lens - you'll ruin it permanently!) Or you could try breathing gently on your lens (in cool conditions) to get a soft-focus effect.
14. Use the Hyperfocal distance to obtain the fastest shutter speed with greatest depth of field. Hyperfocal allows you to get everything sharp, from things close up to the camera to those far away. It's more reliable than just setting the focus at infinity. You will need a camera that allows manual focusing though. Click here to learn what Hyperfocal distance is.
15. Shoot RAW images rather than JPGs. The RAW image will take up more room on your memory card but the RAW image will give you greater latitude for image manipulation in post processing. This is a “Must Do” in my opinion. I shoot all my images in RAW.
16. Be original! Develop your own style and unique vision. Any competent photographer can duplicate someone else’s work. Truly great photographers produce unique images and avoid cliché photography. Go for non-standard viewpoints, say from ground-level rather than eye-level. Imagine the world as seen from an animal's viewpoint rather than a human's! Think what the scene would look like to a flying bird or a ground dwelling squirrel.
17. Tell a Story! People who look at pictures will enjoy looking at a story over a snapshot any day. Telling stories with your camera forces you to slow down and think about what you are doing. What is it about this scene that makes you want to make a photograph? What moves you or attracts your eye? Is there a theme, a phrase or a point of view that you want to capture and preserve? Where is the beginning, the middle and the end?
Happy Shooting!
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
There is an elephant in the room… Lets discuss it?
I am sure this post is going to upset a few people. There have been some HEATED comments flying around the internet as of late. I have been reading a lot of posts on Twitter and on blogs from photographers expressing their opinions on whether pro photographers should post their images on photo sharing sites so others could learn. There have also been some discussions on whether photographers should give their images away for free to not for profit companies. I even read a heated debate or two between pro photographers about using your images as a marketing tool to create awareness of the photographers business. In addition to giving photographs away for free, there is also a constant discussion about photographers sharing their techniques to amateur photographers via tutorials or seminars.
So many points of view out there… it’s a rather interesting topic
I do not know where your opinion lies; I don’t know where you are in your photographic evolution. Where you are in your personal evolution probably will determine your Point of View “POV”.
I am not professing my opinion is necessarily the right point of view; there are merits to both sides of the argument. But I definitely tilt towards helping others. I strongly believe that “The more you give, the more you get”!
Let’s dig into the three main debates a bit deeper and let me offer my POV…
1) Should photographers create tutorials online for other photographers to learn from?
In My Opinion – where else are photographers going to learn at their own speed? Sure, there are college courses and many photographers run workshops, but these options can run you into the thousands of dollars. Both are viable options to become a better photographer, but people want to learn at their own speed. I am sure you will agree that professional photographers can intimidate the amateur photographer… I get wanting to learn at your own speed until you are confident. A lot of people want to be able to sit at home in front of their computer and read tutorials, try them on their own and get themselves to another level of photography aptitude.
I sort of understand the position from photographers that are already PRO photogs. They went to school, they paid their dues, and so should everyone else… but really, why, as an experienced photographer would you not want to share your knowledge and become a perceived expert to the less experienced? If you are a perceived expert I would suggest that amateur photographers will turn to you for advice or take one of your workshops when they become more confident in their own abilities.
2) Should photographers post their images on photo sharing websites?
In My Opinion – For the same reason as I gave above… become the perceived expert. Allow people into your images and show them what you take. Maybe give them some guidelines like camera settings… for example, “photo was taken at sunrise, f/11, 30 second exposure, ISO 100”.
Share and it will pay off down the road. I have seen it work. Andrew Collett is the perfect example. A fantastic landscape photographer and artist in his own right, he makes the photo club circuit and teaches photographers how he takes his images. My club has had him back three years in a row. His payoff; many of our members have attended his workshops because they are comfortable with him… because they have a personal connection and they identify with him!
3) Should photographers give images to companies for free to profit from or hang in their buildings?
In My Opinion – Why Not! If not for the reason they are a charity and they need to generate an income somehow, do it to increase your own exposure in your local area and help create awareness of your photographic abilities.
The more people that see your work while you are refining your craft, the more feedback you will receive, the more chances you will have to make money, the better you will become in the long run.
I cringe when I hear pro photographers say that people should not give their images away for free… It is old school thinking by people that do not perceive they will ever need anything from the less experienced photographer. Some may even call it Elitist. Hmmmm, maybe there is some merit why pro photographers may be considered snobish.
Go back 10 years; there were half the photographers out there that are out there now. If we want to turn this hobby into a money making venture we have to compete against a lot of people. We have to work harder as pro-sumers or amateurs today than the PROS today had to work 10 to 15 years ago.
Not only the increased local competition, but the internet has made this world a very small place. It is reasonable to have a person in Europe find a photographer in a small town in Ontario, Canada and want to buy an image from them. There must have been thousands of photographers local to the buyer they could have contacted… We now have to think globally as well as locally.
The reality is that only a very small percentage of us are going to become a nationally known photographer… a larger percentage will be locally known, and the vast majority of us will probably never consider ourselves a professional. Regardless of what your aspirations are or where you will end up… market yourself, build a brand, and just get your name out there.
If want to be a professional, in my opinion, being perceived as an expert that shares information to help others presents you with a much better chance of getting you to where you want to be than simply being a closed off island…
So, that’s my opinion as an aspiring photographer trying to turn this expensive hobby into a money making venture.
I would like to hear your opinion. Sound off and tell us what you think, either here or reply to my tweet on this subject on Oct 25, 2011.
So many points of view out there… it’s a rather interesting topic
I do not know where your opinion lies; I don’t know where you are in your photographic evolution. Where you are in your personal evolution probably will determine your Point of View “POV”.
I am not professing my opinion is necessarily the right point of view; there are merits to both sides of the argument. But I definitely tilt towards helping others. I strongly believe that “The more you give, the more you get”!
Let’s dig into the three main debates a bit deeper and let me offer my POV…
1) Should photographers create tutorials online for other photographers to learn from?
In My Opinion – where else are photographers going to learn at their own speed? Sure, there are college courses and many photographers run workshops, but these options can run you into the thousands of dollars. Both are viable options to become a better photographer, but people want to learn at their own speed. I am sure you will agree that professional photographers can intimidate the amateur photographer… I get wanting to learn at your own speed until you are confident. A lot of people want to be able to sit at home in front of their computer and read tutorials, try them on their own and get themselves to another level of photography aptitude.
I sort of understand the position from photographers that are already PRO photogs. They went to school, they paid their dues, and so should everyone else… but really, why, as an experienced photographer would you not want to share your knowledge and become a perceived expert to the less experienced? If you are a perceived expert I would suggest that amateur photographers will turn to you for advice or take one of your workshops when they become more confident in their own abilities.
2) Should photographers post their images on photo sharing websites?
In My Opinion – For the same reason as I gave above… become the perceived expert. Allow people into your images and show them what you take. Maybe give them some guidelines like camera settings… for example, “photo was taken at sunrise, f/11, 30 second exposure, ISO 100”.
Share and it will pay off down the road. I have seen it work. Andrew Collett is the perfect example. A fantastic landscape photographer and artist in his own right, he makes the photo club circuit and teaches photographers how he takes his images. My club has had him back three years in a row. His payoff; many of our members have attended his workshops because they are comfortable with him… because they have a personal connection and they identify with him!
3) Should photographers give images to companies for free to profit from or hang in their buildings?
In My Opinion – Why Not! If not for the reason they are a charity and they need to generate an income somehow, do it to increase your own exposure in your local area and help create awareness of your photographic abilities.
The more people that see your work while you are refining your craft, the more feedback you will receive, the more chances you will have to make money, the better you will become in the long run.
I cringe when I hear pro photographers say that people should not give their images away for free… It is old school thinking by people that do not perceive they will ever need anything from the less experienced photographer. Some may even call it Elitist. Hmmmm, maybe there is some merit why pro photographers may be considered snobish.
Go back 10 years; there were half the photographers out there that are out there now. If we want to turn this hobby into a money making venture we have to compete against a lot of people. We have to work harder as pro-sumers or amateurs today than the PROS today had to work 10 to 15 years ago.
Not only the increased local competition, but the internet has made this world a very small place. It is reasonable to have a person in Europe find a photographer in a small town in Ontario, Canada and want to buy an image from them. There must have been thousands of photographers local to the buyer they could have contacted… We now have to think globally as well as locally.
The reality is that only a very small percentage of us are going to become a nationally known photographer… a larger percentage will be locally known, and the vast majority of us will probably never consider ourselves a professional. Regardless of what your aspirations are or where you will end up… market yourself, build a brand, and just get your name out there.
If want to be a professional, in my opinion, being perceived as an expert that shares information to help others presents you with a much better chance of getting you to where you want to be than simply being a closed off island…
So, that’s my opinion as an aspiring photographer trying to turn this expensive hobby into a money making venture.
I would like to hear your opinion. Sound off and tell us what you think, either here or reply to my tweet on this subject on Oct 25, 2011.
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