Photography
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This week I shot my first house in terms of real estate photography. This is something slightly new for me because a few months ago I shot a 2b/1.5b condo. This is a new area that I’d like to add to my portfolio as well as list of photography services that I can provide. I was working with a local realtor that I have met a few times around my neighborhood. And in talking to her is how this opportunity came up.
For me lighting is everything when I’m shooting, and I brought along my wife who’s my technical director. She sees the objects, misplaced items, coordination of objects, and so much more so I’d say we’re a good team.
One thing that I wanted to mention is that this house was staged rather nicely. There wasn’t any clutter of objects or things around the floors or counters. It was like a house just done by HGTV.
The Tech Breakdown:
- Nikon D3200
- Sigma 17-70 2.8 Lens
- 3 Speedlights
- 1 150w Strobe
- An 11mm super wide lens is the next purchase I’ll be making!
You’ll be able to see for yourself my results after editing. Your comments are of course welcomed!
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Photography
I’ve spent a lot of hours studying photography over the past few years. Actually from the moment I purchased my first DSLR, I quickly adapted to the idea of trying to learn something new each time I picked up my camera.
There are so many ways to learn things about photography now a days, whether you’re looking for free knowledge or premium. There is a difference between the two but I’m not going to get into that too much right now. What I really want to talk about is how one can learn so much, despite all the resources, and still need to develop on their own.
One of the first things I learned was that in order to be a professional photographer, you need to learn all the rules, and then break them to capture the types of photos your creative mind has to offer. I used to buy magazines that each month would offer then next best top 10 whatever stuff. Then I graduated to books that would talk more about composition, form, exposure, and the business. While I did understand the idea of learning the rules to be able to break them, I started to hear a lot of contradicting advice from some prominent industry photographers.
Lenses
Some professional photographers believe that prime lenses are always better than zoom ones. While there is much to debate on both sides of this argument, I personally do not believe either is true. For me it depends on what I’m shooting. If I was hired to do a job and could only use the available equipment provided, and that included only one prime or zoom lens and a camera body I would be able to do the job, but “how” I did the job would be different depending on the lens. Where I would stand, how close I would need to be, what angles do I feel would be complementary.
There are also debates about whether or not the kit lenses are actually worth using or completely worthless as a professional. For me, I’ve used my kit lenses and continue to whenever necessary. I’ve produced some pretty nice shots as long as I had adequate light with my kit lenses.
Software
Long before I decided to make photography a business and more than a hobby, I found myself dabbling in Photoshop. I quickly found it to be really extensive and hard to pick up and learn without proper teaching. Today I use Photoshop for some strategic tasks, but my main post editing software is Lightroom. These two pieces of software seem to be the main two that most photographers use. There are others within the Adobe Creative Cloud if you’d like to check them out.
Photography Gear
Everyone is selling gear these days. You can buy gear from vintage stores all the way to Amazon. Your prices will always vary, but one thing is for sure – you get what you pay for. I’ve learned the hard way by trying to play the cheap side with some of my gear and seeing first hand when knobs break off, things aren’t sturdy, things work slower, or are just really cheap quality.
If you’re just starting out, some purchases can be made on the cheap. One of my favorite buys are the Neewer flashes. At around $30 a piece, these flashes work great with fresh batteries and last a great deal in many of my conditions. However cheap brand modifiers and light boxes won’t last you more than a couple of shoots due to poorly made joints and knobs.
Practice and Learning
The more I pick up my camera and shoot the more comfortable I feel with it. To me, it should feel as though it were an extension of my body – like an appendage. I don’t think you can learn all there is to learn by just reading and watching videos, you do need to get out there for yourself in the field. And that’s the best part about developing. Seeing the difference on what you shot a week ago, a month ago, or a year ago, and compare that to what you’re doing now. That’s the true test of development. Your skills should always be improving. You’re creativity should always be evolving and pushing new highs. Photography is an art form, and being a photographer means you’re an artist. Learning from industry professionals is great, but paving your own creative lane is what will set you apart from other photographers in your neighborhood and eventually the industry.
I’d love to hear about how you developed your skills in photography. Whether you can add on to what I’ve said above or offer some new ideas, please comment below and lets start a dialog.
Photography
A few weeks ago David Laietta hosted the monthly MeetUp of WordPress Orlando that featured the title “The Business of Blogging“. There is a large community here in Central Florida that are bloggers and use WordPress so this particular MeetUp was anticipated not just for the topic but for the guest speakers.
The speakers were Bess Auer, Angel Yard, and Gloria Rand. While I won’t get too much into what they talked about, I would rather point you to the MeetUp website and see for yourself here. For now, check out some of the photos I shot from the event.
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How to, Photography
Recently I decided to make my client photos available via Flickr and private Albums/Groups for my customers. The reason for doing this is so that I can have an online viewing location for my photography clients to easily view all of their photos from recent shoots or events, and then select the ones they like the best for their albums and other products.
It took a little playing around to figure out how to make it work with just a few steps, but overall I’d say it’s worth the effort on the photographer’s end to present a mass number of photos online without paying for storage or a monthly fee. One of the main benefits of Flickr is having about a Terabyte of space for free. Essentially you could just about use Flickr as a free online backup for your photos.
Anyways I created a short video on how to do just that. Once you’ve selected your favorite photos, you can view them all by hitting the drop down you’ll be taken to view your Favorite pictures. The video takes it up from there.
Photography
Last year my mom hosted Thanksgiving dinner. While this year’s dinner will most likely be at our house, I wanted to share some photos of the table and place settings. As a photographer by second form of living, my personal pictures and work don’t always see the light of day or post edits once shot and moved from memory card to storage. So throughout the year I find myself going back and reviewing some personal work and appreciating the moments I captured. I spend so much time working on client work that I rarely spend time on my own. Hope you enjoy!
Photography
If you’ve ever tried to photograph kids, you know that it’s a tough job. Trying to get them to stay still for more than 3 seconds is almost impossible. Especially when it is a scheduled shoot with a family, and the kids have their own agenda for how things are going to be for the next few hours.
This shot was taken at a local park near my house. My niece (the subject) was climbing up a slide and just happened to look over at my while I was preparing to shoot. I’m a fan of natural light, and to see how the sunset was shining off her huge cheeks created just the art that I wanted to capture.
