Recently I was participating in a thread in one of the photo communities that I enjoy, and the subject of the cost of doing business came up. I decided to take a serious look into the costs associated with being an event or wedding photographer. Turns out, the costs associated that I could determine made me appreciate even more the fact that I am a hobbyist/enthusiast and not a pro – I couldn’t survive on this salary and with that kind of workload!
Anyway, I thought I’d share the results of my calculations here, and hear what others have to say. Am I too high in my estimation? Too low? Did I miss any expenses? Are some unrealistic? (I don’t know how much health insurance is if you are not part of an employer plan…)
I categorized the costs into various groupings to include:
Hourly Commitment
Gear Investment
Educational Investment
Advertising Investment
Miscellaneous Expenses
Is there anything else? See the attached Excel spreadsheet and plug your own numbers in! (I made columns C, D and E formulas so everything should adjust out for you…) In the meantime, Happy Shooting, and I hope all your shots are good ones!
The latest podcast episode has been published and in this week’s episode I talk about a new podcast to hit the airwaves – Digital Photography Life, hosted by none other than Scott Sherman and Michael Stein. If these names sound familiar it’s because I have talked about them and their podcast before when they used to host The Digital Photography Life. Tune in to the podcast here to listen to the details Their show notes are posted on Scott’s blog, which can be found here, and of course, their press release announcing the show, can be read here.
The podcast also raises an interesting question about the disconnect between creative thinking versus communicative thinking and looks at the disconnect that often occurs between these two mindsets. I’ve not heard anyone talk about this specifically before, so would be interested especially in reader thoughts on this particular subject!
Last but not least, I also look at some of the more exciting things that were a part of Photoshop User Magazine’s latest issue (December 2008) including the Gonzo Gear Guide from Scott Kelby, and the 100 Greatest Photoshop tips! Of course the show, as always, is rounded out with a few Q&A, and a Road Tip for you. So, download the latest to your iPod, MP3 player or listen on your commutes…
In the meantime, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
As a proud member of Jason Moore’s “P&P Blogroll” I’ve had a unique opportunity to find and become acquainted with several photographers who I might otherwise not had the pleasure of knowing. One such talented individual is Andrew Smith, of Visual Realia. Andrew’s blog is a unique combination of photography and poetry. It is truly an amazing combination and well worth adding to your RSS feeds. Andrew agreed to participate in the Thursday Thoughts here at CB, so without further ado, here’s some great insight into his talents:
Q: Everyone always wants to know some of the basics, so let’s get a few things out of the way at once here…How long have you been a photographer? A: I remember having a camera or two as a child, and enjoyed using them, but was pretty much just using point and shoot film cameras until digitals became affordable for the mass market. My blog’s been up and running for a few years now.
Q: Canon or Nikon? A: Wait a minute… this is one of those trick questions, isn’t it? Canon? Nikon? I’m an Olympus man!My past two cameras have been made by Olympus, and I love them both. Price for performance is excellent. I’m surprised more people in the blogging world aren’t Olympus users; reviews are usually strong. Even the fact that your question doesn’t include Olympus is somewhat telling about Olympus’ need to think about their marketing. My Olympus behaves very consistently, and has provided me with a very pleasant user experience. By the way, the first camera I remember having was shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head, and you pulled his one ear down to shoot. I’m hoping “Mouse” will be added to Canon and Nikon in this question in the future.
Q: Fair enough, I’ll start including more camera vendors in future questions, and thanks for the good info about Olympus! So, moving along, Mac or PC (and I’ll add Linux to the mix given your last response! 🙂 )? A: My first computer was an Apple IIGS, which was under-appreciated. It treated me well, and I’ve happily stuck with Apple products since. I have one of the 2008 towers, which is really friendly with Photoshop.
Q; Chocolate or Vanilla? A: I love and make homemade vanilla ice cream with a recipe that dates back to at least my grandparents. And none of that wimpy “cooking the egg” thing.
Q: Okay, now I am getting hungry, but let’s continue into something with a little more granularity,. Photographers often enjoy hearing helpful and constructive critiques of their work, as we are aware of how much we can grow from it. However, we’ve also all had the “nice shot” and “cool” comments when we’ve shared our work. With that backdrop, what was the singular most useful critique or comment you’ve ever had on work you’ve shared publicly? A: I’m going to buck the standard thought in “serious” photography and say that I have no problem with those “cool” and “nice shot” comments, and even proudly admit that I’ll leave such comments myself, if they fit. Don’t get me wrong; I’m quite happy to get specific feedback about a technique, framing, tonal use, depth of field, etc. If I see a photograph online that strikes me as using such a technique particularly well, I’ll comment on that. There are also times, however, when a photograph loads on a web page (or I see a print) and my brain immediately screams, “Cool!” When a photograph quickly grabs me on an emotional level, that’s a success for the photographer. While I could break apart the image and try to figure out what makes the photograph work, quite frankly, that’s not as important to me as enjoying the image as one entity. Learn techniques, but enjoy the photograph. We’ve all seen web sites where commenting on techniques or aspects of a photograph seem more about the commenter’s desire to show off their photography vocabulary rather than saying anything new about the work. If I share a photo that causes a viewer to give me a one word emotional response, that’s pretty “cool” to me!
Q: Well, my next question would be a follow-up one asking “Who said it?”, but clearly that’s not needed here. Great perspective and it will definitely make me reconsider the value of the short answer-critique. SO, let’s move onto the next “critique” question: If someone was asking you for an honest critique of their work, what 3 factors would you look at most (excluding friendships or family relatives, we’re talking professional or fellow photographer-types here)? A: After my response above, I better include emotional or communication aspects. Technically, I agree with a lot of photographers that light can never be stressed enough, and line or movement always interests me.
Q: Wow, you’re gonna make me re-think the entire questionnaire here, but this is really an interesting perspective to things. What about personal experiences from out in the field? Got any war stories from field shoots or outings that you can or would be willing to share? A: Since I do not derive my main source of income from photography, I’m usually not in situations where war stories present themselves! Worst-case scenario, I put down the camera and enjoy a beautiful walk and the interesting world around me. On a lighter note, I’ll always remember photo walks where onlookers eye the mass of photographers and wonder what grand media event is occurring.
Q: That happened in Golden, CO when we did the Scott Kelby walk too! Someone asked me who was coming to town and I answered “Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for a half second before coming clean.” It is kind of fun to see that reaction though. Anyway, I digress…back on topic, if you had to choose between the gear or the software as the only way to create, which would it be and why? A: Toss up. I’ve seen amazing photographs from pinhole cameras that clearly show that gear means nothing compared to imagination. Software skills can sometimes bring out the hidden beauty in a captured moment, but the photographer using the program needs to be able to know where to look for that beauty. In the digital world, it’s hard to separate the camera, the digital file and the software. Each is a part of the process that will hopefully bring out something that communicates a moment as seen by the photographer. In the end, both the gear and software are nothing compared to the idea and the person creating it.
Q: Any final thoughts you’d like to share about the state of photography or any catch phrases that you keep in mind when shooting?
A: Photography is a tool to share something. Maybe it’s a literal document of a moment in time, or possibly an image from the photographer’s mind. Either way, focus on the technique beforehand and communication as you open the shutter. A great jazz musician learns chords, scales and the work of those before him or her. There’s intense practice that allows the musician to internalize those techniques and skills, so when the moment comes to improvise in front of an audience, the technical aspects don’t get in the way of the artistic message. Learn what you can and look at the work of artists in all mediums. Practice the skills and techniques you need, pick your time and place, push those technical thoughts aside and enjoy improvising.
Thanks Andy for such a thoughtful set of answers and for taking the time to participate in the latest Thursday Thoughts. It shows just how quickly blinders can become a part of your vision and that we all just seek to be aware of when we might be putting blinders on!
So, that was it with Andy, and thanks again to him for taking the time to sit down with CB for a One-on-One. Please stop over to his website at Visual Realia and enjoy his work. Leave some comments too (even if they’re one-word comments! 🙂 )
Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
In the tightening economy, many of us are considering additional ways of supplementing our income, and as hobbyist photographers, we all have wondered at times whether we could parlay our hobbies into sources of revenue. For a short time I even considered this blog as a possible method for generating revenue. By and large though, I found that the blog was not well-positioned to be a significant source of revenue, for a number of reasons.
So, I decided to turn the idea arond, and think about whether my photography could be considered as a source of revenue. Thus far I have resisted the urge to do so, primarily because I don’t want to add the stress of running a side business to my enjoyment of photography. Nevertheless, I have considered it seriously, and in so doing, read quite a bit about it. And what have I learned? Quite a bit actually. But today, I’d like to share 5 tips about how to make money off your photos.
5 Tips for Making Money off your Photos
Magazines – Magazines are always looking for fresh images for stories. Get yourself a copy of The Photographers Market (most recent publication year is 2008)), and find out the magazines that match your interests most and send them the appropriate information as specified. Don’t be dejected if at first you don’t garner much interest. There are many others like you also submitting images regularly and it can take a while.
Stock Photography – Stock photo sites like Getty, iStockPhoto, Crestock, and a host of others offer a great venue for tapping into the enthusiast photographer market. You simply create an account, upload some sample images, and once you get enough “approved” you are off and running. The problem here is that your images are being sold for mere pennies (in your pocket). So, in order to generate sufficient revenue, you need to have hundreds upon hundreds of sales. In turn this means you need a portfolio of at least that many images available to get any kind of penetration into the stock market genre. This is becoming quite crowded, but if you are talented, and have the library – upload away!
Consignment – An often untapped resource is local restaurants and businesses. Go talk to small business owners whether it be a restaurant around the corner, a body shop, or other such enterprise, and offer to decorate their walls for free. In exchange, you get free exposure and possible image sales. Often the business owner will want at least a cut on the profits, so don’t be shocked if they ask for it. It also helps to have several images all ready to hang, so go prepared with at least 5 images in 3 different sizes. I would suggest a 5×7, 8,10, and 11×14 matted and framed out to 8×10, 11×14, and 16×20 respectively. Be sure you are also prepared to be told “No.” Persistence and self-confidence here is key. It also helps if you scope the place out ahead of time. You can do so by eating a meal there, having some auto work done, or going in for a cup of coffee (whatever, you get the idea).
Medical Offices – Here is a real sleeper that can pay off in spades. Doctors offices love to have fine art on the wall – it can sooth anxious or sick patients. Even if they have a set of artwork already displayed, it never hurts to ask. Simply offer a rotation for the next month, or 2 months, or 6 months, and be prepared to offer a portion of image sales to them (doctors like to make money too – or so I’ve heard!). Also, don’t limit yourself to the traditional image of a doctor’s office – go see dentists offices, orthopedists, optometrists, orthopedics, etc. As always, be prepared and quick – these guys (and gals) make money off their time, so the more time you spend trying to convince them it’s a good idea, the less time they spend seeing patients, and the less time they are making money. Go in, be quick, be professional, wow them with great images, and get out.
Banks are another great resource. Try seeing if your local branch will let you set out cards on display, or perhaps hang an image or two. Some banks even offer this service to local businesses. WHen I was in SC, my local bank had one day every week where a local business was featured. I put my cards out, and once or twice I even had my info up on display. It generated some interest and even a few gigs. Once I found out about our move to Colorado, I stopped though, for obvious reasons, and once we’re more settled down here I’l be doing the same.
So, there’s 5 tips for you on how to make money off your photos. The common theme here is to have your images out there. If you don’t put your images into the hands of potential buyers, no one will ever buy anything from you. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to keep at least 5-10 business cards or calling cards with you at all times. Keep ten in your car, ten in your wallet, and ten in your coat. You never know when someone will say “Do you know a good photographer?” and you’l be kicking yourself for not having a card wth you!
There they are, 5 tips for making money off your photos. Anyone else used these tips with any success? What about other tips? Feel free to share your own thoughts, suggestions, and ideas in the comments section (or via email.) Hope everyone’s weekend was good, and we’l see you back here tomorrow for the weekly podcast! Happy shooting!
Jason D. Moore is a well known photographer and graphic designer, with ACE certifications on Adobe PS CS3, has extensive experience as a videographer, is a member of the Adobe Acrobat User Community, and also has some extensive experience in web development. Suffice to say, he is very well-known for his Photography and Photoshop Blogroll, and has had several mentions on Photoshop User TV. He also hosts photo walks in the Southern Tier of New York and is just a super nice guy. Last week he and I had a chance to exchange a few emails and I learned quite a bit about him and his background from our discussion.
Q. Everyone always wants to know some of the basics, so let’s get a few things out of the way at once here…How long have you been a photographer? A. I’ve been taking pictures on and off since I was a kid. When I was the editor of my high school yearbook I began to see images more in terms of their composition and how they conveyed a message when placed together in a collection. I got a lot from my dad when I would go along with him on video shoots growing up and learned how to take it from just conveying a message to telling a story. I didn’t do much with photography in college, but rediscovered my love for it while studying abroad during my senior year with Semester at Sea (www.semesteratsea.com) and then began taking it really seriously with my first dSLR – a Nikon D50 – back in 2006.
Q. 2. Canon or Nikon? A. Nikon
Q. Mac or PC? A. PC
Q. Chocolate or Vanilla? A. Vanilla – but I also really like Black Raspberry, Peanut Butter Cup, Cookies and Cream, and Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream.
Q. Moving into a little more granularity, photographers often enjoy hearing helpful and constructive critiques of their work, as we are aware of how much we can grow from it. However, we’ve also all had the “nice shot” and “cool” comments when we’ve shared our work. What was the singular most useful critique or comment you’ve ever had on work you’ve shared publicly?
A. I’m not sure it’s considered a critique that I learned from but I always remember Scott Kelby telling me, “You’ve got some very inspiring work—a great eye (which is what it’s all about), and some great Photoshop skills to boot!” And when one of my shots was picked as a NAPP Editor’s Choice, Larry Becker said, “This (and many other images in this portfolio) make us want to be there. This is beautiful art.” Making viewers want to be there is a high goal to strive for and it pushes me to try harder every time I go out shooting to attain it. These comments would mean a lot no matter who said them, but because they come from men I respect and who know what they are talking about, it really touched me.
Q. If someone was asking you for an honest critique of their work, what 3 factors would you look at most (excluding friendships or family relatives, we’re talking professional or fellow photographer-types here)?
A. Technically speaking I look at framing/composition, color/tone, and sharpness/depth of field (not in any particular order). However, while all of those things are important, I’ve always been a believer in art trumping the technical. I look for a sense of style, individuality and a unique approach/perspective, and most of all, that the piece tells a story. If it moves me, the technical stuff doesn’t matter as much. Q. Got any war stories from field shoots or outings that you can or would be willing to share?
A. It’s not a photography story, but a videography story. A few years ago at my old job I was headed out on a shoot about 4 hours away. Before I left, I checked all my gear to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything – batteries, microphones, cables, directions, etc. – and headed out the door. I was already running a little bit late. When I got about an hour and a half into my drive, I suddenly realized that I never checked to make sure I had enough tape for the day. At the next service area I reached into the camera bag and realized that, not only did I not have enough tape for the day, I didn’t have any! So I had to drive back an hour and a half to grab the tapes that were sitting right next to where the camera bag was. At the end of the day, I was advised of a “better” route back home which actually added an extra hour or so to the trip. So I ended up spending 4 extra hours in the car.
There are also the couple of times when I was doing some live event work when, due to scheduling or technical issues of one sort or another, I had to endure 40-hour work days, including setup of a convention center’s worth of sound and video equipment and full-day sessions of conferences.
Q. If you had to choose between the gear or the software as the only way to create, which would it be and why?
A. I learned a lot about Photoshop before I learned a whole lot about Photography and I think you can do some amazing things when the two are working in concert. With that said, I’d have to go with the camera over the software. Photographers were creating breathtaking shots long before there was Photoshop and really, without the shot, the software isn’t much use, is it?
Q. Any final thoughts you’d like to share about the state of photography or any catch phrases that you keep in mind when shooting?
A. I’m a details kind of guy and I really like the phrase “get close, then get closer.” I think I heard it from Derek Story but can’t be certain. It’s a concept I’ve heard over and over but that says it really well. One of the things I strive for is to find a part that tells of the whole. Sometimes you don’t need to show all of something for your audience to get it. Sometimes just a small piece can say more than the entire subject and you will usually find that your shots are more interesting that way too!
I’d like to thank Jason for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share some of his thoughts and experiences with the readership here. Please stop over at this website to thank him yourself and to see his portfolio of work. He can be found at: http://www.jasondmoore.com
As we head into the weekend, for those who are picking up the blog via RSS feeds and never made it over to the site, I had enough email from you requesting to share these in a dedicated blog post. So, a little addendum post to get you through the weekend, here are the headers from this past week:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Any in particular jump out at anyone? Feel free to share your thoughts, views, etc. in the comments. In the meantime, Happy Shooting, and we’ll see you back here again on Monday!
Here we are into week 13 of “What’s This?” I know, it typically goes up on Wednesdays, but been having a few other issues going on so yesterday was a no-post day for me…anyway, here’s the latest edition for the watchful eyes of the readership. What’s This?
What's This - Week 13
As always, the winner…wins! Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!
Nothing fancy today – just something to whet your creativity – can you guess what this is? It took me a while to dig through my archive of images to find one that I could crop this way and effectively not give it away. The winner….well, wins! Good luck to all, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
Oh yeah, don’t forget to vote in the poll – how much time do you spend shooting for your own projects each month?
Before I even start on anything photographic today, this is a great day to be alive. Not only is it the first installment of MNF (Monday Night Football), but it is my own beloved Denver Broncos! Having been a fan since the age of 8, and cried through the first 4 Super Bowls in sadness, and then in exhilaration for the next 2 in happiness, let’s just say GAME ON as the season gets underway with us revving up against the Raiders (yes, I’m a Raider hater like nobody’s business!) tonight at 8pm!
Okay, now having set the stage for tonight, let’s shift back to the photography theme of the day – reducing noise in your images. Let’s start with a little background:
From even the early days of film, photography as a medium has always had noise as a factor. Before digital came of age, this was actually referred to as grain rather than noise, and the speed of the film was directly proportional to the amount of noise that you would get. Higher ASA values meant you could capture images in lower light, but at the expense of grain.
As most major forms of photographic expression have moved to digital, we now are looking at this issue using more current semantics, that being noise rather than grain. Digital noise is introduced as we increase the ISO levels within our digital cameras. This has been a major advantage to digital photography, because you can change the noise/grain tolerance from one frame to the next, whereas with film, you had to choose your tolerance level when you put the film in. If you put in too high a film speed, and you wound up with a lot of noise in images that otherwise did not need it. Alternatively, if you put in too low a speed film, none of your pictures would turn out.
Some of us try to introduce grain/noise for artistic effect, while others try to minimize it to achieve clean smooth color transitions without any granularity. Each of these could merit its own discussion, so today I am going to look at 3 of the ways that you can reduce noise in your photography:
During capture – if you want to minimize noise, one of the best ways to do that is to ensure you are shootig with the lowest noise tolerance in your camera. This means ensuring that your ISO is set to its lowest possible levels. Most point-and-shoot cameras allow for this type of adjustment these days, as do practically all SLR cameras. As a general rule of thumb, the better the camera, the lower the ISO. Most consumer grade SLR’s will allow you to adjust ISO settings down to 100. As you price into higher quality SLR’s, some can drop this value further to 50 or even 25. At that level, expect to pay about $2000 or more for the SLR body that can accommodate this.
In your photo editor – There are many options here for reducing noise if your in camera settings did not minimize noise enough for your tastes. Everything from Photoshop Elements, to Lightroom, iPhoto, Corel, and of course Photoshop CS3 have internal controls that allow you to make adjustments to compensate for noise in images. Some methods perform noise reduction better than others and even some programs excel at this better than others, but by and large, variances in the quality of noise reduction will be a function of the cost of the software itself – iPhoto is free, so the noise adjustments will not offer much in the way of malleable controls. Elements, at about $75 is a little better at handling noise, while Lightroom and Photoshop round out the higher end of photo software programs both in their price and in their handling of noise.
Specific Noise Reduction programs – Because there is such an interest in managing noise, a growing body of software caters specifically to this function, and this function only. Software developers have seen a need for this and specially designed programs are now made to handle just the management of noise in images. Most offer as a part of their programs, a way to incorporate their algorithms into larger photo editing software by means of plugins. Some of the most common and well-known noise editing programs include Noise Ninja, Noiseware, NeatImage, and Dfine.
As you can see, there are many ways to manage noise, including in camera options, within your photo editor, and with free standing noise reduction software. I have found that the best results lie in a combination of all of the above. I try to remember to make necessary adjustments in camera for the type of images I am capturing. From there, as I move into my photo editor, if noise is present but not excessive, I will use the built-in noise reduction measures. For images where the noise levels are high, I use Noise Ninja and have been happy with the results.
But, just like haircuts, there are more opinions out there on what constitutes effective management of noise in photos. So, let’s hear it! What methods do you use to manage noise in your photos? Feedback, thoughts, and discussions are always welcome in the Comments section. Well, I guess that means tomorrow I will probably have to do a tutorial on noise management in images. So, until then, happy shooting and watch those apertures!
As I started a new job here in Colorado, I was actually quite excited to do so, because a fair portion of it includes some photography portrait work, event photography, and a lot of publishing in catalogs, brochures, and marketing materials.
As a hobbyist photographer for going on 4 years now, I would guess that I am similar to many other hobbyists – I enjoy learning more about the field, and at some point, there has always been an interest in “taking things to the next level.” Today, my Thursday Thoughts revolve around that premise, and the age old adage that one should be careful what one wishes for.
Taking pictures for ones own pleasure and self expression is always gratifying, but when taking on photography as a profession, your own creative vision can very quickly become muffled, if not lost on the creative vision of others. In the past month of working at my new position, I am already noticing that photography at work has become very much that – work. What it has also done though, is what I was most fearful of – I am taking my camera gear out less and less for my own creative expression and enjoyment. I guess the silver lining is the awareness came rather quickly.
Now, I am making sure I take some time regularly to get out and just take pictures for the sake of taking pictures – doing it for fun and my own learning and advancement. So, for my Thursday Thoughts, I figured it might be useful to share my own mission with the rest of the listening audience: whatever your goals or dreams are with photography, make sure you save some time for yourself and your own creative vision and self expression. After all, isn’t that what drew you to photography in the first place?
Before I even start on anything photographic today, this is a great day to be alive. Not only is it the first installment of MNF (Monday Night Football), but it is my own beloved Denver Broncos! Having been a fan since the age of 8, and cried through the first 4 Super Bowls in sadness, and then in exhilaration for the next 2 in happiness, let’s just say GAME ON as the season gets underway with us revving up against the Raiders (yes, I’m a Raider hater like nobody’s business!) tonight at 8pm!