What to Know Before You Pursue a Photography Career

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What to Know Before You Pursue a Photography Career Everyone likes to take pictures, but some people really love it enough to make a photography career their whole goal. Whether you plan to work for someone or create your own company, you are going to need to know a few things before you get into the business. Photography is a great hobby that could eventually be your life. With the right photos, you never know when a big corporation is going to want to buy them to use in their markups. Here are some things to know when pursuing a career in photography. “Pro at Work at Batubolong” captured by Pandu Adnyana 1. Find Your Niche Are you a family photographer or a wedding photographer? You have to find out what you love to take pictures of the most and go with it. Some photographers take pictures for money. Yes, you want money, but it has to be about passion, too. You have to enjoy what you are doing, otherwise people are going to notice. When you find your passion, you will have fun in your job and this is exactly what you want. “Rachael & Chris – Reportage Wedding Photography at Le Manoir” captured by Albert Palmer 2. Find or Build a Studio Every photographer needs her space. You are going to find it easier if you have a place to work, whether it’s in your home or in a rented space. Photographers who don’t have this option for their clients often lose them to other businesses. This is an important step to make if you want to be taken seriously. If you don’t have a studio, you are going to have to rely on the weather. “Working in the Studio” captured by Sarah Shemilt “My Editing Setup” captured by Hans Woltering 3. Invest in Quality Equipment You want to make sure that you have quality equipment. You don’t need to spend a fortune to get nice things, but you have to make sure that your gear works properly. You are going to want to show your clients that you are a professional, and this is partly done by having professional equipment. “My Gear” captured by DuKong 4. Educate Yourself You don’t have to open a business; photography can simply be your hobby. But if you want to make it a career, you are going to need solid skills. If you have the chance to attend photography workshops, jump at the chance. You’ll learn a lot in just a few sessions. It’s fun being a photographer. You get to see a lot of interesting things that other people may never have the chance to see. Photographers are always in high demand, because you can’t take a picture of yourself. About the Author: Max Rout is an associate editor for Burwell School of Photography.

How to Create Painterly Art from Your Photos Using Multiple Exposures Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:34 PM PDT Looking to do something a little different with your photography to mix things up a little? Below, this video teaches us how to use multiple exposures to create a finished piece of art that looks stunningly painterly. The process, from taking the images to post production, isn’t too difficult, making this project suitable for new photographers, too: Taking the Exposures As mentioned before, it’s not difficult to create one of these images, but it is slightly time consuming. With practice, it does go faster. For starters, you’ll have to take quite a few exposures to get a really nice effect. Hoey says that 10 is the absolute minimum, but numbers closer to 50 frames are ideal. For the example in the video, Hoey used a total of 80 frames. Basically, the more you take, the better your final artwork will look. Keep the subject in the same spot for all the frames. Another thing to keep in mind when shooting is to ensure that the subject stays in the same spot in your viewfinder between each frame. Pick out an obvious reference point and line it up with one of the focus points on your viewfinder. In the image above, you see that Hoey selected the center of the umbrella and kept it at the top focusing point for each of his 80 shots. Photoshop Workflow The next thing to do is bring all your images into Photoshop as Layers. To do this open Photoshop and click on File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack, browse to the images you want to edit and select all of them. Click OK. Be patient as Photoshop loads the files. Depending on the number of images you are using, it can take several minutes to load all the layers. Next, scroll down to the very bottom layer in the Layers Palette, click on it once then create a new layer by going to Layer > New > Layer. Click OK then fill new layer with Black by clicking Edit > Fill. In the pop up window make sure Black is selected for the Use option, Mode is set to Normal, and Opacity is at 100 percet. Click OK. Drag the Black layer to the bottom of the layers in the Layer Palette. Now, click once on the image layer that is second from the bottom (the image directly above the Black layer). Press and hold the Shift key as you scroll to the top of the Layer stack and, still holding the shift key, click on the top most layer. This should have easily and quickly selected all the image layers (via Gavin Hoey). The last thing to do is to adjust the opacity of all the image layers. With the layers still selected, drag the Opacity slider to the left to decrease the opacity. You’ll notice how much stronger the effect becomes as you lower the opacity. After sliding through different opacity levels, Hoey chose 8 percent for his image. Painterly Art Created from Multiple Exposures The above image is the photo Hoey made by using this technique and adjusting the brightness and contrast slightly. There are lots of creative applications for this style, such as abstract portraits, landscapes, etc. This look really lends itself to being printed on a canvas and used as decor.

Photographer Discovers 1974 Photos of Robin Williams as a Mime Posted: 18 Aug 2014 04:45 PM PDT It’s painful to write something about Robin Williams in the past tense. Arguably the best stand-up comedian that our generation has seen, Williams passed away in his home on August 11, 2014, leaving behind a legacy that will be hard to surpass. While fans mourn, obituaries get published, and movies which bear the stamp of Williams’s undoubtable genius fly off the racks, photographer Daniel Sorine must feel lucky to have photographed the icon before he was famous: (for those of you reading this by email, the photo album can be seen here) When we think of Williams we think of a man who could make you roll on the floor laughing from his brilliant comic timing, amazing improvisation skills, and abundant energy. This particular set of photos, however, shows Williams in an unfamiliar role. In 1974, Sorine photographed a couple of mimes performing in Central Park. Thirty-five years later, when he revisited the photos, he realized that he had photographed a then-unknown Robin Williams. From mime to stand-up to sitcom to movies, is there anything the man didn’t do?

How to Take Stunning Product Photos on a Budget (Video Tutorial) Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:34 PM PDT As with any kind of photography, product photography is all about the light. Getting great lighting for product shots can be somewhat tricky if you have only one light, but in the video tutorial below, Andrey Mikhaylov, walks us through his process, which gets the job done quite nicely using just one light source and a piece of foil: (for those of you reading this by email, the video tutorial can be seen here) Supplies for Product Photography What’s great about this setup is that it doesn’t require extensive lighting setups and other gear. Mikhaylov pulled the shot off using just these items: DSLR & Lens. More specifically, he used a Canon 7D outfitted with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Large apertures work best for this type of shot because they produce more bokeh. Flash. Any flash will do. A speedlight, monolight, etc. Triggers. You’ll need these to fire the flash. Mikhaylov uses Cactus triggers, which, he says, work well and are affordable. Tripod. Using a tripod will keep your camera steady during shooting to help you get tack sharp images. Shiny Surface. Mikhaylov recommends a glossy black surface for a sleek, polished looking shot. Aluminum Foil & Tape. You’ll be using the foil for the background, the tape comes in handy to stick the foil to the wall.  Getting the Shot Lightly rumple up a sheet of aluminum foil and tape it the wall. This will be your backdrop. Place your flash so it is facing the foil backdrop. Position your subject matter–in this example, a glass of iced tea—on a black surface a few feet in front of the background. Set up your tripod and camera to get your composition just right. Start shooting!

Airplanes Look Like Epic Shooting Stars in This Enthralling Timelapse Posted: 18 Aug 2014 11:28 AM PDT A little while back we shared Milton Tan‘s tantilizing timelapse, The Air Traffic, a unique film that highlights the way airplanes move through the air. Tan has now released a sequel, The Air Traffic 2, for which he was granted access to restricted areas of one of the world’s busiest airports. Take a look at the footage below: (for those of you reading this by email, the timelapse video can be seen here) After workers at Changi Airport in Singapore saw the original Air Traffic, they reached out to Tan and invited him behind the scenes to film a second timelapse featuring Changi. Needless to say, Tan jumped at the opportunity. He packed his gear bag (Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 7D, Canon 16-35mm, Canon 24-70mm, Canon 70-200mm, Canon 50mm, and a Canon 18-135mm) and got to work. Milton Tan shooting on location at Changi Airport. Running two cameras at once! Tan took a total of 11,000 frames during his time photographing at Changi Airport—7,000 of those frames were used to create the three and a half minute long timelapse. For post processing, Tan edited in Adobe Lightroom and created the film using Premier Pro. “The shots were taken at 4-10 second exposures and at 0 second intervals. So immediately after the shutter closes it opens again to take the next shot. This ensures that the lights from the planes move smoothly through the frame. The long exposures are what produces the streaks of light, which means that the longer the exposures the longer the streaks of light.”