Aspiring Photographer: Photography Advice and Inspiration

Professional Photographer Magazine Cover Contest ::: Second Place Winner!

Here's a little background for how I created this image and then prepared it for the Professional Photographer Magazine cover contest. Amazingly, I came in second place out of over 5000 entries! Here's a link to the PDF of the article.

The past two years when the cover contest winners were revealed I read every single word in both those articles to learn what they were looking for. So when the contest came around this year I chose an image that met those requirements. The image needed to be perfectly in focus, and it needed to be vertical. Also, and very important, there needed to be room at the top of the image to put the magazine's masthead! When I looked through this year's entries, I couldn't believe how many gorgeous images there were that were horizontal! And there were some excellent vertical images that would have been ruined if the masthead had been placed over them. So my guess is that just by meeting those three basic requirements my image was way ahead of the game.

Below is an image of how I set up and lit this shot. Clearly I must have taken this shot at a different time since there are some other props in the scene, but otherwise everything is the same. Click on the image to see a larger size if you're having a hard time reading the red writing. The background is Tranquility from Orange Peel Backgrounds. I did some Photoshop work to remove the seam that splits this paper background into two sections. The floor is some cheap paneling from the home improvement store -- can't remember now if it was from Home Depot or Lowes. I got the molding from a store that sells used building materials and painted it white. I've been using those same pillows in lots of my images over the years. They have served me well!

This incredibly cute little boy was having a really tough day, and we later found out that he was sick. But his mom was super-awesome to work with, so we managed to pull through.

Nikon D2X, 28-70 lens; f/9.5, 1/125th, ISO 100, Larson 4x6 softbox, Larson 42x72 soft white reflector, Photogenic Powerlight 1250DR

 

Selecting Colors for a Marketing Piece | Create a Color Palette from a Photograph

While surfing around the other day I came across this cool little online tool that lets you enter the url for an image, and it quickly creates a color palette from colors in the image. I know that I can always just pull an image into Photoshop and use the eyedropper to get the specific information on any individual color, but it's cool to be able to see the predominant colors together in little blocks of color. I think it would be a great tool to use to help create a marketing piece when you know the image you plan to use. I also have always liked the idea of designing the color palette for a room based on a defining photograph, and this can quickly help you visualize what that might be. If nothing else, I think it's a fun little way to waste a few minutes!

Here are a couple samples from images I entered. My photos don't really look all squished like this! It mushes any image into a square. It was sort of interesting to me how my predominant color in an image didn't always show up. In the first sample the palette doesn't show any blue, and the second one it doesn't show any green. But in a way it may make you look at color combinations from the image that you might not have considered, and possibly go with more subtle colors to complement the image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have other ideas for how you might use this tool with your photography, I'd love to hear them in the comments below.

-- Mary Lynne

Interesting Food Photography Video

Twelve or so years ago when I still worked worked for America Online, back before I did photography, I worked in AOL's Food channel. As part of my job I got to take trips to some of our food content providers, including Better Homes & Gardens in DesMoines, and Kraft Foods. Both had recipe databases that we were talking to them about integrating into our larger recipe database. Part of my visit to each included a tour of their test kitchen and their photography studio, along with my favorite part, the prop room. I thought it was so cool how they each had a big room with nothing but props for the food stylists to use: plates, bowls, napkins, utensils, etc. in all sorts of different colors and patterns. I remember feeling so jealous of the food stylists and photographers, who had what looked to me to be the coolest jobs in the world.

What struck me the most was everything that was involved in shooting a photo of pizza. At Kraft Foods they were working on photos of DiGiorno pizza while I was there. I thought it was so cool how they perforated the slice of pizza so that when they pulled it up off the pan it had all these stretchy pieces of cheese, and how they had so many people working on just this one shoot. I remember coming back home and telling everyone who would listen about the pizza shoot and the prop room. I really think my exposure to that had something to do with inspiring me to pursue photography as a career. So I loved it when I came across this video of a Domino's pizza shoot this morning.

Starting a Business Photographing Babies & Children | Job Satisfaction

There are so many rewards available to professional photographers. The opportunity to be creative, to interact socially, and to create a legacy all come immediately to mind. Of course, if you price yourself right, get enough people in the door, and manage your expenses, there's also the opportunity for financial rewards. But the real satisfaction I get from running a photography business comes to me from many different sources.

I believe we all have an inherent need to create, and photography presents us with unlimited opportunities to be creative. My time in front of the camera is just one small aspect of the creativity I get to express as part of my business. After I take the images, I spend even more time behind the computer cropping and enhancing the images in Photoshop to express my true creative interpretation of the image. Every time I create an awesome image I feel such a great sense of satisfaction. I often get sucked up into in and think "I should be working," and then I realize that I am working. We also get to express our creativity in the many aspects of marketing our business: creating a blog, a website and any printed marketing materials that we give out. Even creating a gorgeous marketing piece is satisfying, especially when you start getting positive feedback on it.

Some of my favorite things about my business are all the opportunities I've had to build relationships. I love watching children grow over time through my photos, and have such satisfaction when a client chooses to come back to me for additional sessions. It's really great when a little kid you've photographed over the years runs in and gives you a big hug. I also have made so many wonderful friendships with the moms of the children I photograph. There are many days when I marvel over the fact that I just got paid to spend a couple hours hanging out and chatting with some cool woman while we worked together on capturing images of her children. It may be a crazy, stressful session, but even that can help us bond and become closer. We worked on a project together and were ultimately successful. I feel like I have so many girlfriends, and sometimes my week seems just like a string of endless coffee dates with my buddies. I don't think most jobs offer that! Other relationships I've developed are those with other business people -- the coffee shop where I hang my photos, the parenting website where I sponsor a contest, the real estate office where I occasionally setup a studio and photograph their clients, and many others -- these are relationships I have truly enjoyed. Finally, my many photographer friends are some of my very favorite relationships. I've known many of them for years now, and we hook up every so often through photography seminars, print competitions, etc. If you haven't worked to form friendships with other photographers, that's one of the first things I'd recommend doing!

It's also very satisfying to know that you are creating a product that will be around for years to come. When people are decluttering their homes, there's not much chance that they're going to throw out your photographs! (And I do consider them MY photographs, even when they are a photo of someone else's children hanging in their home.) Knowing that you are creating something that will be handed down to the next generation is pretty cool. It's very validating to walk into someone's home and see photos you've created hanging all over their walls. 

So if you are just starting your photography business and have felt discouraged for various reasons, just remember that there are so many positive reasons to stick with it. I really do believe that photography is not just a business, it's a way of life. Enjoy!

Photo Inspiration: Professional Photographer Magazine Cover Contest

I was just browsing through this year's submissions for the Professional Photographer Magazine Cover Contest, and was pretty blown away by all the great submissions. Here's my entry, and I'd appreciate any rating you might be willing to give it. If you sign up and rate any of the images you are entered into a contest to win a Canon PowerShot G11. I happen to have one, and it is a great little camera. I think of it as an SLR in disguise. It's small enough to fit into my purse and is inconspicuous, but takes great images.

Anyway, there are some terrific baby and child images, so you might have fun flipping through the many pages of entries. I've been trying to second-guess what type of image they'll select this time around. I've decided that since the first winner was a baby girl against a white background, that they won't pick a baby girl or a white background again. So any of those images are out. The second winner was a woman -- not sure how to classify the photo. They haven't done a wedding photo or a high school senior or a location image, so my bet is that they'll pick a wedding or senior on location. I think they might want to get a guy in the image this time, although I'd guess that most of their covers have photos of women. Of course, this is all just my own crazy guessing, but I'll be interested to see the final judging! Whoever wins is going to luck out with some fantastic prizes.

Starting A Photography Business: Not just a photographer

I came across an article today in a photographic supply company's newsletter that talks about something I've always thought a lot about, which is that to have a photography business you have to be talented at so many things. That's actually one of the things I love so much about this business. There's never room to be bored. Photographer? That's just one tiny role in the whole package. If you're thinking about starting a photography business, you may want to take a look at all these jobs and see if you're excited about taking on all of them.

The article identified 12 different jobs you must be good at:

• Photographer
• Student
• Marketer
• Purchasing Agent
• Supervisor
• Accountant/Bookkeeper
• Human Resources
• Consultants
• Production
• Sales
• Computer Technician
• Designer

Their article said they'd uncovered 13 jobs, but they listed Photographer and Picture Taker as two different jobs, and I can't see how they're different! Anyway, I have several other jobs to add to the list:

• Janitor
• Receptionist
• Writer
• Child Psychologist
• Clown/Entertainer
• Photoshop Expert/Photo Retoucher
• Hostess

Can you think of others I may have missed? Please post them in the comments section!

My Silly Video for a Contest Entry for Orange Peel Backgrounds

I've recently started using some backgrounds I purchased from Orange Peel Backgrounds, and I want another one! I have about ten picked out, but one will do for now. I saw on her fan pan that she was running a contest. She asked people to create a little commercial for her backgrounds. So I recruited my daughter and we created this silly little video as our entry, and submitted it just within hours of the contest's closing time last night. From what I can tell, we were the only entry, so I'm thinking by default that means we won??? If that is true, I'd love for you to leave a comment here as to which 2-panel background you think I should select. 

Looking at people's faces while you're hanging out, and how it relates to aperture, shutter speed and ISO

When I'm interacting with someone in just about any environment, I'm totally listening to what they're saying, but there's a good chance there are a couple other things going on in my head. First, I'm looking at how the light is falling on their face. Do they have catchlights, and how are those catchlights positioned? I'm thinking about how much better they would look if they just turned their head a little this way or moved to a different spot. What does the light look like on my own face? If I turned my head a little or switched places at the table with them, would I look better?

The other thing I'm doing is Photoshopping their face. I'm getting rid of their blemishes, wrinkles, etc. Yes, I admit it. You probably do it too. And, of course, I've done it to my own face in the mirror plenty of times. If only I could do all those cool Photoshop things to my face for real with a quick swipe of a Wacom pen!

I can't help it. It's just how my brain works these days. I admit it. It's sick. But when you live and breathe photography your mind starts to do some crazy things. You don't have to let anyone know what you're thinking....

I was also noting the other day that another photography thing was going through my mind, and it relates to aperture, shutter speeds and ISO (the three tools you use to manage your exposure). I was sitting across the table from my guy at a restaurant. His back was to the window, so I was looking towards him, with the bright outdoors behind him. I observed that I couldn't really see his face because the light outside was so bright. I could see outside into the bright parking lot perfectly, but his face was really, really dark.  That's because I've decided that the pupil of my eye is like a camera on shutter priority mode. The amount of time I was leaving my eyes open didn't change, but the bright light caused my pupil to shrink way down to adjust for the whole scene (like to f/16), causing his face to become very dark. Alternatively, had my eyes been set to aperture priority mode it would have adjusted my shutter speed -- how long I leave my eyes open -- and I would look like a freak with my eyes closed most of the time and just open for quick little slices of time. You know when you're on an automatic shooting mode and you take a photo outside of someone on a bright day and their face is really dark but you can see the stuff behind them? Your eyes and your camera are doing the same thing!

As a last note, I think my blue eyes are a higher ISO than other people's. In other words they are much more sensitive. I seem to need sunglasses (otherwise known as a neutral density filter if you ignore the fact that they may be tinted) more than most people. 

I know this all sounds a little nuts, but I think it's a very helpful way of thinking about how your aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together. Maybe someone will find this explanation to be the missing piece that gives them that aha moment they've been waiting for!