Local Family Photography

I have been into photography for the last 5 years or so. I'm 27 but will be turning 28 this July. I've signed up for a photography course this summer at a local university. Sometimes I feel like I'm too old to start a career so late. I'm interested in portrait photography. My wife stands behind me 100%. Other ppl in my family think I've lost my mind. Can anyone give me any advice. Thanks, and have a great weekend.

You're the same age I was when I went in to professional photography.

The main issue is to get your basic skills right - photographic and business - as you won't survive without them.

Courses are fine, but I'd also consider trying to visit the very best photographers you can find, as your limits will be defined by the quality of your course and tutors, or by your mentor if you become an assistant... by definition most courses and photographers are going to be 'average' and you have to aspire well beyond that if you are going to get past the safety zone and into success.

Before you go for it I would get some folks to critique your work and give you personal advice. I would also do a very honest self appraisal of your strengths and weaknesses - ask friends and relatives to do this too, ideally by some anaonymous and averaged mechanism (a 360 degree appraisal). A Myers-Briggs test could be useful:
http://www.tickle.com > "career personality test" then look for the 4 type letters which you can google + "career".

You can earn well out of photography if:
You have a good portfolio.
Ideally a track record and qualifications (which will come hopefully but start submitting images now and start to dip your toe in the water for commissioned work as soon as you feel able).
Your service levels are appropriate - ideally excellent.
You are equipped to do the job.
Your marketing is effective.
Your pricing is appropriate.
You have a well thought out sales mechanism.

The three keys are your product / service, your pricing and marketing, your cash flow... never neglect the last one.

Be aware that as someone who is self employed you are going to have to commit a lot of time and effort to improve your skills and grow your business - it's going to be hard work. Can you commit to 80 or 100 hour weeks... that's probably what you are in for unless you can build a really good support network, get a top class mentor and work smartly.

There can be a lot of money in portraiture if you get your ducks in a row and you can target and approach your market effectively.

I don't want to p*ss on the parade above but it is a lot harder than it sounds - put some money behind you, get various advice on the right kit to invest in, because you are going to have to make a personal decision, make a plan based on that advice.

Mail me offline and I'll happily do a Skype call with you to give you more advice.

Good luck - and welcome to the mad house!

2008-05-16 12:52:10 by -doozer-

Don't have time to gather your family to a local studio for a portrait? cmypictures.com offers a studio setup in your living room. How does it ...

I am just starting out getting into photography as a hobby and look at local photographer's websites and love all of the family portraits done in nature and wanted to know where they went to take these. I would to go out there and practice. Does anyone know where I can find these quaint wooden bridges and wooden stairs and fields in the Sacramento area? I live in Roseville. Thanks!!!

Try the capitol in downtown sacramento. I've seen plenty of wedding and engagment sessions done on the capitol steps or in the rose garden. Another place would be old town sacramento, or old town folsom by the old rainbow bridge. You can walk down to the lake and get some great shots of the rainbow bridge and the wooden foot bridge.

2009-08-18 16:31:35 by Erin

I would like to make a budget studio for photography for freinds and family. Is there any difference between buying a studio lamp from a photography wholesaler and goingto my local hardware store and getting the bits to build my own one? Im on a tight budget and want to play around but to be honest am not entirely sure what i would like to spend my money on. I have a couple of umbrellas at the moment and a reflector.

Well you can use the hardware store lights, but you would have to do more post processing. Those lights at the Depot are not daylight balanced. That's the big difference. Many lights will have a different color cast. It may not be apparent to your eye but the camera will have a tough time figuring it out. You can do a custom white balance with something that's pure white (a piece of paper for example) or even an expodisc, but having light that is more in line with the sun is more natural.

Sodium Vapors give a really red cast.
Halides can give a blue cast.
Incandescent (the kind Edison invented and that we are all used too in our homes) gives a less red cast.
Flourescent tubes... well they can vary tube to tube, as well as CFLs, but CFLs are more stable. They tend to be blue or green or purple, but mainly blue.

Again you can use these things, and use a custom white balance, but some colors will just not render well. That's why the pros use the expensive stuff. It's not machoism, it's just one of the tools that they need to use. You may find a photog here and there that do it for machoism, but for the most part no they don't.

2008-10-21 20:41:37 by paul p

Price: $24.99

I have always enjoyed photography and working in the darkroom. I have always been content with landscapes and my family until here recently when we moved to Romania. I would very much like to capture local culture in my photos. I am unsure what is the etiquette in shooting strangers. I do not want to offend anyone.

I travel extensively and always have a camera with me. I tend to concentrate more on architecture and landscape when playing tourist, but sometimes have a chance to photograph people. As an example - here are some photos I took in Germany during the world cup:

http://www.olphoto.net/gallery/1619796/1 /78874955

I did not speak the language - but generally found people agreeable to being photographed. The culture in Romania from this perspective is not really different than many other places. I have not been to Romania, but have been to Prague, Budapest, Lithuania and all over Western Europe. Most people ignore you when you take their photo if you are in a tourist area. If you are close enough to ask - than you should ask - if you can't speak the language, you can usually communicate by motioning with your hands and camera that you won't to take a photo (this is how I took some of the posed shots in the example above). If they smile - go ahead - if you get a frown and a shaking head - move along. Just use your head and be polite. Many shots in public areas can be grabbed in a more candid fashion and there is nothing wrong with that. Here's an example from Kaunus, Lithuania of a wedding party leaving the town hall:

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/23276140-L .jpg

Just a local scene - I was walking by and I took a photo. A few people looked my way - but no one cared. If I would have walked up and intruded - they might have been bothered - but to be honest, they most likely would have posed. Here are some Italians I met in Prauge:

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/127512321- L.jpg

Here - they saw me with my camera (a professional DSLR) and they asked me to take their photo (actually several photos with each of their cameras). I did and then I asked them if I could take one with my camera.

Here are two other examples from Berlin. In the first - I walked up and took the photo of the street vendor - he didn't seem to mind. The second is more candid - notice the woman in the right of the frame (an actor at checkpoint charlie) sort of giving me a look. I smiled at her and she looked away.

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/32801863-L .jpg

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/32801244-L .jpg

The fact that you don't want to offend anyone means you probably won't - so have fun!

2007-06-02 04:22:29 by Petra

Would a photography package be a good idea for a gift for a new baby?
My fiances brother and sister in law are due any day now for their first baby. For the baby shower, I purchased items off the registry but I also have been wanting to give them another gift when the baby arrives. I purchased three little outfits but I was also considering buying a photography package from a local photographer whose work is just fabulous. Is this a tacky or rude gift? I'm sure that at some point they will want to have photographs taken of the baby within the first few months... I want to give them something that they will be able to treasure and always have... The photographer did my engagement pictures and is wonderful and easy to work with... but I'm worried it could be viewed as shrewd to pick out the photographer and everything... I purchased photography sessions as a family Christmas present a few years ago and everyone loved the idea... For moms to be or moms in general, would this be an accepted gift?
Everything has already been purchased of their registry. They have been VERY blessed to have wonderful people around them... As I stated, I purchased three outfits that they will be getting when the baby arrives... They aren't newborn sizes either--they are for the winter... I spent well over $150 for the registry gifts alone :) I just thought a photography package would be nice...
For the person that I said "I am up to something"... What in the lords name are you talking about? I am trying to give them a GIFT of a photography session so THEY can have proffesional photographs taken of their child. It is very common to have pictures of your infants taken (my parents did it 20 some years ago) and all my friends with babies have done it too. I'm not trying to "make a buck" off a baby... I'm trying to give them a GIFT. Dear lord!

I'm using my fourteen year old daughter's account, but I am a mother, and I am also expecting. That is a very very good idea for a mother to be. With everyone giving her baby clothes and toys, it would probably be nice for her to have something different, and fun. If you're sure that the photographer is good, then I'd be fine with it. As long as I wasn't planning on having another photographer do it in the future. Really good thinking on your part, they should love it!

2009-07-24 15:34:45 by ashley