Fundamentals of Photography No. 1

Who doesn't have a decent camera these days?  With the standard in photographic equipment increasing and the prices coming down, it's no wonder that anyone with a camera, access to Pinterest, and a computer like a MAC thinks they are a photographer.  The sad truth is that they are.  While they may not be the most technologically savvy, nor know the basic fundamentals, they're wheeling and dealing their way making money with their camera.

As someone who loves photography, I can assure you I'm not much different.  There are a few differences however, including my experience, but I'm always learning, and I will never tell anyone otherwise!

A photographer friend and I were looking at photographs last night that were sent to him from a family member.  These photos were done by a "professional".  Needless to say he was not impressed.  While I could see the style, and the attempt of composing something original I have to admit I was not impressed either.  Here are a few reasons why, plus why I think it's so important that any photographer have the fundamentals down before wheeling your camera around and asking for money.

1. Images need to be in focus people.  UNLESS it's a composition thing, but if you're shooting someones face you need to make sure that it's sharp and in focus, duh!

2. Let's off center things a bit!  Not every subject needs to be smack dab in the middle of the photograph. Let's think composition!

3. Lighting is a biggie here.  Don't always use your flash! Instead try opening up your aperture and slowing down the shutter.  It will allow for enough light to come in, and properly expose your photograph.  With using a flash at inappropriate times it can make the images look flat, and throw off the natural color.

4. Don't OVER edit! I have seen so many pictures where people have over edited.  The most thing I've noticed is over editing other people.  Teeth whitening is nice if their teeth are all messed up, coffee stained, and look like they've never seen a tooth brush, but when you over whiten they look like Chiclets's!  Also, another over edited area is the eyes and skin.  Have you ever seen eyes that were so white that they look like they were painted in with white out?  Seriously, that doesn't look natural, and it freaks me out.  If you think it makes your photograph look more professional, then you are sadly mistaken. 

5. Edit your photos!  I know I just went on a rant about over editing, but you must edit your photographs for color, contrast, vibrancy, and sometimes even sharpness, but people lets keep it in reason, OK?

6. Be Creative.  I'm a huge Pinterest fan!  I mean huge!  I've noticed that a lot of newbie photographers emulating what they find on there, or what other photographers they know do.  That's okay, but have some of your own creativity and learn composition.  If there's nothing special about your photograph if you are using others ideas.  Also, what makes yours look like something that they couldn't take themselves?

Now that I've gotten that all out of my chest let's talk about some basics.  Camera workings is like a piece of music coming together.  Each part of the puzzle has to be working together in order for it to come together beautifully.

APERTURE

This is one of the greatest things about having a manuel camera.  If you're unfamiliar with how to operate it then please see your owners manual.  The only reason I say that is because each camera has different ways to change settings.

So heres the Wekipedia's definition:

"In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels."

Pretty easy to understand, no?  Well, let's go a little deeper here, shall we?  

Yes, aperture allows light in, but only when it's used properly, which means light meter, shutter speed, and ISO setting. 

Here's the image that's on Wekipedia that gives you and idea

Essentially, when you hit the button to release the shutter it opens the hole that allows light in.  You can control that but adjusting the aperature settings. Since an image is created by light reflected this is very important.

When I was in High School I took a photo class and we had to make a pin hole camera out of a cardboard container.  I think I used an old oatmeal box, but essentially the assignement consisted of putting a piece of photo paper inside, make a pin hole through the container, and set it in a well lit place for a long time.  Once I took the paper out in the dark room, and hand developed it int he darkroom I was surprised to see a photo emerge.  It essentailly is a really basic idea that light, time, and how apatrue together makes an image.

Here is a diagram, courtesy of scphoto.com

On your camera, aperture will be measured in 'f-stops'.  When you are adjusting the 'f-stop' the numbers are pretty easy to understand.  I found this awesome image which explains is perfect from photographyicon.com

Here's a great video from youtube.com that helps explains f-stops.

Another important note is depth of field, which is something apeerture controls too.  We'll discuss this soon.  I'll try to post regularly, and the next will be the continuation of the these settings, depth of field, and showing examples of photos.
  

What's in a name?

A name can reveal more than a description of what something is or isn't.  As with any business a name is a significant choice that shouldn't be made lightly.  While there are plenty of articles on the internet to help you creatively make this determination, it's ultimately a decision of what you'd like your name to convey. 

 Lately, I've been working hard with my new business partner to decipher what we'd like our buisness name to be.  While this sounds simple enough, we were very surprised and overwhelmed on the real challenge this task ended up being. 

Some of the important items that we wanted to include varied between us.  As a photography business we wanted our name to help define the style of business that evokes somehting memorable, yet professional. 

Our brainstorming session lasted a week.  Both of us had some cleaver ideas and name choices, but we found that many were already taken by other businesses in our industry. So after much debate, we have successfully agreed on a new buisness name, the direction we want our business to take, and the time frame to have our essential items completed. 

Some of the items on our to-do list include:

• Ordering our new business cards
• Starting our business plan
• Determining our budget
• Starting our marketing plan
• Dressing our products and services. Branding, color choices, logo, and our general appearance.
• Expressing our goals for the next five years.

While I've had this scribbled down in my notebook for awhile, this is the first time I've ever written it out.  To be honest, it's a tad bit overwhelming, but I know that we need to do the process for the system to work.  Afterall, even a cake is flour till you follow the recipe and add all the right ingrediants.

Please stay posted as we go through everything we're doing to revamp, and essentially start a new business.

More about blogging for a living...

Hello everyone!  While I still have my day job, and am very happy with my employer and having a small business on the side, I find that the ability to add blogging as an additional source of income very exciting, but not always very realistic.

I'm sure everyone imagines how great it would be to be able to work from home.  At least for me it was always something that I'd hope for, and had looked into for years.  The thought of working in my pajamas and not having to drive anywhere was very enticing.

Fast forward to now, and that's exactly what I do!  I can tell you from my experience that it's great, but as with any type of work I now face different challenges each day.  Motivation is self driven, and committing to setting aside time to do the work that needs to be done without distractions is unbelievably hard.

Some of the work that I do from home is for my day job.  It requires me to sit at the computer and research.  While I love my job it's lacking the social aspect of working in a office, and ultimately without those normal office distraction the hours I work can seem to make for a much longer day.

In addition, I have my small photography business, which I also love.  Right now since it's still in it's infancy stages I'm learning about marketing, working with my leads I do receive, and essentially how to run a business.   This has been particularly challenging because there is just so much available on the Internet.  It makes it difficult to sift through it all, and determine what is really useful.

Lastly, I have my blogging!  Again, I love blogging as I do the other two things I do, but for me blogging is a hobby.  I would love to make money blogging, however if I don't then that's okay too.  Some people go into blogging purely for the purpose of making money.  If they can do that then that's great, and I applaud them for being able to make it work.

When I started blogging it was a way for me to get out there and express my opinions, thoughts, and feelings.  Once I started blogging and having fun at it I started doing research in hopes that I could get more readers and my blog would grow in popularity.  During the time I was researching about blogging I discovered that people could actually money from doing this. What a surprise to me!  So, I attempted to give it try, and redirected my posts and ads on my page to try to monetize the blog.  What a mistake!  It turned from a hobby I loved to a stressful task to make money that I felt I could never accomplish.  I was posting about random stuff that really had no purpose being on the web, but just for me to add content that day.  I can honestly say that a lot of the "content" was a waste of space.  I got so frustrated that I wasn't making money that my posting slowed down, and I wasn't motivated to work on it at all.  Eventually, when it came time for me to renew my domain name I just didn't.  What a huge waste of time and disappointment.!

As a result, I learned something very important, and I wanted to share that with the universe.  So here is my belief, and maybe someone will read this and not agree with me.  Sure, I may even get a few comments with examples on what I'm about to say isn't true, and that is perfectly fine with me,  but here it is; 

I believe that if you do something that you LOVE, you do it WELL, and most importantly it makes you HAPPY, then you'll be successful!

So, if you love blogging like I do, then go for it!  You may not see one red cent, but who cares if you have the satisfaction of doing a hobby that makes you happy. You're going to be more excited about logging into the computer each day, and you'll think of things randomly all the time about what you can post about.... and most importantly you'll love connecting to the world unknown.  I believe that people who read your posts will see that, and come back for more.  One of the most important things I EVER learned in sales was... if people like you then they will buy from you.  Really, it doesn't even matter what your selling too, and you never know... people may love your blog so much that it might spark interest from advertisers who are willing to pay you just to be apart of you blog.  Wouldn't that be awesome?

I want to read your blog, or a blog that your really love.  There are so many out there that it's hard for me to weed through them all and find one I really like.  Plus, I would love to help fellow bloggers by supporting there blog.  I know it's just not the words on the page, but blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into it, and it stinks when no one reads or comments on your posts.  So, please send me blog addresses that are out there that you LOVE to read, so I can read them too.  Thanks a million!  :)

Anyway, that's me sitting on my soap box today.  I hope that you will come back and visit again.  Please feel free to subscribe to me and my ramblings... it would make me unbelievably happy! 

How to get traffic to my blog... how am I blogging?

Blogging is something that I love to do.  However, doing a blog is hard work.  Sure, you post little snippets about whatever your doing, write about something you know, and showing some pretty pictures.

As a blogger it's hard to gather readers, and especially readers who will come back.  As a small business owner one of the challenges is getting attention, finding customers, and essentially marketing.  Blogging for some is a business, for others it may be a way for them to share their writing skills with the world without being published, and then there are people like me who do it as a hobby.  I must admit... I'm a blogging addict!  While I am a bit embarressed to admit this, I have four blogs.  No, not one that I put my whole soul into, and nurture like a infant child, but four.

The other day, I was looking at one of my other blogs (www.weddinglittlebits.blogspot.com) that is all about weddings.  It's a blog I began in 2009 while I was planning my own wedding, and afterwards I just didn't have the heart to take it down.  While that blog has gotten some attention it never really developed a huge following, and only two comments.  I started thinking... what am I doing wrong?  Honestly, I felt defeated.  This caused me to take a long look at myself.  It was time to self evaluate. I had to ask myself some hard questions about why the blog never gained popularity. 

• Do you post regularly?
• What are you posting about?
• Would you read it, and continue to come back for more?
• What content is getting the most attention, and are you listening to your audience or are you just doing what you want?

The answers to these questions were'nt good.  So, I decided to revamp my blogging style, research, and take things in a new direction.  Obviously, my old ways were not working, so what do I have to lose?

On this blog I've done a few things that I hadn't done on my others.  I think its because this blog is for my business, which offers a service, and it's much easier to write about what's happening, then finding and determining content to discuss.

Now, what about advertising?  Since I'm new at this I'm not sure how to go about it. There's a lot that we can talk about.  So far, with this blog I've made an advert on facebook, and I've synched with search engines.  Also, I'm currently attaching this blog to my business website. (www.simplyfinephotography.com) in hopes that they'll bring traffic to each other.  Lastly, I've been adding pins from my blog to Pinterest.com.  Hopefully, this will help draw some attention too.

Another thing I was wondering about business websites and blogging had to do with advertising.  Do you advertise the same way?  Especially since blogging doesn't offer a product or service to market, what do you offer exactly and how do you market that?  Since most blogs offer information only, how do they gain readers and advertise their blog? Because, I know that when I ready to start my day the first thing I DON'T think about is to jump online to shop information or to read about something that isn't going to add to my life. I go online to search a product, but I'm also looking to save money and find deals.  Those both have become two products offered on the internet that I continue to come back for.  I guess blogging must be the same thing.  The BIG QUESTION is does this add to anyone's life?  Or... is it all just a bunch of useless and rambling words that is a giant waste of time for me and my readers?

Ahhhhh-haaa!  I just had an epiphany! Thank you God!  So this is what I've figured out so far:

• I need to write content that people want to read about, and not just posting pictures of random things. 
• Get on board and learn more about Search Engine Optimization, which will help me be more searchable on search engines.  Afterall, if no one can find me... who will read this?
• I need to find other bloggers out there that I find something in common with, and build a relationship with them.  Not only can I learn from them, build (hopefully) a friendship with someone who has something in common, but can recommend each others blogs.
• Lastly, before I put too much emphasis on marketing I need to clearly define my products.  What am I offering the world each time I post?   Is it giant waste of time, or is it really useful information or content that makes someone feel good?

Nature walk... okay drive..

Today, my handsome husband and I decided to take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I just recently had surgery, so my walking has been limited, and when I do... I'm so tired later.  Anyway, while cruising down the Parkway we stopped to look over an overlook, and I saw this tree.  I couldn't help but take this quick picture. :)

Puppy Pics

Puppy pictures.  I just love animals, and here are a few shot I got of some furry friends. 

Camera reapir.... ohhh nooo....

Last month during a shoot for Sahar's birthday party, I arrived with camera bag in hand.  I took my trusty Nikon D40 out, and fired her up.  I quickly noticed that the LCD screen in the back wasn't working.  I was heartbroken.  Thankfully I was able to get a back up camera quickly, and continued the shoot. Big shout out to my sister for letting me borrow her Nikon D7000. 

Although, I know that the Nikon D40 isn't a "professional" level camera, and is relatively inexpensive for a "good" camera on the market... I love it!  It has been a work horse for me since the first day I got it. 

My heart is broken.

The camera still works, and I'm able to still use it by controlling the apature, however changing the ISO and the shutter speed is impossible.

I did a quick search with my boyfriend, Google, and discovered that there was a repair shop in Roanoke might be able to fix it for me, and can do it on site!  That's great, especially since I have a few photo shoots coming up.

So on Monday I'm heading to Lee Harman and Sons in Roanoke to see if they can provide me a little emergency surgery for my favorite camera.  Wish me luck!