kerrick_long

<p>Thank you all for the advice! I think I'm going to pick up the <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/541210-STUD/Impact_BGSC_B_816_Super_Collapsible_Background.html/mode/edu">larger collapsible backdrop</a>.</p>

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<p>That is most likely <a href="http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=1407">digital noise</a>. What was the ISO setting in the photograph?</p>

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Shot this in my first day at the studio. I had to have a snooted kicker light

on the cards to make them stand out, good learning experience!<div></div>

<p>I don't think it's self-promotion, I did some research and he seems to be Rajat Chadda from New Dheli, India, currently living in Toronto, Ontario, a graduate of University of Toronto with his graduate degree. Ah, what five minutes of searching will do. Oh, and goo.gl is Google's URL shortener.</p>

<p>Anyways, the photos look very surreal, but they were definitely lit by artificial light. Take a look at the <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/">Strobist blog</a>'s post on <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/09/lighting-102-31-balance-flashsun.html">Balancing Flash with Sunlight</a>, it seems they used some of the same techniques.</p>

<p>If you do want to split the business, I would recommend keeping a common link between the brands. For example, if you wanted to call your portraiture/fine art business "Debo Art Photography," I would call the sports/action division "Debo Sports Photography." Okay, I've never been the greatest with creative names, but you get the idea.<strong> If people hear good things about your photography, make sure they know of the common link between the two businesses: <em>you</em>.</strong> That way, word of mouth from your wedding/portraiture can work wonders for your sports/auto.</p>

<p>Or if you're not an artist, there are plenty of online tools to do the same:</p>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.lightingdiagrams.com/Creator">OLDC</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sylights.com/">Share Your Lights</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.professionalsnapshots.com/PhotoDiagram/">PhotoDiagram</a></li>

</ul>

<p>Well, you'll probably want a relatively soft light source so that you avoid hotspots and specular highlights. To do that, put your lights in a softbox or on the other side of the light tent to diffuse the light. Keep in mind that whatever shows up in the reflective surface, is actually in the room with you. The angle that your angle hits a piece of metal is the same angle opposite that the reflected item is at in the room.</p>

<p>Using a rather large softbox as your main light source can be very beneficial, as most of what is reflected is the smooth white surface of the softbox, thereboy reducing the look of anything actually being reflected. Take a look at this page on Strobist: <a href="http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/08/lighting-102-cooking-light-assignment.html">http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/08/lighting-102-cooking-light-assignment.html</a></p>

 

<p>First thing that strikes me is the title: "Free website built by Dall..." shows up in my tab, and the rest of it says "...as using Blank Website." I would highly recommend changing that if possible so that it looks professional. I'm not so sure about the script font for the navigation, as it's a bit hard to read, though it does fit with the look of the site. Also, some pages have the navigation on the left and some on the bottom, some large and some small, I think that you should probably try to make it consistent.</p>

<p>I think that there have always been people who will take the photographs themselves over hiring a professional photographer, even before the days of digital. The prevalence of disposable cameras when I was growing up was a huge indicator for me. Sure, digital point-and-shoots have made photography a bit "easier" for the average person, but I don't think that many people who would take their own photographs with their digicam today would have hired a professional photographer ten years ago, either.</p>

<p>My sister is a fine example of this: when she got married, she didn't hire a photographer. Instead, she put a disposable camera on every table and let the guests take shots. She got mostly shots that were blurry, not-well-composed, and even some of the elbow-looking-like-butts, but she got five or ten that were okay. Today, she's a point-and-shooter, and rarely hires a professional photographer except for portraits of her kids every year or so.</p>

<p>I think that photography as a profession does indeed exist these days, but they way you find work and where you must look for your clients is changing. Magazines usually do not fill their beautiful large glossy pages with amateur photographs, advertising agencies are always looking for high-quality stock photography (not that iStockPhoto stuff), and don't forget portraiture as a field that may never die. People are always going to be vain and want a photograph of themselves (or their children) that makes them look flattering in a way that only a photographer and his/her exceptional knowledge of portrait lighting can.</p>

<p>I personally use <a href="http://www.tineye.com/">Tineye</a>. It's free and works pretty darn well!</p>

<p>Gray, BW, and Color will have little to do with the file size of a scanned image.</p>

<ol>

<li>BW means Black and White: there will only be black pixels, and white pixels, no shades of gray.</li>

<li>Gray means Grayscale, which is basically a monochromatic image: all colors will be removed, and you will be left with an image much like you would get from old Black and White film.</li>

<li>Color means exactly what it says, Color: You will get the full range of colors unaltered.</li>

</ol>

<p>I'll post an image example of each to help you understand.</p><div></div>

<p>You can calibrate your monitor by eye-balling it if you'd like. Just search for "Calibrate display color" in the start menu and go through that. Of course, using calibration hardware is better, but more expensive.</p>

<p>Parallax error is only an issue on viewfinder cameras when you are fairly close to the subject. As you move away from the subject, the difference between what you see in the viewfinder and what the sensor will see will be smaller and smaller. However, this doesn't factor in zoom: In a viewfinder camera, the VF will not zoom when your lens does.</p>

<p>Why do you want a Digital SLR? In order to use a DSLR properly, you will not only have to read the manual, but also learn the basics of photography such as the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. In addition, most DSLRs will not be as energy efficient as a point and shoot - they put all their juice towards the power DSLRs are famous for, whereas a Digital Point and Shoot would last a lot longer.</p>

<p>If you picked up, say, a Canon G11, you could have a camera that powers up quickly, has long lasting rechargable batteries, is energy efficient, and comes with a long enough zoom lens (built-in) to keep you at a comfortable distance from children and animals. The one thing you would be missing is the high frame-rate of the DSLRs: The G11 shoots at 1FPS while the Canon XSi, for example, shoots at 3.5FPS. However, the buffer will fill up pretty quickly on the XSi, and you won't be able to shoot for more than a second or two in burst mode without waiting for the buffer to empty to the card, during which time you cannot take pictures.</p>

<p>However, if you are set on getting a DSLR, I would recommend going to the brick-and-mortar store and feeling them in your hands. The most important thing when differentiating between entry-level DSLRs in your case is ergonomics, since they will all fulfill your needs. Take a look at Nikon, Canon, Pentax, and Sony entry-level cameras. Don't let them convince you to buy any accessories, just buy the body and come back to Photo.net and post which camera you got so we can help you buy the proper lens.</p>

<p>Hope this helps, and good luck in your camera buying journey, and the fun volunteer work that will follow!</p>

<p>One thing I'm surprised nobody's asked: What quality JPEG are you saving? Try saving at a higher quality to reduce artifacts.</p>

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<p>In addition to selecting an HTML or CSS web designer or template, are there other critcal first steps that need to be taken when putting together a business website for a photographer?</p>

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<p>Basically, do the opposite of Gary's list:</p>

<ol>

<li>Use descriptive text with text relevant to your location, services offered, and more. This will help your users know exactly what you can offer to them. It will also help your search engine rankings, as long as you're not keyword-stuffing - they recognize that.</li>

<li>Be sure that you optimize your code and your images so everything loads relatively quickly. If you are doing a slideshow that doesn't automatically play, consider using "lazy loading," a technique which doesn't actually load any images but the first until the user clicks the "next" button.</li>

<li>With your portfolio, you should focus on quality over quantity. Too many images will be daunting and not all of them will be looked at (especially with as much time spent on appreciating each one), and it'll load slowly too. Show your best shots - not necessarily your favorites, but those that are technically good, emotionally powerful, and aesthetically pleasing.</li>

<li>Keep your site well-organized and well-maintained. If you a;re using more than one page, be sure to have your navigation cleary visible and readable, and possibly categorized you have more than 4-5 pages. Be sure you don't get any HTTP 404 errors (you can check this with Firefox's Firebug or Chrome/Safari's Inspector) - that includes your favicon, your scripts and stylesheets, and any images you have.</li>

<li>Be sure to have a call to action with multiple avenues. If you want your website to get you new clients, make your clients want to contact you - and let them do it how they please! List your phone number, email address, and put a contact form there for good measure. If you want your website to serve as an e-commerce site where people can buy prints, be sure the purchase link is visible and easy to click, without being too in-your-face.</li>

</ol>

<p>I've learned my lesson on this one. When she said she'd pay me, she thought it meant $10 instead of my regular rates because we were friends. As we didn't discuss it up front, I decided to take the $10 and a model release in exchange for the hours of work and one digital file. I think you have the right idea, Gary... I'll put a license for one-time use just in case she decides she wants to get prints, etc. later. Thanks for all the advice, P-netters.</p>

<p>Why Flash? Flash sites are usually slower than sites coded well in HTML and CSS, plus the new generation of mobile phones (and now tablets with the iPad) don't run Flash. I would personally recommend hiring a web designer who specializes in front-end development (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and user interface design. A good place to go is <a href="http://sortfolio.com/">Sortfolio</a>, so you can find a designer in your area and budget.</p>

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<p>I know I have a lot to learn, which I am doing. I am in my first year of a degree in Commercial Photography, so I'm nowhere near 'pro' status... yet. The reason I posted the shots was to give a gauge of where my talent and quality is at the moment so that I could get help on pricing for the shoot, etc.</p>

<p>We did discuss that it <em>would</em> be paid, but not <em>how much</em> would be paid here. I know that I should have discussed that up front, but hindsight is 20/20. In the future I surely will do so. As for the licenses for the pictures, I have those written already, just don't know what to charge for those rights, or for the shoot for that matter.</p>

<p>It was not only my first paid photo shoot, but hers too, so we were both expecting a bit of give-and-take in terms of knowledge of what was supposed to happen. I don't think she'll be in shock with whatever I quote her, I just don't want to be detrimental to the industry or to my future possible opportunities by charging too little or too much, respectively.</p>