michaelmowery

Shoot proof or Pixieset

Greg, I hope you don't have to do this for a living at this stage in your life. Extra spending money ok. As far as niches goes, that usually ends up being a particular interest that one already has and generally already has good experience doing. The other is to find a particular area in photography that few people are doing and make that your niche.

Go to there website and check out what they offer.

If you have been doing this for 20 years why don't you know the answer to that? Just saying. The most economical hot flashes today are Godox and cheetah along with Yongnuo. If you have a larger budget you may enter Profoto and elinchrom.

I think this photographer's actions is disgraceful and unprofessional. A 30 picture shoot for newborn pictures should have been in a gallery no later than two weeks if that person had a full time schedule. There is more to this story and I would bet that the 4 pictures delivered is all that turn out as deliverables.

The sharing rates would be a marked up rate not your regular rate. Additional people interested in photos from a previous shoot will pay a higher rate than just a per picture rate.

Its more about composition than anything else. Most food shots are done with minimal equipment 1 to 2 lights. Natural airy shots are not even lit with strobes. Experience is the key as you can just use a speed light bounced and get fantastic usable shots. Composition!

Pixieset

PVC

raise your rates to a number that you will be happy with then give the clients unwatermarked images. This is a loosing battle even when you do add watermarking.

Bob, I am a fan of Annie and I have picked up lighting techniques for free on youtube behind scenes which I use when I use single light on location. I am not interested in the videos at this time as I am more a tech person but I like to see a successful photographer put out instruction videos and I think she would offer a great value to any photographer. I will wait however as I am still saving money for some equipment upgrades. :)

Rodeo_joe you are free to disagree as this is a forum and we are all entitled to give our own opinions based on our own experiences and let the readers make there own choice. Light reflecting off of a tinted or colored wall will introduce that tinted color. If that works for you then great.

As Rodeo_Joe stated size is everything but he left out the other key component which is "Distance". You can have a 10 foot diffusor but if it is too far away from the subject it will still be a hard light source. When working with all these gadgets you need to be close to your subjects. Bouncing is by far the king only when the ceilings are light neutral color. When is the bounce card or 3rd party versions used? It used to fill some light in the shadows made by the bounced light as we all know. There are times to not use the card and that would be any candid shot that people are facing each other and not the camera. There is a trick I use and you may or may not be aware of it. I use the pull out white card on my canon flash but I have discovered if I also pull up the clear diffusor about half way so it stays up it will increase the flash fill dramatically. That of course is a matter of taste but it does improve the look in my opinion.

[this question is only about the visual look or appearance, not about power, convenience, features, temperature, etc] Asking to respond only on appearance and leaving out all the other reasons is like asking what car would I buy based only on color. As you stated light is light and as others stated to achieve the same quality of light comparison between flash and hot lights they need to be of same temperature, size and same use of modifier. That leave a big hole in the reason you would choose one over the other. The real world question is what is the differences between hot lights and flash when it comes to the logistics of capturing an image. It will require you to consider more than just the aesthetic look.

She had to do something to pay off her debts. lol I think the price is very reasonable.

I would have to agree with what is the objective that we want to achieve with the lens. If that lens does that job then that would be my favorite. The lenses are just tools. In a broad sense with me personally I like a 200 2.o , a 17 TSE, 85 1.4 , 135 2.0 24 1.4 and 35 1.4 Now, if the OP asked what is your favorite lens for portrait for me would be the 85 1.2 and now the new 1.4

The price is based on what photographers charge not the other way around. If you want prices to go up stop undercutting and don't accept jobs for less.

Phil with all due respect, making negative statements like "it will never happen" or "wishful thinking" is not the best way to answer questions in a forum. Who are you to decide what someone can or cannot charge? You can only speak for yourself. We could argue the rate till we are blue in the face but in the end we all have to decide what our value and cost of doing business is. Geographical location, experience and the volume of work all play apart in our calculations. Unfortunately, I believe your right about the low rates that brokers will pay. We as photographers can only blame ourselves for allowing the rates to spiral down. The best way to recover from this is to say "no" to the next job that low balls our value. Of course this will only work if we all ban together.

The velcro on the white diffussion is suppose to attach to the velcro on the back of the umbrella located on each rib. If your umbrella does not have it then you have an older umbrella or you bought the diffusion separately.

I can only speak from my own experience. I love depth of field portraits and I love shallow depth of field. I make a deliberate choice based on whether the composition of the portrait will be stronger with or without depth of field. If I want to tell a story in one shot as in an environmental portrait then the background better be in focus to help communicate that. If its only about the subject then I like a shallow depth of field. If the background is less than perfect or undesirable then out of focus it goes. You see its not about whats the preferred lens or the best F-Stop but rather what is the right lens and F-Stop to achieve what I want my final image to communicate.

Phil never say never. You can't be scared by big numbers. The images that we provide has value to the seller which is a fraction of what he is selling to the buyer. You make the shoot and post production work sound so easy and quick, something a person with no experience would advise. I say that not to attack you or start a debate, I just find it humorous. We all have a right to state our opinions and let the OP make his own decisions. I will add I miss read the 150 jobs and confused them with the 30 Richmond jobs. I would stick with the $400 for the Richmond jobs and then drop the local jobs to $300. Again this is where the art of negotiations come into play. If the OP is happy then I am happy.

I do interior photography for contractors and industrial architecture/interior for corporate real-estate. My site it Preferred Corporate Photographer in NYC | Event Photography | Corporate Headshots and team shots First take on a job you know you can handle. Maybe just do the properties that are near by. A large project can turn into a very long project. There will always be something that will go wrong or unexpected delays from traffic to weather. Figure out a per building rate for 30 plus properties which includes up to 3 shots (example $400 per building at least, higher is always better) then figure out a travel rate which can be a 1/2 day rate plus expenses (motel and food).

knowing your cost of doing business is the first step. Hourly rates are my least favorite but they do need to be considered in your final estimate. I personally choose to bill per room. More rooms more money and its fair for both sides. I do incorporate a minimum charge. Day rates and half day rates were used in the past and some still use it today. I prefer to give an estimate on each job in case there is extra work involved.

You will have to be little more specific to what you want to compare. These companies offer more than just a flash tube. They offer electronics, technology and light shaping tools. It is generally the vast selection of light shaping tools that photographers gravitate to and invest in. Each of these companies are high quality and you can't go wrong. The main difference is price point which will determine your final selection. Me personally have invested in Profoto but I would rather have Broncolor but thats just life. Your question may be easier to answer if you were more specific as to ask whats the difference in the Para that broncolor offers to Profoto's giant reflector? The best answer is go try them yourself as you are the one who will buy it. Pictures are not all telling sometimes you need to touch the equipment and work with it to see how you actually like working with it.

How do I know its photoshopped. Its called experience. You can see digital artifacts around the hair and edges of the the body as well as in parts of the background as well. In any case the way to make an even background as explained above is have enough room to light it evenly keeping the subject at least 10 feet away from the background.