THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING

When you first purchase your DSLR and walk out of the shop with it. You do not purchase the skills or knowledge to make you a professional photographer. Your camera is just a tool.

These days you can hardly turn around without someone offering you training. You can go and find out about some new aspect of photography or simply brush up on your skills. There is so much choice

How do you decide whether you need training, what the right course might be for you and whether the course comes up to scratch or is a complete waste of money..

You need to be honest with yourself about where you are on a personal level, and what areas of your skills or business may need bolstering. It’s worth pointing out straight away that training is in no way an admission of weakness. The best photographers even those that have been big names for years take on training.

Be honest with yourself and take on the type of training you need. It maybe to further your business skills, or marketing skills

You may have just bought your first DSLR and want to get the most out of it Nikon

Training courses start from the very basic right through to one to one training

Speak to any photographer and almost all have had some aspect of training

So where do you start? That really depends on your skills.

You could start off taking an introduction course to digital photography

You could do an on line course with the Open university T189

You could join in photo answers free digital SLR skills

I highly recommend joining a camera/photographic club as these offer members many free workshops. Also most camera clubs have a few experts in different genres such as portrait, Landscape

If your seriously considering making your hobby a business.

Then a course in business and marketing is a crucial fist step. Many people do not realise that actually photography is about 10% of a pros work.

Marketing skills is one of the most important aspects of running a photography business.

Next would be understanding photo shop and creating a workflow. Understanding how to design albums and source products, How to create slideshows and on line galleries maybe build your own website.

Next would come hands on experience courses mainly done in small groups.

These can involve one day workshops working on lighting, wedding poses,portraits and many many more.

Training isn’t just for the professional you may just want to take better images of your family or have been asked to capture a friends wedding. Maybe you would  like to produce better landscapes to hang on your wall or give to friends or abstract arty images to sell locally.

Some training course are run as photographic holidays

I have undertaken a fair amount of training myself in Lifestyle portraits, Wedding photography, business and marketing as well as training in photoshop and other digital media. This helps me give my clients the very best up to date products 

USING FLASH ON A SUNNY DAY

The sun is out the sky is blue and you have your camera ready to take pictures, maybe you want to get some pictures of your children having fun on the beach.

What a wonderful bright sunny day for you to be out on. What a nightmare for your camera.

Lots of friends ask me why when the sun is shinning do their photos come out so bad why are my children all dark?

Simple answer is your camera does not see the child or object you’re taking it reads the light and there is nothing much brighter then sunlight.

To expose people correctly in your pictures you need to use a flashgun, yes a flashgun on a sunny day

The term used is FILL FLASH you set your camera exposure for the light reading it takes then place your flashgun at 2/3 of its power and take your picture. Wow no harsh shadows on your subject.

You can also purchase a small 3 in 1 reflector to add a warming tone to a person skin or to deflect light from a flower.

If your on the beach remember sand and water to reflect light making the work for your camera even harder, At all times keep your camera free of sand and avoid salt water.

You may be down the beach when the sunsets how ever tempted you are DO NOT point your camera directly at the sun not only can it harm your eyes it also harms your lens. Focus your pictures slightly away from the sun to prevent lens damage. The digital camera lens is just like and eye and too much direct light will damage the lens.

If you have been asked to take a friends wedding pictures on a sunny day. Be warned sunshine is great for the bride, but not great for taking photos if you lack understanding of how your camera reads light.

If you do not understand fully your camera and lens you will end up with images that have over highlighted and lost detail in the dress, harsh shadows on the skin, over highlighted skin tones on the foreheads of people, unfortunately even with the best Photoshop equipment burnt out highlights can not be bought back.


It’s a one off day that you can’t retake if you get it wrong. This is why people pay the extra money for a professional 

The Month of May A Time To Celebrate

The month of May is named after the Greek Goddess Maia. This month is a time for celebration as after the long cold winter, flowers emerge and new grass and leafs start to grow.

In Britain May day marks the end of winter and the start of summer its a time to look forward to warmer brighter weather . Traditional May day celebrations include dancing around the maypole. Greenery was traditionally collected by children who then paraded around the village.

May day is the first Monday in May this year I spent my May day capturing the wedding celebrations of George and Caralyn at the beautiful Fennes Estate in Braintree. It was rather a breezy chilly day so this meant we had to make use of the beautiful interior of the Fennes, which is  not a problem as the Fennes offers many a stunning backdrop.

Creative work: The weather has been great during May and allowed me some breathing space to get out and pursue a more creative side to my photography, "yes" I checked my journal and we have had more bright sunny weather than we have rain. To start with the late arrival of blue bells has meant a stunning prolonged display this year with forest floors awash with colour. Then of course the warmer days and shorter night have meant fields of vivid yellow oilseed covering the landscape. Along with this I noted almost every grass verge aglow with nodding dandelions. All the different shades of  green and reds in the tress lead to a stunning spring. Not so great for any one flying but the volcanic ash produced some amazing sunsets and clear night skies.

MODEL SHOOT: I was also lucky to work this month with another great bunch of photographers and take part in a model shoot, I got to work with the lovely Layla and opted for a slight vintage effect on the photos 

FAMILY TIME: The nice weather has meant a few day trips to the beach, Our favorite place for this is Walton on the Naze , We even had a picnic in the sunshine surrounded by buttercups and bird song.

A beautiful month 

Oak Apple day Is another celebration that takes place on the 29th May . The reason for wearing oak apples or oak leafs was to celebrate the Kings narrow escape from capture by Cromwells soldiers .

Until well into the twentieth century anyone caught not wearing an oak apple or oak leaf on the 29th May could be pinched kicked or whipped with stinging nettles , Hence in some villages the day is known as nettle day, "OUCH"

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

FAMILY PHOTO SESSION

Yesterday I had the pleasure of photographing a delightful family all in the comfort of their own home so no stress for Mum and Dad to get a 3 year old and 15 month old ready and off to a studio.

When I arrived the two children were happily at play in the garden, busy with sand and bouncing on the trampoline. The 15 month old wasnt so sure of me but the three year old was very relaxed and made me a sand ice cream!

Because the children were relaxed Mum and Dad were also very laid back, I started off by just playing with the children in the garden with a nice cool orange juice.

Had this family had an appointment with a studio they would have had about a 30 minute slot, Or had they decided to use a visiting high street photographer like the ones that visit stores then they would have been in a cue and had a 5 minute slot. It doesn't matter to me how long it takes to get the children relaxed as I only book one session a day so I am not on a timer.

The added beauty is having lots of different images done Mum is expecting their third child so some nice maternity shots were in order,
some nice relaxed family group shots, some lovey dovey shots of Mum and Dad and then some shots to capture their children doing what children do

It was all relaxed the kids were allowed to be kids and run about have fun, play with toys and even pull faces at the camera

The emphasis on my style of photography is fun, I dont want strictly posed session with a timer, I dont rush, I listen to what you as a family or individual want, and do my best to capture it for you

If you would like a photo session with me then please do visit my website and contact me, also look out for some very special offers in the coming months

HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON YOUR WEDDING

With the average price of weddings being around £20.000 how do you save money.

BE YOUR OWN WEDDING PLANNER: start early nothing worse then leaving it to the last minute, I highly recommend taking out wedding insurance cover.

USE YOUR FRIENDS: make huge savings by getting a friend or a small local business to make your wedding cake you could save up to £250.00

THE DRESS: yes that beautiful dress costing almost £1000 or more that you will wear for a few hours, and then hang in the wardrobe or may be list on Ebay,
I suggest shopping around for your dress, If you have a computer do look on Ebay new dress,s handmade from Thailand are available for around £50.00 including postage
Try Debenhams, M&S these all sell wedding dress,s . Even if you pay £150.00 you have saved £850.00

HAIR AND MAKE UP: If your planning your own wedding you can search places such as model mayhem for make up artist and hairdressers, If not then do try local shops rather then branded hairdressers, You will find a local shop will take much more time and your almost half your price and look just as good if not better.

FLOWERS: When I got married I bought a bouquet of silk flowers and 15 years on they still have pride of place in my lounge not one person guessed they were not real and I saved a fortune, for table decorations I roped in some friends and we used candles ribbon, and small silk flowers for the table decorations, again saving a fortune on fresh flowers. I gave each of my friends a table decoration to take home and its still a pleasure to see my wedding table decorations in my friends homes

THE VENUE: another huge expense the nearest venue to me charges £4,700 just to be there, That is a lot of money, I suggest really shopping around for venues, look midweek or even winter time. Find a couple of venues you like then haggle get them to bid for your business and play one off against the other, by saying oh so and so said they would include X,Y Z for that price. Venues want your business

FOOD AND DRINK: You choice of venue may tie you to a set price but again review the menu, will guest in July and August want to sit down to a hot meal at around £35.00 per head? why not opt for a barbecue or cold buffet at around £12.00 a head instead

Why not opt for a bar where guest pay for their own drinks, Instead of providing champagne go for a prosecco or cava most people wont notice the difference

PHOTOGRAPHY: I can tell you ways to save on a professional photographer, You could get a friend with a camera to take your pictures, you could ask guests that have digital cameras to allow you to see the pictures and then purchase a stick in album from WHSmith,s . This could save you around £800.00. I,m not going to tell you not to do that but remember your priorities. A guest is there to share your day and have a good time they are not going to take time to get THAT SPECIAL picture they are not fully insured wedding photographer with professional equipment with access to quality albums and master printers. A professional photographer is employed by you to just concentrate on taking your pictures, A few weeks after your wedding when everyone has forgotten about it you will have beautifully crafted images to last a lifetime.

To many times I read and get people come to me whom have had a friend photograph their wedding and the brides head is missing, or they missed the cake cutting as the angle was wrong,There are no images of the ceremony as they do not have a camera capable of taking images in low light,or the bride and groom have red eyes and highlighted skin from a tiny flash gun, Most images from small digital cameras can not be enlarged without compromising the image , and most people will have their images printed by a photo lab or high street store and these will not last more then 10 years.

As a photographer I often wonder why do people spend out on the most expensive dress they will wear for a few hours, the most expensive taxi of your lifetime, The most expensive flowers,all these will be gone, Yet they will skimp on a photographer the one person that can give them memories to last generation after generation.