nicolerenee

<p>Much improved.</p>

<p>Hello you! My name is George Jonathan and I’m a <strong>22 year old</strong> (<em>I personally don't thing you need this.</em>) photographer based in Los Anglesspecializing in wedding and portrait photography. I can’t say I’m the typical photographer or else I’ll (<em>I'd, not I'll</em>) be lying <em>(how are you not the typical photographer? You state that but give no reason why. Either elaborate a little bit, move the sentence to another place in the paragraph where you talk about your style, or take it out.)</em> With <strong>my weddings</strong> (<em>awkward phrasing, makes it sound like they are YOUR weddings and not the clients. Maybe, "when photographing weddings," or something along those lines</em>) I enjoy capturing your day in a photo journalistic approach with a fine art sensibility. I’m incredibly meticulous in all areas of my life, so capturing all the little things on your wedding that you’ve been planning for months is something I love to do. <strong>I love thinking outside the box and creating one of a kind portraits to showcase your personal style is also another thing I love most about working with my clients.</strong> <em>(read this sentance out loud to yourself. You should have 2 sentences here. "I love thinking outside the box and creating one of a kind portraits to showcase your personal style. It's one of the things I love most about working with my clients.)</em>From the moment I meet you <strong>guys </strong><em>(remove)</em>, I want to bring a sense of enjoyment and fun to your shoot. Let’s let loose, have fun, and enjoy our time together<strong>, </strong><em>(remove the comma)</em> because no day is the same, and each day brings its own moments (insert period) <strong>and</strong> (<em>start a new sentence here)</em>let us help you preserve them.</p>

<p>Coming from a background of producing high quality work <em>( what does this mean? You may need to elaborate, or else just give a quick blurb about your background so the reader associates your work with quality)</em>, we are always on top of (<em>our)</em>game with gear, techniques, and providing you with the finest quality digital files, prints, and albums. Not only do we seek to please our clients, but also ourselves. We aim to stay ahead of the curve with fresh ideas, as our goal is to walk away with another award winning image (if you have award winning images? Mention that and then back it up. I think it would be more effective in the first paragraph. You could introduce yourself as George Jonathan, award winning photographer.) We have high standards for the quality of work we produce!</p>

<p>Aside from shooting regularly in LA, we are open to shooting worldwide – especially Italy, Paris, and Sweden. So enough about me, I would love to know more about you. I do coffee, long phone talks, lunch on the beach, and occasionally a glass of wine at Napa.<br>

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<p>Okay, George, here we go.<br>

Personally there are a few things that immediately turned me off. Using a casual tone is a great way to make your clients feel like you are down to earth and easy to talk to, but it is also an area where you have to be careful. Casual doesn't mean bad grammar, so be sure to re-read your sentences, even say them out loud to yourself. If something sounds strange when you speak it, then it's probably written and/or punctuated wrong.</p>

<p>Next, you need to choose which voice youre going to write in. I would stick with first person singular, as William W mentioned, and replace the "we's" in the second and third paragraph with "I."<br>

Finally, and I don't mean for this to sound rude at all, but this sentence:<br>

"I do coffee, long phone talks, lunch on the beach, and occasionally a glass of wine at Napa."<br>

honestly sounds as if you're on a dating site writing a personal ad. You might want to thing about re-phrasing that without sounding like you're looking for a date. That problem is a little exacerbated by your use of the word love. You might want to cut down on the repetition of that word, because you will either come off as insincere or trite.<br>

I hope that helped a little bit and you're able to get a few paragraphs you really like.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>Nicole</p>

 

<p>Yes, Those are my photos :-) I don't know why I didn't realize that before. It makes me feel like a goober :-) But, now I know, so all's well that ends well!</p>

<p>Thanks everyone!</p>

<p>Well, naturally. Thanks, that makes perfect sense! I appreciate it, although I do feel stupid for not knowing that :-/</p>

<p>I hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question. I'm not sure if this is a lens thing or a body thing. I'm using a 7D with a 28-135 3.5-5.6. I was shooting in dim light, manual mode, and wanted to open up to 3.5 so I could use a faster shutter speed. Camera would not open more than 5.6. Can anyone explain this to me? I'd really appreciate it.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Nicole</p>

<p>Everyone who has replied so far,<br>

Thanks so much for taking the time to give me advice!<br>

JUST TO BE CLEAR, I am declaring the income on my taxes. I have no intention of trying to hide that money on the sly. Trouble with the IRS is the LAST thing I want or need.<br>

I've got insurance on my equipment, but nothing right now to cover anybody else if something were to happen like Bob suggested. I realize the potential trouble there, and that really gets toward the heart of my original question. I've been wondering for a while if I've crossed over the line into business territory without realizing when it happened. From what has been said so far, it seems as if I have.<br>

It feels like a lot to wrap my head around.</p>

 

<p>Thanks for the advice everyone!<br>

Craig S, right now clients buy prints and albums etc. from an online storefront, and I am using my own name.<br>

Lisa E, thats where I am at as well. I don't really want to deal with everything that comes with operating a "business." <br>

I have talked to a local tax guy who basically said that as long as I am declaring what I earn and filing, thats all the IRS is concerned with. I mentioned state and local stuff, but he said since clients don't buy anything directly from me and no goods change hands from mine to theirs, I don't have to charge sales tax.<br /> Does this sound right from your experience?</p>

<p>Hello all!<br>

<br />I'm wondering, at what point does it become necessary to start a business? Or, rather, at what point could you be in trouble if you don't?<br>

I've been shooting weddings, families, engagements, etc...for a while now but mostly on my own time (I'm a stay at home mom and College student) and by word of mouth. I've got a Facebook page (who doesn't?) and a website, and cards for anyone who wants to find my work. I don't actively advertise, but I do get work.<br>

I'm beginning to wonder whether or not I would be getting myself in trouble (IRS? ect...) if I continue to behave as if I've got a business when I don't actually have a licensed business. <br>

I've done a lot of reading, but most of it seems to cover what you should do if you want to start a business. Right now I'm fairly happy shooting when I want to and making the occasional few bucks. I intend to start a business eventually, when my youngest is in school, but I'm not sure if I want to take that leap yet...that is, unless I would be getting myself in trouble if I don't.<br>

Any advice would be appreciated! <br>

Thanks!<br>

Nicole</p>

<p>I often wonder why so many of us are always trying to escape deffinitions. We need definitions in order to communicate with eachother effectively. I think it comes from the need to say "whatever I think must be right because I think it. Don't tell me I'm not what I think or say I am."</p>

<p>Sometimes I think that I wont be in any of the photographs at my funeral.</p>

<p>At what point then, if we flout definitions, does an image cease to be a photograph? If there is no boundary then when I say "it is a photograph" I can mean anything or nothing. And does it matter?</p>

<p>Antonio,<br>

I can't count the number of times that I have been in an amazing location, feeling the wind on my skin, and watching dust motes float like fairies through columns of sunlight that filter through a living green canopy. I feel overwhelmed with the beauty of the scene and I think to myself how I would love to share that moment with someone. I pull out my camera and take a few shots. I get home and have a look at them and the disappointment hits. What I captured was nothing like what I saw at the time. It seems smaller and flat and less alive. When I close my eyes and remember the scene chances are that even my memories are colored by my emotional attatchement to the place or time or situation. There are editing techniques and software that allow me to manipulate a photograph so that the end result more closely matches what I saw in my minds eye and allow me to convey more of what I felt or saw or experienced at the time.<br>

Maybe when I look at a rusted out old truck I see a kind of beauty in it. When you look at one you might see just a used peice of metal. Perhaps by the time I am done editing and saturating and manipulating the photograph I took of the old truck I may be able to convey to you what it is that I see when I look at it. Everybody sees and experiences what is real and their vision of it is colored or clouded or whatever by who they are and how they feel and what they've experienced. What photography does is help give us more control over how we wish to convey an image. You may wish to show a thing in as natural a state as possible, under the best conditions you can, and hope that people see the beauty in it. Someone may want to show the stark simplicity of a buildings lines without the buildings or people around it competeing for the viewers attention, or boost all the colors of a carnival shot so the viewer sees a dream like scene that was closer to what the photographer expericened while he/she was there. Is one method more right or valuable than another. I don't think so. The more diversity we have in photography the more eyes we have to see the world through.</p>

<p>Yes. Yes. And yes. When I first started seeking feedback it served two main purposes for me. To stroke my ego, and help me learn more about technique since I had no technical well to draw from. It was a valuable thing since sharing what I've done is the main motivator behind my taking photographs. I want people to see them. I want to share the way I see something with others. I want people to be pleased with what I've done for them (in the case of portraits or weddings, etc...) Early feedback helped me learn when it was someone who gave constructive critisism about ways I could improve and their body of work gave evidence that they knew what they were talking about. It motivated me to take more photos and improve the quality of the image I was trying to create.<br>

At the point I am at now, feedback serves a different purpose although I am always looking to learn and there is always room for improvement based on where you are headed. These days I value feedback as a way to see what I've done from an angle other than my own and to give me a different base from which to evaluate decisions I make. The level at which I value the advice/comments/critiques and change what I am doing based on them depends on where the advisor/commentator/critic stands in my opinion. I wont take a critique on a portrait I've done to heart if it's from someone whose portraiture I really dislike or who is headed in an opposite direction. That's a little contradictory but there you go. At the same time, lets be honest, ego is a furry creature who loves to be petted. (beware, however, that egoes have a funny characteristic. Too much petting is liable to change an ego from a soft fuzzy creature and into a monster, much like water on a mogwai.)<br>

Taking the c/c, feedback too seriously is the way it becomes distracting. Makes you question where you're heading, question your motivation, second guess yourself, and takes whole chunks of hair out of your fuzzy pet.</p>

<p>John K, you go ahead and tell my car that rust isn't violent and it will laugh in your face!</p>

<p>Dying things have a history, a life and a memory of their own. A little bit of anthropomorphism.</p>

<p>Popular+good? If it is still popular 100 years from now, then yep. It probably is.</p>

<p>Fred, that's very true. It's been a while I guess. Agreed!</p>

<p>Fred, I hope you didnt think I was trying to start an argument! Just relating that my ideas of fantasy are really closely linked with my thoughts on truth and the one makes a difference in how I see the other. If I believed truth to be a changeable thing my thoughts on fantasy would be different than they are. Still, point taken. Mouth zipped. ;)</p>

<p>Unless the thing is immutable it can't be truth, or we must change the word we are using to something else. If the deffinition of truth is constantly changing or in flux it is a meaningless word or else we aren't talking about the same thing. What context (and let's also say emotional state, which can be greatly influenced by mood and tone and context of a photograph) you view the truth through will color the way you see it, but context doenst change the fact, only our perception of it.<br>

I keep thinking of the famous Cottingly fairies. Through the lens of a camera the fantasy of a little girls mind was made manifest. </p>

<p>If there is Truth, then by it's very deffinition in has to be absolute and black and white and immutable. If is isn't, then the word means nothing and we're simply changing it's meaning to suit our idea of what it ought to be and not what it is. The Truth is that rock that everything we see is built on so it's natural that what we see should project that Truth (some things more forceably than others the nearer to the Truth they are) and find a spark of recognition and even yearning within us. What we choose to project that truth through colors our perception of it.<br>

Fantasy seems to open up a way to view what we feel about things without the confines of the rules of our natural world. A wonderfully kind lady may be much more a fairy princess in truth than what she is allowed by this world. A woodland glade may be much more full of magic than our "advanced" minds comprehend. </p>

 

<p>Thanks! <br />Sorry it took so long to reply, our internet was off, but those are great suggestions!</p>

<p>I am about to shoot a baby shower and I was wondering if anyone who has shot one had any advice to follow. This is an adoption shower and I dont know if that makes a difference but I would like to cover all the bases.</p>

<p>Thanks for everyone who takes the time to read and respond!</p>

<p>Thank you :)</p>

<p>Wow, there is so much to go through here that it will take me a long time to respond to it all and make sure I understand everything that is being said.<br>

First, I appreciate everyone who took the time to write such detailed thoughts and answers. Too often when we ask for critiques we don't get anything as helpfull as this has been. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who said she would have cried but I am honestly gratefull (certainly humbled) that all of this advice can be used to better the images I create.</p>

<p>Nadine,<br>

When I was first asked to do the wedding, I made sure the bride understood that I wasn't a professional and the limitations of my equipement. When I understood it was going to be an outdoor wedding I asked some of the photographers here whether I should invest in a new lens (I had very limited funds) or get a flash. They suggested that a flash would be a better idea and I knew it would improve the quality of the photographs so I bought one. I practiced with it as much as I could before the wedding and read the manual to try and be sure I understood what I was doing and I was honestly under the impression that H Sync in AV was the most convenient way to get the best portraits quickly since I knew I would need to work fast. But now that I know better I will deffinately be working on that aspect.</p>

<p>In regards to the brides skin tone, she covered herself with bronzer (even got quite a bit on her dress that I photoshopped out) but I made an effort to correct that and I guess I'm not seeing what everyone else is.</p>

<p>I have only had my camera for about a year, and I try to shoot as often as I can between taking care of my boys (6years and 18 months) and whatever else I have to do. I devour books on photography and try to learn as much as I can so I can be as proficient as possible. This site has certainly helped me there, although it seems I am not as far along as what I had hoped. :)</p>

<p>Anything I know has been leaned from books, trial and error, and helpfull people like you all.</p>

<p>Maybe where I messed up the most was being so concerned with trying not to miss anything that I often neglected to pay attention to the technical aspects of what I was doing. Thankfully the Bride was happy with the photos, and I shot in RAW.</p>

<p>Becoming more technically minded will now be my goal.</p>

<p>Wow, thanks to everyone who replied with really helpfull comments! You've given me some great info.<br>

William W;<br>

For the shot with the boys, I actually wanted a little bit of a blur. I had started them rough housing and they were carrying the groom off to the car before the ceremony. Maybe it didn't translate well, though, and the blur I was wanting wasn't the blur I got.<br>

For the 3/4 portrait, the softness is due to a filter I used in post, not the origional, which I kept and processed a little differently, it looks a little more like David's edited version and the Bride has both.<br>

The bouqet was taken without a pod, I brought one but didnt end up using it. We were on a fairly steep downhill slope that was also uneven ( I had shoeless bridesmaids because I didnt want anyone tumbling down into the water) and using the pod felt really cumbersome.<br>

With the kiss, I took several shots of this pose in a few variations and I chose this one for it's kind of soft, romantic quality, but again, maybe I didn't end up with what I had intended or maybe it just isn't translating well.<br>

.I tried to shoot as wide open as possible, or at lease as I felt the situation permitted, to throw the BG out of focus because I was dealing with a big light difference due to the bright sunlight and I suppose I thought I could minimize it. I shot in Av mostly because I wanted to use the fill on the fly without having to mess with any settings and thats where the hi-speed sync is. I guess what really ties it together with your questioning is that I didnt think any of the shutter speeds were so slow that I would have to worry much about camera shake with it being so bright outside I could keep the ISO low and still not have to worry about noise in any shots I wanted to crop close in post.</p>

<p>David;<br>

I dont know why the bouquet is backward! I suppose it just seemed like the thing to do at the time. I had placed it on a little stand because I didnt want to lay it on the ground and bruise any of her flowers before the ceremony. The part that you are taking for sky is actually water. The sunlight was very bright and that particular lake is really murky and what you see is the result. It is usually a fairly un-apatizing green.<br>

For the bride portrait, I didnt think the blow outs were that bad! She was in the shade and everything else was bright...I thought I was pretty sucessful...sigh :(<br>

I like your enhancement, it is stronger, and I have this photo in a similar condition, the bride has both copies. The version you see actually has been retouched and I experimented with a filter. The teeth whitened, blemishes removed, arm wrinkles taken out, the whites of her eyes brightened, and the wrinkles under her eyes softened a little bit. I start to get uneasy retouching after a certain point because I don't want my subjects looking fake but your version certainly doesnt.</p>

<p>I hope I answered the questions enough so that you can understand a little more why I made the decisions I did and that could help you to set me strait or point me in the right direction or both!<br>

Thanks again for taking the time to help!</p>

 

<p>I recently delivered the photo's for my second wedding shoot but it was the first PAID wedding I've ever done (albeit very inexpensive). I bought some new equipment for an outdoor wedding and reception (580 EX II with bracket and accessories) which was on the hottest and sunniest day of the year. The Bride wanted formals before the wedding (which suited me fine) and luckily we had great shade and overcast sky for her portraits but as soon as we finished the sun came blaring out and I fought with it all day long.<br>

Most importantly, the Bride was happy with the photographs and I recieved a lot of possitive feedback from friends of the Bride and friends of mine who loved the photos but not from anyone with a "trained eye."<br>

I would really appreciate it if I could get some critiques of some of the photo's I've uploaded to the Wedding folder in my gallery. I've been working with them for so long it's like I've gone blind.<br>

Please help me shoot better wedding photos!<br>

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to have a look!</p>