If you want to learn how to compose better photos you can always attend one of our composition workshops at the Photographers Lounge.
Showing posts with label photography tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography tips. Show all posts
Saturday, 22 June 2013
Monday, 25 February 2013
Understanding ISO in your digital camera
 |
| Aperture f4.0, Shutter Speed 40 seconds, ISO 3200 |
ISO (I.S.O.) is the abbreviation for the International Organization of Standardization, a governing body based in
In 35mm film photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers and you have probably seen them on the film boxes… there was ASA 100, 200, 400, 800 etc. The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.
In Digital Photography there is only ISO. ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is more digital noise (fine grain or colored spots) in your shots. 100 ISO is generally accepted as the ‘normal’ and will produce an image with very little noise/grain.
Most people tend to keep their digital cameras in ‘Auto Mode’ where the camera selects the appropriate ISO setting depending upon the conditions you’re shooting in (it will try to keep it as low as possible) but most cameras also give you the opportunity to select your own ISO. My suggestion, start with AUTO when you are very new with the digital camera, but start playing with setting your ISO settings to help master the exposure triangle of shutter speeds, aperture and ISO. It will give you mor efreedom and allow you to be more creative.
When you do override your camera and choose a specific ISO you’ll notice that it impacts the aperture and shutter speed needed for a well exposed shot. For example – if you bumped your ISO up from 100 to 400 you’ll notice that you can shoot at higher shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures in lower light situations.
When choosing the ISO setting I generally ask myself the following four questions:
1. Light – Is the subject well lit?
2. Tripod – Am I using a tripod?
3. Moving Subject – Is my subject moving or stationary?
If there is plenty of light, I want little grain, I’m using a tripod and my subject is stationary I will generally use a pretty low ISO rating. (50 or 100). However if it’s dark, I may want grain, or I don’t have a tripod and/or my subject is moving I might consider increasing the ISO as it will enable me to shoot with a faster shutter speed and still expose the shot well. Of course the trade off of this increase in ISO will be noisier shots.
Situations where you might need to push ISO to higher settings include:
· Indoor Sports Events – where your subject is moving fast yet you may have limited light available.
· Concerts – also low in light and often ‘no-flash’ zones
· Art Galleries, Churches etc- many galleries have rules against using a flash and of course being indoors are not well lit.
· Birthday Parties – blowing out the candles in a dark room can give you a nice moody shot which would be ruined by a bright flash. Increasing the ISO can help capture the scene.
· Shooting night landscapes – maybe you are shooting northern lights or stars.
ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control of your digital camera. Experiment with different settings and how they impact your images. The more you practice, the more you learn, the better you will become.
Below is a chart that I found that may help you with how adjustments of ISO, aperture and shutter speed have an effect on the outcome of your image.
Getting The Correct Exposure For Beginners
Having the correct exposure is about having enough light in a photo. Over-exposed photos are bright, harsh and can look washed out. Whereas under-exposed photos are too dark to pick up on details
Shutter speed, aperture and ISO work together to bring out a nicely exposed photo. The three combined are called the "Exposure Triangle". But how do you go about getting the right exposure while taking manual control over all three aspects of the exposure triangle?
Here are steps I usually take to decide on the right setting for the photo I’m trying to achieve.
Step 1: Adjust the ISO first
When you’re shooting a series of photos in a consistent environment, there’s no need for you to constantly play around with the ISO.
Before you begin shooting, determine the ISO first (remember, the lower the better). A bright environment with plenty of light might just need an ISO of 100 or 200. Whereas an indoor environment would be 400 to 600, and night photography would require 800+.
Step 2: Figure out what you want to capture
Next, you would want to think about your subject. If it’s landscape, you would want to keep as much in focus, but still allow more light and details. In this case, choose an f16. Or if you wanted to create a narrow depth of field like a macro photo, you would have a wider aperture (like f1.8). Then, you would adjust the shutter speed accordingly.
Sometimes with moving objects, you might approach this the other way, thinking about shutter speed first before playing around with the aperture. Take a runner for example. If you wanted to capture them frozen, then you would need a faster shutter speed. Whereas if you wanted to create blurs from their movements, then you’d choose a slower shutter speed.
If changing the aperture and shutter speed isn’t creating the desired effect you want, you might need to go and adjust the ISO to a larger or smaller number. This allows you to play with your shutter speeds and aperture to help you get the desired result.
Now, these aren’t step you must follow every time, but it’s a good start for beginners. Adjusting the settings might be confusing initially, but lots of practice will have you turning those setting dials like a pro in no time.
Happy Shooting,
Kev
Monday, 12 March 2012
Master the "Exposure Triangle"
Photography, or “Foto graffi” literally means writing with light in Greek, and exposure is the combination of three factors that determine what the light writes… hence the Exposure Triangle.
Those three elements are: ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed.
ISO - The ISO rating (which is an international standard) measures the image sensor’s sensitivity to light.
Aperture - The Aperture determines how much light enters the lens and is registered by the image sensor (or film); this is designated by the f-numbers on the lens barrel.
Shutter Speed - The Shutter Speed determines the amount of time the light enters the lens and is registered by the image sensor. Note that the Shutter Speed on your camera is delineated in fraction of a second increment.
The combination of these three elements results in a given subject’s exposure value (EV). What is critical to remember is that any change in any one of these elements will cause a predictable impact on the other and consequently impact the final image (i.e. by changing the Aperture, you change depth of field; by changing ISO rating, you change the amount of light required to obtain an image, and by changing the Shutter Speed, you effect how motion is captured). Such that you will never be able to independently control a given element, because you have to take into account how the other two elements will interact for the final exposure.
Fortunately, the mathematics of photography happen to work in such a way that each element in the Exposure Triangle has a relative “stop of light” value. Such that if you increase the light by one stop by reducing the Shutter Speed, you can regain the original EV by either decreasing the Aperture by the same stop value and/or adjusting the ISO rating accordingly.
Here’s a real world example; I’m at the beach with my family and the sun is going down, and I want to get a shot of my daughters smiling face. I take out my camera, do a quick meter reading with the shutter set 1/60th and get a EV on her face of f/4. I set the aperture to f/4 and take my photo. I look at the image on the display screen, and while I love the way the red and purple light dances on her face, I don’t like the depth of field – I can see too much of the background. I want as shallow a DOF as possible, which means I need to increase my aperture setting. I open the lens wide open to f/1.4. This is a 3-stop difference, which lets in 8x as much light. To compensate, to get back to the same EV that gave me such a pleasing image, I would need to increase the shutter speed by 3-stops – so I crank it up to 1/500th. I quickly take the picture again (that sun is going down)… and viola! I have my photo with the EV that gives me that amazing quality of light AND with the shallow DOF.
Shutter Speed is measured in fractions of a second and it determines how fast the shutter opens and closes, thereby controlling the key element in photography – light, glorious light; specifically the time-frame in which light registers on the image sensor (or on film). The Shutter Speed captures the world in split seconds, but it can also be slowed down to a few seconds (or remain open longer at the photographer’s discretion). This enables all sorts of possibilities in determining what is actually recorded to the image sensor.
Aperture is the opening in the lens that determines the amount of focused light that reaches the image sensor. It’s measured in f-stops. The beauty of the f/stop arithmetic is that regardless of a lens’ focal length, the f/stop measures the same amount of light; such that f/4 on a 50mm lets in the same amount of light as f/4 on a 120mm. The opening’s diameter may differ, but the amount of light is the same because the length of the lens is different.
So what is correct exposure? That’s mainly subjective, but we can agree that it is when the camera effectively reproduces a subject on the image sensor where the most uniform amount of picture information is visible in the highlights, midtones and shadows.
How do you determine the specific exposure you want? All dSLRs have an EV meter in the viewfinder that provides an EV on the subject that you are metering.
An effective way of ensuring a correct exposure is to employ Exposure Bracketing. This is a technique in which you’ll be taking at least 3 exposures – one at the designated exposure value (EV), one 1/3 of an f/stop above, and one at 1/3 of an f/stop below. On some features-laden cameras, you set the ISO, f-stop and shutter to acquire an exposure value (provided by the TTL meter), and press the shutter release. The camera will automatically shoot the upper and lower bracketed exposure. When you review the bracketed exposures, you’ll be able to see subtle, but key differences in the images – most specifically if there is any over- or underexposure. Professionals bracket all the time to make sure they get the best possible negative for later.
What exactly is under- and? It’s when there is excessive loss of image information within the highlights and shadows. There is typically no way of “finding” that lost image information with digital photography in particular (i.e. when the subject emits so much light that the image sensor is overwhelmed, it records that section of the image as zero; and the same thing is true when the subject emits so little light that image sensor believes there is nothing there). No matter how much tweaking you may try with a 3rd party image process, there’s no recorded information to be discovered. Incidentally, this is not always true with film and the photo-chemical process.
So how do you avoid under- or overexposing your pictures, before you master the art and craft of photography? You can use the Automatic Exposure Lock or AE Lock that’s available on most dSLRs. AE-Lock is a feature that, when you have the camera set to one of the automatic modes (i.e. Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority), it enables you to lock the EV and take continuous photos without have to resample the lighting in a given scene.
The wonderful thing about digital photography is that you can continue to experiment at no cost to you as you learn and master the three elements of the Exposure Triangle, going from semi-automatic to full manual.
Those three elements are: ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed.
ISO - The ISO rating (which is an international standard) measures the image sensor’s sensitivity to light.
Aperture - The Aperture determines how much light enters the lens and is registered by the image sensor (or film); this is designated by the f-numbers on the lens barrel.
Shutter Speed - The Shutter Speed determines the amount of time the light enters the lens and is registered by the image sensor. Note that the Shutter Speed on your camera is delineated in fraction of a second increment.
The combination of these three elements results in a given subject’s exposure value (EV). What is critical to remember is that any change in any one of these elements will cause a predictable impact on the other and consequently impact the final image (i.e. by changing the Aperture, you change depth of field; by changing ISO rating, you change the amount of light required to obtain an image, and by changing the Shutter Speed, you effect how motion is captured). Such that you will never be able to independently control a given element, because you have to take into account how the other two elements will interact for the final exposure.
Fortunately, the mathematics of photography happen to work in such a way that each element in the Exposure Triangle has a relative “stop of light” value. Such that if you increase the light by one stop by reducing the Shutter Speed, you can regain the original EV by either decreasing the Aperture by the same stop value and/or adjusting the ISO rating accordingly.
Here’s a real world example; I’m at the beach with my family and the sun is going down, and I want to get a shot of my daughters smiling face. I take out my camera, do a quick meter reading with the shutter set 1/60th and get a EV on her face of f/4. I set the aperture to f/4 and take my photo. I look at the image on the display screen, and while I love the way the red and purple light dances on her face, I don’t like the depth of field – I can see too much of the background. I want as shallow a DOF as possible, which means I need to increase my aperture setting. I open the lens wide open to f/1.4. This is a 3-stop difference, which lets in 8x as much light. To compensate, to get back to the same EV that gave me such a pleasing image, I would need to increase the shutter speed by 3-stops – so I crank it up to 1/500th. I quickly take the picture again (that sun is going down)… and viola! I have my photo with the EV that gives me that amazing quality of light AND with the shallow DOF.
Shutter Speed is measured in fractions of a second and it determines how fast the shutter opens and closes, thereby controlling the key element in photography – light, glorious light; specifically the time-frame in which light registers on the image sensor (or on film). The Shutter Speed captures the world in split seconds, but it can also be slowed down to a few seconds (or remain open longer at the photographer’s discretion). This enables all sorts of possibilities in determining what is actually recorded to the image sensor.
Aperture is the opening in the lens that determines the amount of focused light that reaches the image sensor. It’s measured in f-stops. The beauty of the f/stop arithmetic is that regardless of a lens’ focal length, the f/stop measures the same amount of light; such that f/4 on a 50mm lets in the same amount of light as f/4 on a 120mm. The opening’s diameter may differ, but the amount of light is the same because the length of the lens is different.
So what is correct exposure? That’s mainly subjective, but we can agree that it is when the camera effectively reproduces a subject on the image sensor where the most uniform amount of picture information is visible in the highlights, midtones and shadows.
How do you determine the specific exposure you want? All dSLRs have an EV meter in the viewfinder that provides an EV on the subject that you are metering.
An effective way of ensuring a correct exposure is to employ Exposure Bracketing. This is a technique in which you’ll be taking at least 3 exposures – one at the designated exposure value (EV), one 1/3 of an f/stop above, and one at 1/3 of an f/stop below. On some features-laden cameras, you set the ISO, f-stop and shutter to acquire an exposure value (provided by the TTL meter), and press the shutter release. The camera will automatically shoot the upper and lower bracketed exposure. When you review the bracketed exposures, you’ll be able to see subtle, but key differences in the images – most specifically if there is any over- or underexposure. Professionals bracket all the time to make sure they get the best possible negative for later.
What exactly is under- and? It’s when there is excessive loss of image information within the highlights and shadows. There is typically no way of “finding” that lost image information with digital photography in particular (i.e. when the subject emits so much light that the image sensor is overwhelmed, it records that section of the image as zero; and the same thing is true when the subject emits so little light that image sensor believes there is nothing there). No matter how much tweaking you may try with a 3rd party image process, there’s no recorded information to be discovered. Incidentally, this is not always true with film and the photo-chemical process.
So how do you avoid under- or overexposing your pictures, before you master the art and craft of photography? You can use the Automatic Exposure Lock or AE Lock that’s available on most dSLRs. AE-Lock is a feature that, when you have the camera set to one of the automatic modes (i.e. Shutter-priority, Aperture-priority), it enables you to lock the EV and take continuous photos without have to resample the lighting in a given scene.
The wonderful thing about digital photography is that you can continue to experiment at no cost to you as you learn and master the three elements of the Exposure Triangle, going from semi-automatic to full manual.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
My TOP 20 Reasons to use Google Analytics
Further to my recent post on ANALYTICS!, the following are the TOP 20 reasons you should install Google Analytics
1. Setting Goals – If you don’t set goals, Google Analytics will not really help you grow your business. If your photography business has you shooting events, your goal is probably to find newly weds. If your business is teaching and mentoring, your goal is a registration to your newsletter and booking new students.
Once you have your business goals setup in Analytics, you are able to unleash a huge amount of data about what’s working and what’s not in your marketing efforts.
2. Comparing Date Ranges – In the old Analytics, there was no easy way to compare how your site is doing relative to a different point in time. In the current version, Google analytics allows you to compare two different time periods and chart them. This will allow you to identify growth or decline in your web traffic.
3. Deep Geographic Data – You can also see how your site is performing in a variety of ways by city or country. For example, users on my site in my geographical area spent 39.25% more time on my site last month, while the number of new visitors from the United Kingdom decreased by 24%.
4. Local Conversion Data – If you setup “conversion goals”, you can also see how well your site is converting in different locations. For a photographer, this means you can adjust your offers based on how they are performing geographically, much like photographers that had store fronts have done for years.
You can also buy geographically targeted AdWords for regions that seem to be producing sales for you more than others.
5. Bouncing visitors – This is a fancy way of saying “where do users bail out of your website?” By knowing this information, you can attempt to fix the parts that seem to be scaring users away.
6. Navigation Summary – This report shows how users maneuver through your site. For example, you can see where users go from the first page they land on, or how most of them get to your contact page. If people aren’t following your desired navigation, it means you need to re-arrange some things on your website to force users click the right spots.
7. Complete AdWords Integration – If you advertise through AdWords, Analytics will provide you data on each campaign, group, and keyword. More specifically, you can look at each of these areas and see the number of displays, clicks, the cost, conversion, and if it results in a transaction or another defined goal. You will then be able to calculate your ROI.
8. Customize Your Dashboard – The old “Executive Summary” has been replaced with a totally customizable Dashboard where any report can be added and arranged via drag and drop functionality. For example, if you want to see how a particular goal is converting each time you login, you can move this report to the Dashboard for quick access by clicking the “Add to Dashboard” link.
9. Email Reports – If you focused on marketing, chances are you prefer to receive reports in email rather than login and track things down in your analytics program. One of the key features of Analytics is the ability to setup reports, and schedule when and to whom they will automatically be sent.
10. Keyword Source – Knowing how customers find you are one of the most important questions in sales and marketing. Google Analytics tells you what search keywords people are using to find your site. If certain keywords are proving hot, you might want to consider catering keyword buys, content, and offers to them. This feature can also alert you to news and trends; for example, the #2 keyword phrase searched on my site last month was “500px vs smugmug”.
11. Referring Sites – This is a feature of any basic analytics program, but with Google Analytics you can not only see traffic, but goal conversion on the sites sending you traffic. Thus, you can get a read not only on the number of visitors a link partner is sending, but the quality of the traffic.
12. Browser Capabilities – Does your site not support Safari? Do your photos get skewed in the latest version of Firefox? Better make sure you’re not alienating a bunch of your users. Analytic’s Browser Capabilities feature let’s you see what browsers people use to view your site, and again, let’s you drill down to see how well users of different browsers convert against your goals. If those 0.57% of remaining Netscape users are converting like teenager girls at a Justin Bieber concert, better make sure your site supports them!
13. Connection Speeds Data – Connection speed data helps you determine how to prioritize your site’s design. If you still have a fair amount of people on dialup in your area, you may want to make your site a little less load heavy than if your site is all broadband users. For photographers, that means compressing the size of your images to allow for faster upload times.
14. Exclude Internal Traffic – Chances are you spend more time on your site than anyone else, which can skew your data if it’s not excluded. To make sure it’s not counted, Google lets you filter out traffic from IP addresses that you specify.
15. Visitor Loyalty – How often to your visitors come back? Reducing the percentage of people that only visit once should be one of your constant priorities, and Analytics let’s you track this piece of information over a specified date range.
The more a person comes to look at your images and services, chances are you have a better chance on converting them to a buying client.
16. Visitor Type Contribution – This dynamic pie chart tells you the contribution your returning visitors are making versus new ones. My testing showed that my return visitors load more pages and spend more time on my site and they bounce less than new visitors.
17. Search Engine Traffic – Knowing which search engines are sending the most traffic and how well its converting can help you optimize your spend and SEO efforts or purchase keywords on specific search engines. While Google will likely provide you the most traffic, if Yahoo or BING converts better, you might want to see how you can get more visitors from them.
18. Top Content – For each page on your site, Google Analytics will tell you how many times it has been viewed how much time the average visitor stays there, and how many people leave your site after visiting. If you have a popular page that everyone leaves after viewing, you should think about adding something attention grabbing on it.
19. Top Exit Pages – Knowing your trouble spots tells you where you need to improve, and Analytics lets you see your top exit points over a specified date range.
20. Export to PDF – For a nice clean file with Analytics data, you are now able to export reports into Adobe PDF format.
There are my top20 reasons to ad Google analytics to your website and help you grow your business. If you have any more to add, please feel free to comment below and add to this list.
1. Setting Goals – If you don’t set goals, Google Analytics will not really help you grow your business. If your photography business has you shooting events, your goal is probably to find newly weds. If your business is teaching and mentoring, your goal is a registration to your newsletter and booking new students.
Once you have your business goals setup in Analytics, you are able to unleash a huge amount of data about what’s working and what’s not in your marketing efforts.
2. Comparing Date Ranges – In the old Analytics, there was no easy way to compare how your site is doing relative to a different point in time. In the current version, Google analytics allows you to compare two different time periods and chart them. This will allow you to identify growth or decline in your web traffic.
3. Deep Geographic Data – You can also see how your site is performing in a variety of ways by city or country. For example, users on my site in my geographical area spent 39.25% more time on my site last month, while the number of new visitors from the United Kingdom decreased by 24%.
4. Local Conversion Data – If you setup “conversion goals”, you can also see how well your site is converting in different locations. For a photographer, this means you can adjust your offers based on how they are performing geographically, much like photographers that had store fronts have done for years.
You can also buy geographically targeted AdWords for regions that seem to be producing sales for you more than others.
5. Bouncing visitors – This is a fancy way of saying “where do users bail out of your website?” By knowing this information, you can attempt to fix the parts that seem to be scaring users away.
6. Navigation Summary – This report shows how users maneuver through your site. For example, you can see where users go from the first page they land on, or how most of them get to your contact page. If people aren’t following your desired navigation, it means you need to re-arrange some things on your website to force users click the right spots.
7. Complete AdWords Integration – If you advertise through AdWords, Analytics will provide you data on each campaign, group, and keyword. More specifically, you can look at each of these areas and see the number of displays, clicks, the cost, conversion, and if it results in a transaction or another defined goal. You will then be able to calculate your ROI.
8. Customize Your Dashboard – The old “Executive Summary” has been replaced with a totally customizable Dashboard where any report can be added and arranged via drag and drop functionality. For example, if you want to see how a particular goal is converting each time you login, you can move this report to the Dashboard for quick access by clicking the “Add to Dashboard” link.
9. Email Reports – If you focused on marketing, chances are you prefer to receive reports in email rather than login and track things down in your analytics program. One of the key features of Analytics is the ability to setup reports, and schedule when and to whom they will automatically be sent.
10. Keyword Source – Knowing how customers find you are one of the most important questions in sales and marketing. Google Analytics tells you what search keywords people are using to find your site. If certain keywords are proving hot, you might want to consider catering keyword buys, content, and offers to them. This feature can also alert you to news and trends; for example, the #2 keyword phrase searched on my site last month was “500px vs smugmug”.
11. Referring Sites – This is a feature of any basic analytics program, but with Google Analytics you can not only see traffic, but goal conversion on the sites sending you traffic. Thus, you can get a read not only on the number of visitors a link partner is sending, but the quality of the traffic.
12. Browser Capabilities – Does your site not support Safari? Do your photos get skewed in the latest version of Firefox? Better make sure you’re not alienating a bunch of your users. Analytic’s Browser Capabilities feature let’s you see what browsers people use to view your site, and again, let’s you drill down to see how well users of different browsers convert against your goals. If those 0.57% of remaining Netscape users are converting like teenager girls at a Justin Bieber concert, better make sure your site supports them!
13. Connection Speeds Data – Connection speed data helps you determine how to prioritize your site’s design. If you still have a fair amount of people on dialup in your area, you may want to make your site a little less load heavy than if your site is all broadband users. For photographers, that means compressing the size of your images to allow for faster upload times.
14. Exclude Internal Traffic – Chances are you spend more time on your site than anyone else, which can skew your data if it’s not excluded. To make sure it’s not counted, Google lets you filter out traffic from IP addresses that you specify.
15. Visitor Loyalty – How often to your visitors come back? Reducing the percentage of people that only visit once should be one of your constant priorities, and Analytics let’s you track this piece of information over a specified date range.
The more a person comes to look at your images and services, chances are you have a better chance on converting them to a buying client.
16. Visitor Type Contribution – This dynamic pie chart tells you the contribution your returning visitors are making versus new ones. My testing showed that my return visitors load more pages and spend more time on my site and they bounce less than new visitors.
17. Search Engine Traffic – Knowing which search engines are sending the most traffic and how well its converting can help you optimize your spend and SEO efforts or purchase keywords on specific search engines. While Google will likely provide you the most traffic, if Yahoo or BING converts better, you might want to see how you can get more visitors from them.
18. Top Content – For each page on your site, Google Analytics will tell you how many times it has been viewed how much time the average visitor stays there, and how many people leave your site after visiting. If you have a popular page that everyone leaves after viewing, you should think about adding something attention grabbing on it.
19. Top Exit Pages – Knowing your trouble spots tells you where you need to improve, and Analytics lets you see your top exit points over a specified date range.
20. Export to PDF – For a nice clean file with Analytics data, you are now able to export reports into Adobe PDF format.
There are my top20 reasons to ad Google analytics to your website and help you grow your business. If you have any more to add, please feel free to comment below and add to this list.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Have you ever thought about joining a photography club?
So you are a photographer, maybe it’s a passion and you want to learn more, or maybe you feel like you want to take the next step and don’t know how. What are your best options?
Photography clubs are a great way to learn more about photography and allow you to meet a group of like minded people that share your passion. Generally photography groups are people that come together to share their interest in photography. Whether these people are professional or amateur photographers they meet to teach, mentor and inform local area photographers.
For those are members of a club, you are already enjoying the benefits, for those who are not yet aware of the benefits that photography clubs can bring; the following three points are some insight into the advantages of joining a photography club.
1. Acquire additional knowledge in photography
One of the best things about joining a photography club is that people who have a passion for photography have the opportunity to gather in a group to learn new things concerning photography. The advantages of doing this in a group setting are (a) economies of scale. Clubs bring in guest speakers for their meetings and you pay a small fraction of the cost to listen to an expert speak. (b) you will be in a group and be able to hear a variety of opinions and suggestions from other members on the speakers subject. This will allow you to formulate a better informed opinion.
2. New friendships
Like any club or organization, photography clubs also provide you the opportunity to forge new friends that share your passion in your local area. Right now you may have forged virtual friendships through photo sharing sites, but a club will allow you to meet photographers that you can actually go out with and talk to over coffee.
3. Financially advantageous
If you into photography and you would like to know more about photography, you just need to join one of clubs. The downside is that there is an expense, albeit minor. I have heard of clubs that charge as much as $100 for a year, but most are around the $50 mark. Most clubs that I know are non-profit and are not out to extract money out of your pocket book.
Photography clubs were created for the benefit of every photographer. They have their own purposes and, they are, to provide career guides to people who may want to turn pro, but also to provide a comfortable learning environment for those that just want to take better family photos.
What events can you expect your new photography club to do?
The common event will be scheduled meetings. During these meetings club executives will bring in identified experts to discuss their area of expertise. You will be able to see examples of photos and ask the expert questions during and after the meeting.
Most photography clubs will also have what’s called “outings” or “photowalks”. A series of outings will be set up for all members to take advantage of. Most clubs will strive to spread out these events to cover as many genres of photography as possible.
Clubs will also give you the opportunity to enter into competitions. Competitions can be inner club competitions and multi club, or national competitions. This gives you the opportunity to have your images judged be template criteria to see how you measure up with other photographers.
Last, but definitely not least, clubs will run hands on workshops where you will be able to learn a variety of things in a classroom environment.
To find a photo club in your area just search for Photographic clubs in “insert your city or area”.
If you want to see an example of a photo club, go to www.gripskw.ca This is a not for profit photographic club that I run near to where I live. We have over 170 members and meet every couple of weeks from September to May each year.
Photography clubs are a great way to learn more about photography and allow you to meet a group of like minded people that share your passion. Generally photography groups are people that come together to share their interest in photography. Whether these people are professional or amateur photographers they meet to teach, mentor and inform local area photographers.
For those are members of a club, you are already enjoying the benefits, for those who are not yet aware of the benefits that photography clubs can bring; the following three points are some insight into the advantages of joining a photography club.
1. Acquire additional knowledge in photography
One of the best things about joining a photography club is that people who have a passion for photography have the opportunity to gather in a group to learn new things concerning photography. The advantages of doing this in a group setting are (a) economies of scale. Clubs bring in guest speakers for their meetings and you pay a small fraction of the cost to listen to an expert speak. (b) you will be in a group and be able to hear a variety of opinions and suggestions from other members on the speakers subject. This will allow you to formulate a better informed opinion.
2. New friendships
Like any club or organization, photography clubs also provide you the opportunity to forge new friends that share your passion in your local area. Right now you may have forged virtual friendships through photo sharing sites, but a club will allow you to meet photographers that you can actually go out with and talk to over coffee.
3. Financially advantageous
If you into photography and you would like to know more about photography, you just need to join one of clubs. The downside is that there is an expense, albeit minor. I have heard of clubs that charge as much as $100 for a year, but most are around the $50 mark. Most clubs that I know are non-profit and are not out to extract money out of your pocket book.
Photography clubs were created for the benefit of every photographer. They have their own purposes and, they are, to provide career guides to people who may want to turn pro, but also to provide a comfortable learning environment for those that just want to take better family photos.
What events can you expect your new photography club to do?
The common event will be scheduled meetings. During these meetings club executives will bring in identified experts to discuss their area of expertise. You will be able to see examples of photos and ask the expert questions during and after the meeting.
Most photography clubs will also have what’s called “outings” or “photowalks”. A series of outings will be set up for all members to take advantage of. Most clubs will strive to spread out these events to cover as many genres of photography as possible.
Clubs will also give you the opportunity to enter into competitions. Competitions can be inner club competitions and multi club, or national competitions. This gives you the opportunity to have your images judged be template criteria to see how you measure up with other photographers.
Last, but definitely not least, clubs will run hands on workshops where you will be able to learn a variety of things in a classroom environment.
To find a photo club in your area just search for Photographic clubs in “insert your city or area”.
If you want to see an example of a photo club, go to www.gripskw.ca This is a not for profit photographic club that I run near to where I live. We have over 170 members and meet every couple of weeks from September to May each year.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
A Tip For Photographers... How to Build A Brand.
So I am just going to throw it out there and duck and cover in case I offend anyone…
Many of us photographers start their business at the same time they’re starting to learn to be an artist. We expect to create beautiful images people will want to buy at the same time we are launching a new small business. Yet, on occasions we often lack the skills necessary to do either, and end up failing miserably.
If this is you I do not mean to offend, I am actually trying to help. Ideally you would have gone to school and got a degree in marketing or business, or received the necessary work experience to run a small business. Then learned how to take fantastic photos that people will consider art.
But hey, if life was perfect we would all be hailed as a modern day Ansel Adams and be living the dream… :-)
So let’s work on getting you one step closer to that dream and help you build a better brand… and a more successful photography business.
“Branding” is a word that often gets thrown around quite a bit in the photographic community; but what does it really mean?
Generally when people think of branding, they think of a great logo, a memorable website, or business card. While these are all parts of a successful brand strategy, they aren’t the whole picture.
What you should be thinking about when you consider “branding” your business is actually building a brand around “YOU”, the talent and your own photographic style… or should I say “your own Art”.
In other businesses we would be describing the way a person feels about a product or service. But in a photography business this feeling is about you and your business. You will influence their purchasing decisions. You will determine whether or not they trust you and, you will ultimately determine whether or not they hire you.
For the successful photographers, they are the brand. Everything they do, from how they respond to inquiries, to how they act at a photo shoot, to how they have refined their art to differentiate themselves communicates the character of their brand.
So how can you get the most out of your brand and your art?
Have Confidence
Its gut check time… let’s be honest with ourselves. At one point in all of our photographic journeys, we were insecure about our abilities; we questioned whether or not you were as good as more recognizable names.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but if you cannot get over this hurdle you will never be successful. If you do not believe in your own abilities, how are you ever going to convince a client of your talent?
So get over it, start to build a brand around your name and images and move forward without looking back.
Be Social
What you say and write has a direct effect on your clients’ opinion of you, which has a direct effect on your business and will decide what your bottom line looks like. This is an important thing to remember in the age of social media. Before you send out a tweet or a blog post, consider if it will build your brand or stick a fork in it. Your voice should be consistent across your client communications – blog posts, emails, social media and printed materials. Is your brand friendly? Formal? Flexible? How do you want people to feel about your business? Your voice should match who you are in person when interacting with clients.
Think of it this way… lets take a moment to look at a few of the blogs you follow regularly. Without looking at the header, can you tell which one is which? If they have a unique voice, a certain tone, one that’s personal to them, you should be able to identify the author.
Be Consistent
Building a brand means being visually consistent. You should have the same logo on your website, your printed materials, and your business cards. It takes people several impressions before they remember something and seeing the same logo repeatedly will build recognition and create top of mind recall.
This is why Nike is able to use their swoosh graphic without the name – after years of seeing the logo, you don’t need to see the name anymore to know that it’s Nike. If a client is looking at several photographers, they should be able to tell which material is yours at a glance. Every impression the client has from you should reinforce your brand. When they pick up your business card and go to your website, it should be immediately obvious that those two things belong to the same person. Make sure everything that you put out there reflects your brand.
Building your brand also means being consistent in the way you deal with clients – how they book you, change an order, or set up meetings. If I refer you to a friend, I should be able to tell them what kind of experience to expect. You want clients to feel that when they come to you, from start to finish, they know who they’re dealing with. They know what sort of service and quality they can expect from you.
Differentiate
The most important part of your branding is you and your product: yep, that’s right, your photographic skills and the “Art” you produce.
Ideally, prospective clients should know it’s your “Art” before they ever see the logo. Define your own style of shooting, and identify what makes you different from your competition.
I would encourage photographers to find their niche in any industry. If a client is looking for a wedding photographer, would they be more likely to hire someone who only shoots weddings and is really an expert in that style of photography or someone who shoots a bit of everything?
This isn’t to say you can’t shoot more than one subject. There are people who do so very successfully. Hey, look at me… a landscape and nature photographer at heart that also likes to shoot urban landscapes.
I learned that in order to be successful with my art I had to market my different art as completely separate businesses.
So if you want to shoot weddings and fine art landscapes. Just remember that the audiences you’re trying to reach for each of these are very different, and the branding and marketing for each has to be approached separately.
Toot Your Own Horn… and toot it loudly.
No one is going to do this for you… so do it for yourself.
Become a publicity animal! Unless you’ve got potential clients standing at your front door right now, then you have to do what it takes to get them there. In past posts I have addressed many ways to do this. I encourage you to go back and read these posts. For this post I want to mention press releases… the purpose of a press release is not only to promote your “Brand”, its also to reinforce all your efforts in a neatly structured letter to people in your local and extended community.
Whenever you have a significant advancement in your company, send out a release. When you do send out a press release, try to include a photo of you involved with somebody in the community that’s relevant to the topic. Plus, don’t forget to send it to companies and organizations outside the local paper. For example, Chamber of Commerce, local business leaders, corporate clients etc.
Deliver, or should I say “Over Deliver”
Clients won’t book you, or refer you to their friends, if you don’t deliver. Your brand is a promise to the client. Trust comes from meeting, and exceeding, the expectations you’ve set up for your client.
This is the single most important step in your branding, because the best marketing in the world won’t get you the job if the work isn’t there.
I hope this post helped you think of one or two more things to help build your photography business.
Kev
Many of us photographers start their business at the same time they’re starting to learn to be an artist. We expect to create beautiful images people will want to buy at the same time we are launching a new small business. Yet, on occasions we often lack the skills necessary to do either, and end up failing miserably.
If this is you I do not mean to offend, I am actually trying to help. Ideally you would have gone to school and got a degree in marketing or business, or received the necessary work experience to run a small business. Then learned how to take fantastic photos that people will consider art.
But hey, if life was perfect we would all be hailed as a modern day Ansel Adams and be living the dream… :-)
So let’s work on getting you one step closer to that dream and help you build a better brand… and a more successful photography business.
“Branding” is a word that often gets thrown around quite a bit in the photographic community; but what does it really mean?
Generally when people think of branding, they think of a great logo, a memorable website, or business card. While these are all parts of a successful brand strategy, they aren’t the whole picture.
What you should be thinking about when you consider “branding” your business is actually building a brand around “YOU”, the talent and your own photographic style… or should I say “your own Art”.
In other businesses we would be describing the way a person feels about a product or service. But in a photography business this feeling is about you and your business. You will influence their purchasing decisions. You will determine whether or not they trust you and, you will ultimately determine whether or not they hire you.
For the successful photographers, they are the brand. Everything they do, from how they respond to inquiries, to how they act at a photo shoot, to how they have refined their art to differentiate themselves communicates the character of their brand.
So how can you get the most out of your brand and your art?
Have Confidence
Its gut check time… let’s be honest with ourselves. At one point in all of our photographic journeys, we were insecure about our abilities; we questioned whether or not you were as good as more recognizable names.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but if you cannot get over this hurdle you will never be successful. If you do not believe in your own abilities, how are you ever going to convince a client of your talent?
So get over it, start to build a brand around your name and images and move forward without looking back.
Be Social
What you say and write has a direct effect on your clients’ opinion of you, which has a direct effect on your business and will decide what your bottom line looks like. This is an important thing to remember in the age of social media. Before you send out a tweet or a blog post, consider if it will build your brand or stick a fork in it. Your voice should be consistent across your client communications – blog posts, emails, social media and printed materials. Is your brand friendly? Formal? Flexible? How do you want people to feel about your business? Your voice should match who you are in person when interacting with clients.
Think of it this way… lets take a moment to look at a few of the blogs you follow regularly. Without looking at the header, can you tell which one is which? If they have a unique voice, a certain tone, one that’s personal to them, you should be able to identify the author.
Be Consistent
Building a brand means being visually consistent. You should have the same logo on your website, your printed materials, and your business cards. It takes people several impressions before they remember something and seeing the same logo repeatedly will build recognition and create top of mind recall.
This is why Nike is able to use their swoosh graphic without the name – after years of seeing the logo, you don’t need to see the name anymore to know that it’s Nike. If a client is looking at several photographers, they should be able to tell which material is yours at a glance. Every impression the client has from you should reinforce your brand. When they pick up your business card and go to your website, it should be immediately obvious that those two things belong to the same person. Make sure everything that you put out there reflects your brand.
Building your brand also means being consistent in the way you deal with clients – how they book you, change an order, or set up meetings. If I refer you to a friend, I should be able to tell them what kind of experience to expect. You want clients to feel that when they come to you, from start to finish, they know who they’re dealing with. They know what sort of service and quality they can expect from you.
Differentiate
The most important part of your branding is you and your product: yep, that’s right, your photographic skills and the “Art” you produce.
Ideally, prospective clients should know it’s your “Art” before they ever see the logo. Define your own style of shooting, and identify what makes you different from your competition.
I would encourage photographers to find their niche in any industry. If a client is looking for a wedding photographer, would they be more likely to hire someone who only shoots weddings and is really an expert in that style of photography or someone who shoots a bit of everything?
This isn’t to say you can’t shoot more than one subject. There are people who do so very successfully. Hey, look at me… a landscape and nature photographer at heart that also likes to shoot urban landscapes.
I learned that in order to be successful with my art I had to market my different art as completely separate businesses.
So if you want to shoot weddings and fine art landscapes. Just remember that the audiences you’re trying to reach for each of these are very different, and the branding and marketing for each has to be approached separately.
Toot Your Own Horn… and toot it loudly.
No one is going to do this for you… so do it for yourself.
Become a publicity animal! Unless you’ve got potential clients standing at your front door right now, then you have to do what it takes to get them there. In past posts I have addressed many ways to do this. I encourage you to go back and read these posts. For this post I want to mention press releases… the purpose of a press release is not only to promote your “Brand”, its also to reinforce all your efforts in a neatly structured letter to people in your local and extended community.
Whenever you have a significant advancement in your company, send out a release. When you do send out a press release, try to include a photo of you involved with somebody in the community that’s relevant to the topic. Plus, don’t forget to send it to companies and organizations outside the local paper. For example, Chamber of Commerce, local business leaders, corporate clients etc.
Deliver, or should I say “Over Deliver”
Clients won’t book you, or refer you to their friends, if you don’t deliver. Your brand is a promise to the client. Trust comes from meeting, and exceeding, the expectations you’ve set up for your client.
This is the single most important step in your branding, because the best marketing in the world won’t get you the job if the work isn’t there.
I hope this post helped you think of one or two more things to help build your photography business.
Kev
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Plan, Practice, Repeat... and ... "VOILA", a keeper
One of my favorite quotes about photography is from Ansel Adams. It reads, “Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.”
To be honest, sometimes there is a luck factor. We decide to go somewhere and shoot a scene that we have wanted to get to… we show up, and it’s like the script was written. The clouds were perfect, the sun was what we wanted, and the scene lay out as we had hoped.
But how many times does this really happen? For people that have been shooting for less than a few years, or are just weekend warriors, this is probably not something you think about too much. You are happy to get out with friends and to be taking photographs of a subject that you like to photograph.
As you become more seasoned, maybe you have taken 20,000, 30,000 or 40,000 photos, you started to sell a few images, and are now investing in better gear; your desire to take better shots increases and you want to travel to some of these inspiring locations you read about. But you seemed to hit a wall; you’re not getting any better, it’s not for lack of trying, but for lack of something… But what is that “something”?
Well, it’s a combination of a little research, learning some basic tips and following the steps I discuss below…
Long Term
The best possible weather is preferred when shooting a location, that’s a no brainer. But what is that ideal weather? Only you can answer that. Rain is less than desirable time to shoot unless you want that desired effect. Sunny blue skies can be a plus, but then again, too high in the sky and your photos will not be ideal. Every location and every subject demands only a few types of atmosphere to walk away with a great photo.
First, decide where you want to go and what you want to photograph there. Find out what is the best time of the year at that location to photograph your subject of interest. Let’s look at the west coast of Canada. Some prefer to shoot mountains in all their snowy, sun kissed glory. Others prefer fall when the trees are still visible and the upslope fog really enhances mood. Neither are bad, its just personal preference.
For me, it’s later in August when I want to be there. This time of year is affectionately referred to as “Fogust”.
Short Term
Many of us don’t photograph landscapes and wildlife for a living; we visit places hoping to capture stunning images during our vacation travel. We want to book ahead of time, find deals on airline tickets, hotels and rental cars. That means you are going to have to gamble a bit with the weather and hope for the best. The tradeoff here is to wait enough to get a reading on the extended forecast while trying to keep things within budget. Ideally if it’s possible, wait till a week before and plan. If only we could all plan last minute…
Last year we went to my uncle’s cottage in the spring. While the weather was perfect as predicted. What we didn’t think about was mosquitoes and black flies. So what did we do, we turned our sour grapes about the local blood suckers into a beautiful glass of wine.
On the Day
So you have done all your phenomenal research and you end up at your dream spot to click away and fill up that 32GB SD card. Now what? Understand your subject and correlate the subject with the weather that has been bestowed upon you. If all you have is an overcast day, chase waterfalls. You can shoot the entire day with the cloud cover posing as a soft box. With some creativity, a lot more options open up. If you are set to have bright blue skies, shoot around dusk and dawn and scout locations during mid-day.
If your all set up at sunset on the lake ready to shoot a cloudy sunset and the clouds and storm clouds move in, take cover and watch for the light show.
The Final Moment
You have found your spot and setup your gear and tripod ready to hit that shutter. It might seem like a trivial thing but the exact moment you hit the shutter might make or break your shot.
When shooting sunsets on the beach, try waiting and time the waves. A receding wave going back towards the ocean looks more pleasing on the shot. Wait for the wave to come in all the way, and hit that shutter when the wave hits the farthest point inland, so that your shutter is open when the wave starts to recede.
While shooting wildflowers, wait for the wind to subside. It will help you from having those flowers blurred out.
Shooting an animal? They are unpredictable so take as many shots as you can. You may not get another chance. But look for the animal to face you. Have the sun behind you, wait for the glint in their eye and focus on them. The little details make all the difference in the world.
My point is… It sometimes boils down to a little practice, some planning, lots of shooting, and repeat… just get out there and enjoy yourself. So next time, try a little planning but be open to the possibilities
To be honest, sometimes there is a luck factor. We decide to go somewhere and shoot a scene that we have wanted to get to… we show up, and it’s like the script was written. The clouds were perfect, the sun was what we wanted, and the scene lay out as we had hoped.
But how many times does this really happen? For people that have been shooting for less than a few years, or are just weekend warriors, this is probably not something you think about too much. You are happy to get out with friends and to be taking photographs of a subject that you like to photograph.
As you become more seasoned, maybe you have taken 20,000, 30,000 or 40,000 photos, you started to sell a few images, and are now investing in better gear; your desire to take better shots increases and you want to travel to some of these inspiring locations you read about. But you seemed to hit a wall; you’re not getting any better, it’s not for lack of trying, but for lack of something… But what is that “something”?
Well, it’s a combination of a little research, learning some basic tips and following the steps I discuss below…
Long Term
The best possible weather is preferred when shooting a location, that’s a no brainer. But what is that ideal weather? Only you can answer that. Rain is less than desirable time to shoot unless you want that desired effect. Sunny blue skies can be a plus, but then again, too high in the sky and your photos will not be ideal. Every location and every subject demands only a few types of atmosphere to walk away with a great photo.
First, decide where you want to go and what you want to photograph there. Find out what is the best time of the year at that location to photograph your subject of interest. Let’s look at the west coast of Canada. Some prefer to shoot mountains in all their snowy, sun kissed glory. Others prefer fall when the trees are still visible and the upslope fog really enhances mood. Neither are bad, its just personal preference.
For me, it’s later in August when I want to be there. This time of year is affectionately referred to as “Fogust”.
Short Term
Many of us don’t photograph landscapes and wildlife for a living; we visit places hoping to capture stunning images during our vacation travel. We want to book ahead of time, find deals on airline tickets, hotels and rental cars. That means you are going to have to gamble a bit with the weather and hope for the best. The tradeoff here is to wait enough to get a reading on the extended forecast while trying to keep things within budget. Ideally if it’s possible, wait till a week before and plan. If only we could all plan last minute…
Last year we went to my uncle’s cottage in the spring. While the weather was perfect as predicted. What we didn’t think about was mosquitoes and black flies. So what did we do, we turned our sour grapes about the local blood suckers into a beautiful glass of wine.
On the Day
So you have done all your phenomenal research and you end up at your dream spot to click away and fill up that 32GB SD card. Now what? Understand your subject and correlate the subject with the weather that has been bestowed upon you. If all you have is an overcast day, chase waterfalls. You can shoot the entire day with the cloud cover posing as a soft box. With some creativity, a lot more options open up. If you are set to have bright blue skies, shoot around dusk and dawn and scout locations during mid-day.
If your all set up at sunset on the lake ready to shoot a cloudy sunset and the clouds and storm clouds move in, take cover and watch for the light show.
The Final Moment
You have found your spot and setup your gear and tripod ready to hit that shutter. It might seem like a trivial thing but the exact moment you hit the shutter might make or break your shot.
When shooting sunsets on the beach, try waiting and time the waves. A receding wave going back towards the ocean looks more pleasing on the shot. Wait for the wave to come in all the way, and hit that shutter when the wave hits the farthest point inland, so that your shutter is open when the wave starts to recede.
While shooting wildflowers, wait for the wind to subside. It will help you from having those flowers blurred out.
Shooting an animal? They are unpredictable so take as many shots as you can. You may not get another chance. But look for the animal to face you. Have the sun behind you, wait for the glint in their eye and focus on them. The little details make all the difference in the world.
My point is… It sometimes boils down to a little practice, some planning, lots of shooting, and repeat… just get out there and enjoy yourself. So next time, try a little planning but be open to the possibilities
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Bag of rice ... check! Alarm clock set... check! GPS working... check!
As Photographers we tend to be a gadget-oriented group. We buy the latest and greatest advertised gadget, accessory, lens or camera with hopes that it will better our craft. With my head hung in shame I admit that I too have some useless gadgets filling a few drawers and taking up room in my camera bags. By the time I give them away I will probably only have used them once. But I bought them, and, well, I learned the hard way on more than one occasion that it’s not always the gadget that makes the difference in the quality of photo I get. Its the six inches behind the camera and how prepared I was before I got to a location.
As a nature photographer I have learned that the most important pieces of gear to have in your repertoire are not the latest and greatest camera items. The most important things are the items that you should have to protect you and your gear from harm. It’s the practical gear, the gear you learn you need through your own experience and mishaps that makes the difference. Each of these items at one time or another have been the sole reason I had a successful nature photo shoot. The best part, almost every item I listed below is inexpensive and can be bought at any hardware or outdoor store.
A trusted alarm clock(s)
My absolute favorite time to shoot is just at the end of the blue hour. The sun starts to turn blues to purple and the hint of yellow and orange graces the horizon. The next 30 minutes are pure heaven for me. Nothing upsets me more than when a planned pre-dawn shoot is missed because I slept in.
I have two alarm clocks, one on the dresser and one on my blackberry. Both set so I have to physically get out of the bed to turn them off.
Tools, glue and bag of rice
Ever been out and dropped your camera or snapped a piece on your tripod and the whole shoot was a bust? If your answer is no, my response is; “It’s only a matter of time”.
I carry a screwdriver set with hex heads to fit all my tripod screws and I always have crazy glue in a separate bag in case I need to reattach anything.
The bag of rice… well it’s too heavy to carry, but you may want to have one handy back at the house. If you get water in your gear, putting it in a bag of rice is your best chance to suck out any moisture in your camera or in your lens.
DO NOT USE a heat lamp or lamps to try and dry out a camera… use rice, say a lil prayer to the camera gods and have the insurance company’s number handy just in case it doesn’t work.
Insurance Riders
After the last paragraph I figured I would address now. I would suggest you contact your insurance company and discuss having an insurance rider on your camera gear. It is peace of mind that will eliminate a huge headache if anything happens to your gear.
Lay everything you own out on a table, take a photo of all your gear and then list out everything you own. Submit both to the insurance company for their files. This will eliminate any questions they may have that will delay the claim and get you back shooting as fast as possible.
Extra batteries and memory
Imagine being miles from your car, hours from a power source, the elusive snowy owl appears in the field in front of you and you are set to take a series of photos…. Only you can’t… the cold weather has zapped your battery dead or you have no more memory left.
The moral of the story; bring extra batteries and memory cards. I never leave home without 4 memory cards and three fully charged batteries.
A little hint, in cold temperatures keep the batteries inside your coat and keep them warm.
Waterproof boots and hip waders
Some of my best images are taken near or from the water. Sometimes the difference between a good photo and a great photo is perspective. You walk up the west side of a river, the sun is coming up and you wish you were on the east side to capture the golden hour with the sun to your back. The unprepared photographer will shoot the undesirable image from the west bank, while you will have the sun at your back capturing the image the people on the other side wished they were capturing.
Their flying birds of prey will be black silhouettes, while yours will have full colour with a glint of sun in their eye.
A head lamp or flashlight
I hike in the dark in order to be at a location before the blue hour, or leave a location after dusk. A headlamp and and/or flashlight in my camera bag helps me find my way back to my car. There is nothing worse than being caught out in a forest or field without a light source. The light source also is a good way to use as fill light, or for light painting objects like rocks in a water scene with a pre dawn sky.
An assortment of plastic bags and towels
You have invested a lot of money in your gear, so protect it. And a few 5 cent bags will do the trick. They will roll up in your camera bag and can be thrown over your camera equipment fast and efficiently.
Bug spray or a bug net.
Nature is full of bugs that want to eat you for breakfast or dinner… or frankly just be a pest. But why let this stop you from getting that perfect photo. Some of the best foilage and animal photo opportunities are during the height of black fly or mosquito season.
Word to the wise, keep the bug spray away from the camera gear.
A compass and handheld GPS
I am directionally challenged. For this reason I carry a compass when I am out on a location where I have never been before. It helps me navigate fast and allows me to see, at a glance, which way the sun will raise. The GPS is also an awesome tool to mark locations that you see for future locations as well as a handy navigation tool for trekking in and out of a location.
Along the same lines as this is the "Photographers Ephemeris". An awesome desktop and mobile tool all nature photographers should have. Read my review of this product by clicking reading about PHOTOGRAPHERS EPHEMERIS. After you read that click the back button to get back to this article.
Cell Phone
Now that you all know I am directionally challenged and getting lost is not that far out of the question… a cell phone is a must for me. You never know when you need to call the park ranger to come find you, or call your significant other to tell her you are going to be late because Winnie the Pooh’s older brother has you up a tree and is licking his chops.
Outdoor clothing
Rain and windy weather often produce the best photo opportunities. Being prepared with clothing that keeps you dry in the field is a must. These items are the most expensive items on my list, but it doesn't have to be. You can either ask for them as christmas and birthday prezzies, or wait and invest in over time.
Or, for those that embrace comfort over style, swallow your pride and head out to Value Village. A good second hand store will have quality all weather gear at a fraction of the price. At the very least, buy a lightweight, waterproof shell that you can pack in your camera bag.
My usual attire is a weatherproof jacket (second hand store purchased), a ball cap (my lucky ball cap i was wearing when i got a hole in one), layers on top (t-shirt, sweater) and a pair of Columbia pants that turn from full legged pants to shorts in just a few seconds… I also keep a spare jacket, shirt, pants and shoes in my car.
Be a boyscout, be prepared... and happy shooting!
Kev
Download PHOTOGRAPHERS EPHEMERIS
As a nature photographer I have learned that the most important pieces of gear to have in your repertoire are not the latest and greatest camera items. The most important things are the items that you should have to protect you and your gear from harm. It’s the practical gear, the gear you learn you need through your own experience and mishaps that makes the difference. Each of these items at one time or another have been the sole reason I had a successful nature photo shoot. The best part, almost every item I listed below is inexpensive and can be bought at any hardware or outdoor store.
A trusted alarm clock(s)
My absolute favorite time to shoot is just at the end of the blue hour. The sun starts to turn blues to purple and the hint of yellow and orange graces the horizon. The next 30 minutes are pure heaven for me. Nothing upsets me more than when a planned pre-dawn shoot is missed because I slept in.
I have two alarm clocks, one on the dresser and one on my blackberry. Both set so I have to physically get out of the bed to turn them off.
Tools, glue and bag of rice
Ever been out and dropped your camera or snapped a piece on your tripod and the whole shoot was a bust? If your answer is no, my response is; “It’s only a matter of time”.
I carry a screwdriver set with hex heads to fit all my tripod screws and I always have crazy glue in a separate bag in case I need to reattach anything.
The bag of rice… well it’s too heavy to carry, but you may want to have one handy back at the house. If you get water in your gear, putting it in a bag of rice is your best chance to suck out any moisture in your camera or in your lens.
DO NOT USE a heat lamp or lamps to try and dry out a camera… use rice, say a lil prayer to the camera gods and have the insurance company’s number handy just in case it doesn’t work.
Insurance Riders
After the last paragraph I figured I would address now. I would suggest you contact your insurance company and discuss having an insurance rider on your camera gear. It is peace of mind that will eliminate a huge headache if anything happens to your gear.
Lay everything you own out on a table, take a photo of all your gear and then list out everything you own. Submit both to the insurance company for their files. This will eliminate any questions they may have that will delay the claim and get you back shooting as fast as possible.
Extra batteries and memory
Imagine being miles from your car, hours from a power source, the elusive snowy owl appears in the field in front of you and you are set to take a series of photos…. Only you can’t… the cold weather has zapped your battery dead or you have no more memory left.
The moral of the story; bring extra batteries and memory cards. I never leave home without 4 memory cards and three fully charged batteries.
A little hint, in cold temperatures keep the batteries inside your coat and keep them warm.
Waterproof boots and hip waders
Some of my best images are taken near or from the water. Sometimes the difference between a good photo and a great photo is perspective. You walk up the west side of a river, the sun is coming up and you wish you were on the east side to capture the golden hour with the sun to your back. The unprepared photographer will shoot the undesirable image from the west bank, while you will have the sun at your back capturing the image the people on the other side wished they were capturing.
Their flying birds of prey will be black silhouettes, while yours will have full colour with a glint of sun in their eye.
A head lamp or flashlight
I hike in the dark in order to be at a location before the blue hour, or leave a location after dusk. A headlamp and and/or flashlight in my camera bag helps me find my way back to my car. There is nothing worse than being caught out in a forest or field without a light source. The light source also is a good way to use as fill light, or for light painting objects like rocks in a water scene with a pre dawn sky.
An assortment of plastic bags and towels
You have invested a lot of money in your gear, so protect it. And a few 5 cent bags will do the trick. They will roll up in your camera bag and can be thrown over your camera equipment fast and efficiently.
Bug spray or a bug net.
Nature is full of bugs that want to eat you for breakfast or dinner… or frankly just be a pest. But why let this stop you from getting that perfect photo. Some of the best foilage and animal photo opportunities are during the height of black fly or mosquito season.
Word to the wise, keep the bug spray away from the camera gear.
A compass and handheld GPS
I am directionally challenged. For this reason I carry a compass when I am out on a location where I have never been before. It helps me navigate fast and allows me to see, at a glance, which way the sun will raise. The GPS is also an awesome tool to mark locations that you see for future locations as well as a handy navigation tool for trekking in and out of a location.
Along the same lines as this is the "Photographers Ephemeris". An awesome desktop and mobile tool all nature photographers should have. Read my review of this product by clicking reading about PHOTOGRAPHERS EPHEMERIS. After you read that click the back button to get back to this article.
Cell Phone
Now that you all know I am directionally challenged and getting lost is not that far out of the question… a cell phone is a must for me. You never know when you need to call the park ranger to come find you, or call your significant other to tell her you are going to be late because Winnie the Pooh’s older brother has you up a tree and is licking his chops.
Outdoor clothing
Rain and windy weather often produce the best photo opportunities. Being prepared with clothing that keeps you dry in the field is a must. These items are the most expensive items on my list, but it doesn't have to be. You can either ask for them as christmas and birthday prezzies, or wait and invest in over time.
Or, for those that embrace comfort over style, swallow your pride and head out to Value Village. A good second hand store will have quality all weather gear at a fraction of the price. At the very least, buy a lightweight, waterproof shell that you can pack in your camera bag.
My usual attire is a weatherproof jacket (second hand store purchased), a ball cap (my lucky ball cap i was wearing when i got a hole in one), layers on top (t-shirt, sweater) and a pair of Columbia pants that turn from full legged pants to shorts in just a few seconds… I also keep a spare jacket, shirt, pants and shoes in my car.
Be a boyscout, be prepared... and happy shooting!
Kev
Download PHOTOGRAPHERS EPHEMERIS
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