Photographing the photographer

Now thats a challenge, no one is more critical than a photographer . I was up for the challenge and along with my friend and fellow photographer Simon Rich we braved a rather windy Southend on sea.
We opted for the beach area although I must admit the wind did course some problems with Joanna's hair .

I am pleased to say that Dean and Joanna love their pictures. They were a great couple to work with and Joanna was a natural in front of the camera .

Family Time

December is a family time for me, my  very last photo session was a babies first Christmas on December the 21st. Then I was free from work to spend quality time with my family or so I thought.

The bug hit them first of all my wee daughter , then my husband had man flu, Then my 14 year old who insisted while whining on the couch  that he was brave and wouldn't give in, finally on Christmas eve my 17 year old . As for me on Christmas eve I whizzed off down to Brighton to collect my eldest son and whizzed back again to Essex getting back early hours of Christmas morning.

Christmas eve Brighton

I set out the present that had taken 5 days to wrap with a fair amount of Sellotape stress under the tree and retired to bed for an hour or two.

My little girl woke me at a sensible time of 08.30 to declare Father Christmas had been she duly then woke all her brothers who then came downstairs and demolished my hours if not days of delicate wrapped presents with ribbons and tags , the room was a mass of screwed up paper in less than 10 minutes.

At this point I did silently wonder why I didn't just  leave all the gifts in carrier bags.

Then it was off to the kitchen for me to tackle the turkey and the stuffing the pigs in jackets and roast potato,s oh and the starters. The dinning room table needed dressing with all these ill men it was left to me.

Being family time it meant collecting my  less abled mother from her home to bring her to ours for the day this was made  10x worse because of the ice.

The master piece was ready to serve and my family just kind of sat there  just staring with ohh we dont feel like dinner GRRRRRR. Half a ton of washing up later it was time to escort mother back across the frozen ice  this took two people and more than an hour.

I finally sit down at 20.00 thinking oh yes some me time when 3 boys appear at the living room door and declare they are hungry.

I some how pictured myself  in cosy clothing with a fluffy blanket a box of chocolates and the Christmas tree lights gentle twinkling around the quiet room. How wrong my dream was by now i was fit to scream.

I have come up with a plan for Christmas 2011 its called go on strike. I wont be cooking dinner they can have a buffet and help themselves . I will ask for some good books and retreat to the bedroom with a bottle of wine and box of chocolates .

Heres to Bliss

Christmas Cheer.

Those tangled lights

Not amused

I've Been Thinking

Something we all do from time to time, Only with the recent crash of my computer and its data, including backed up data,. I have had to ask myself many questions. One of those questions is am I enjoying what I'm doing?

In truth the answer is no!, Why  you may ask is the answer no,
So I begin by  telling you about a simple wedding, Right now times are hard, people dont have  x amount of money for luxuries, Unfortunately people seem to see wedding photography as a luxury. So let me tell you what is involved for me. I take time to come and visit you and show you some pictures and albums and chat to you about what style you would like. These pictures and albums were not given to me free I had to work on them make them up and pay for them. We  then have a quick pre wedding photo session,  Ok you might say I get the easy job here just taking a picture, well no I dont its a skill, You see to get nice images I have learnt how to use my camera , Its not just about pointing and snapping, Its about reading light and distance, its about posing, and looking at the background and other distractions.

I then come home and work individually on each picture I have taken.  Yes each single image gets my personal attention, blemish are removed, skin softening can be done, each image tone is adjusted to give my clients the best.

Come your wedding day I will work flat out all day, and the next day in fact every day for at least 14 days on your images,  Once your happy they are then either placed in design software to make your album or uploaded to a master printer for printing.

From start to finish I work personally on them They are not farmed out for some one else to do. You see I create something that is everlasting and I wont compromise by doing the £150.00 or £200.00 wedding. I have insurance and have had training, I have a professional camera and lenses that cost twice as much as the camera. I have access to top of the range products .

You see I wont and cant turn up on your special day with a camera set on a pre-set mode of portrait and then get your images printed by either some high street store or basic on-line photo store and charge you £150.00 for that service.

The shame is this is what many of you want, your willing to fork out thousands on venues, dress,s food,wine but when it comes to your wedding  photography you only want to pay a few hundred quid,
fine if you want images with people missing, horrid lamp post or road signs in the back ground, out of focus shots, fine if you only want your pictures to last for between 10 and 15 years.

So my first thought is to drop weddings as obviously a quality service is not  really what people want. Then I thought again no I wont drop them but I will place a new limit . The limit I have decided is 5 weddings a year. The price is as it is no cheaper.

Areas in  photography I will be concentrating on are families,children and babies, Why because unlike a harsh studio set up I offer something much more relaxing  and personal . Also unlike a studio if baby is unhappy or extra tired then the  session can be rescheduled for another time .

My first venture is Children's birthday party shoots and having completed two of these I found them great fun Lots of children running around having a great time meant some wonderful images for parents to keep. It also meant I got jelly and ice-cream to eat.

Secondly I am going back to photographing for myself, yes just random images I personally like to take, Maybe challenge myself to just taking one lens and using it for the whole week, Getting back to some arty type photographs

Time spent with a camera and lens is not time wasted, It allows me to stretch myself, it allows me to push my limits.

In future my blog will no doubt be more about me, whats been happening, what I have been doing.

Taking time out for myself and doing what I please

What Happens when it rains???

I visited a lovely family in Diss for the first time in March 2010, unfortunately about 30 minutes after my arrival in March the heavens opened in true British style, The rain just started and went on until dusk fell. Although I got a few good pictures I certainly wasn’t happy. So arranged a free revisit once the weather turned nicer.

So on Sunday 4 July I made the trip back to Diss, the weather was glorious . This meant little A was free to run around her rather large cottage garden while I took her pictures, We even persuaded mum and dad to join in.

Many a time people ask what happens when it rains, well if it rains on your wedding day we have to compromise and take images inside or use props such as umbrellas.

If it rains on the day your lifestyle session is booked as long as the session fee has been paid in full it can be rebooked at no extra charge. In some cases I leave the booking open and once the weather picks up I ring you to schedule a day your available.

Of course many people prefer lifestyle session during the summer months when clothing is lighter and children can be on the beach, Yet don’t dismiss Autumn and winter. I have completed a few wonderful sessions on autumn days with the wonderful tones of golds and reds. Winter has its own beauty dress up warm add a bright scarf and get out in the chilly frost or if your really lucky the snow.

Lifestyle means just that it captures your family style, how you interact together, how you laugh and have fun. 

School summer holidays are fast approaching and to give people the chance of sampling a lifestyle session I have lowed my family  session price to just £30, this offer will include a free print of your choice as well as the many options to purchase prints,canvas,other wall hanging options and photo-books.

Remember a Lifestyle photo session can take place where you like, maybe your garden, a park or beach, Maybe some where special to you. No upright studio poses no say cheese. What better way to capture the true spirit of your family and memories of your children that will last forever

Visit my website Andrea's photography or give me a call

I believe a photo session should be about what you want not what the photographer wants

Being A Photographer

Many people ask me why I want to be a photographer an area of work already over subscribed. What did I first do to become a photographer?

well it isnt as easy as just picking up a camera and firing off a few shots.
or buying a pro level camera and walking out the shop saying well now I will take better pictures.
No photography doesn't work like that.

I originally trained and shot on film, then took a break to have my family.
Along then comes the wonderful world of digital, putting control back in to the photographers hands, No more relying on film labs to decided how and what colour your image should be.

Then comes the hard part of course anyone can take a picture its not hard now a days with camera and portrait modes but take those pre set modes away could any one still take a good picture?

So firstly I set out to understand how my digital camera sees the world its grey did you know that? cameras dont see a colour image every thing is grey, cameras cant separate white from black. dont believe me try it yourself with three bits of paper, white,grey and black. set your camera into M yes thats manual set metering mode to spot ,aperture at F16 and make sure the exposure is 00 now take each piece of paper without changing the settings,

Do you get white, grey and black,? NO you just get three shots of grey paper

so learning how your camera perceives light is the first lesson.

Rules of thirds is another lesson everything some how some way follows this rule even a human face
Composition where do you place the subject in the frame in the middle? NO
POV and angle all this is important do you always fire off shots from the same position ?

All that is the easy bit, then we come to posing people yes even the best shots are posed a good photographer can pose people without them even knowing its been done.
This way you get wonderful naturally looking shots with no shadows or highlights the skin tone remains even and smooth.

After you have mastered your tool or paint brush then you can start on mastering photo-shop . I see to many amateur over cooked images, where saturation is far to high, what looks good on your monitor may well look awful when its printed

so before you even start in photo shop I recommend a colour monkey, to set your monitors colour correctly for photo production.

So now we have spent a good 12 months mastering photo-shop,
what about printing? do you print your own? if so on what?
If you purchase a printer for photos that your taking for clients then dont look at any printer priced under £600.00.
On the other hand you could upload your prints to on line labs, shame these image will only last between 10 and 25 years.

If your a serious photographer offering your clients the very best then you need to find yourself a master printer.

So after two years we feel yes I can take a great image and use photo-shop with easy and quickly and have found a great printer what next?

Start your own business , its simple not as easy as building a website and thinking everyone will be flocking to it, or uploading images to websites for all to view.

How are you going to market your business? What type of client are you aiming for?
what can you offer your clients that stands out from 100,s of other photographers in the area?
Do you know where to source the top range albums from, quality modern frames?
Do you know how to create a smooth work flow? Guess its another 12 months of more training then.

Eventually your ready and you get asked by a friend to shoot a friends wedding, great your away, Oh dear its raining, you cant take images inside your not allowed,
Oh no Aunt Lilly tripped over your camera bag and cant stand up an ambulance has to be called, Every one charges in front of the bride blocks your view just as you are about to fire off that confetti shot .

A friend of a friend has had a baby can you do the shots of the new born and his toddler brother?
Yes you say of course I can, baby screams and screams, toddler keeps pulling on your camera strap, you give up with the baby to try and get some shots of the toddler, you try and make him laugh just as he promptly picks up his cup of orange juice and the liquid spills all over you and your camera, you slip on the wet floor breaking a prize vase

I have spent about 5 years training learning working with top photographers, I have passed exams and had work printed in photography magazines. I know and understand all my equipment. I only purchase the best professional cameras and lenses .

I have a whole support network of back up photographers if I,m ill and cant make a wedding
I have attended training and course on running a small business.
I,m also fully insured

This is one simple reason I wont and I cant shoot a wedding for £150.00, I dont do any other job during the week apart from spending time editing my clients images.
I,m not a plumber Monday to Friday and a cheap wedding photographer on Saturdays.

I am a photographer an artist dedicated to producing the finest quality image possible

So please dont think that anybody with a camera is going to give you images like you see in magazines or billboards, or even be able to offer you top quality albums or coffee table books

Think hard about your photographer meet them , talk to them look at their work, Are they artists or sales person??

THE SUN HAS GOT HIS HAT ON

well folks no one can moan about last weeks weather, its been glorious, Ive had a busy week, with family, seminars, and photography.

To start the week I spent Tuesday with Jeff Turnbull learning more about the business side of photography . This week was all about websites, Jeff is a great Photographer you can visit his website "http://www.jeffturbull.com"

Later in the week I went to see the pig sheep, yes it is a real animal


Its a Mangalitza and you can visit three of them at the wonderful "http://www.tropicalwings.co.uk"

Saturday I had the chance to add more bridal images to my expanding portfolio
It was a beautiful day and the bride looked radiant, I am sure the sunshine made her very happy



Such a lovely day to be able to sit the bride down to ease some of the weight of her dress, Oh yes wedding dress,s are very heavy



I guess the sun bought out the romance in the day to, certainly seems they had a perfect day



Then I also had a great lifestyle session at the wonderful backdrop of Chapel Viaduct, such a nice little lad and his puppy what a sweet pair to work with

So I had a great week meeting lots of lovely people, doing some photo sessions with some wonderful people and of course such a sweet little puppy...

now back to working on the website and getting equipment ready for the weekends weddings