There comes a time in many artists’ lives when they must buckle up and prepare themselves to be professional. Long gone are the days of free shoots or word-of-mouth promises. Once you reach a certain point & realize that you want to make your photography a business, there are a few important things you must have. One is a contract. The business side of the arts was not discussed much while I was in school, so most of what I have learned has been through online research and just experience. So hopefully I can add to the pile of resources available on the vast World Wide Web. Why do you need a contract? Aside from the professionalism mentioned above, having a contract ensures that both you and the client know exactly what is expected from the shoot. You have everything laid out, the price is determined, & a timeline is established. This is a physical piece of your agreement. I don’t care if you trust your client with your life, sometimes people can be shady and try to not pay their full amount or complain about what was already agreed upon. By both having a […]
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Niche has a few different definitions, but in regards to work as an artist, it is closely related to genre. This is sometimes difficult to pinpoint, especially for newcomers. Years ago, I remember saying I couldn’t possibly limit myself because I loved to shoot everything! Well that love may be true for many of us, but typically there are a couple types of photography we find ourselves gravitate towards. For me, it’s people. I love anything involving people; portraits, fashion, street, etc. There’s something so fascinating about the human face, body, and overall interaction with the world. Because of this love, the majority of what I shoot involves people. My niche is specific in that I focus primarily on portraits & headshots. Advantages for having a specific niche: You have a focus. By honing in on a very specific aspect in your field, you will always have an idea of what your next project will be. Your passion really shines through. Because you aren’t trying to shoot every single thing in the world (which could amount to so-so results) you are able to put in 100% each time you do a shoot. […]
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This month my challenge was to tell a story. A friend of mine, her fiancé, and their dog (who I call Honey Fluff) were able to help me out with this. Ironically, the story turned out to reflect their love for one another, which is so fitting what with Valentine’s Day still on so many people’s minds. We recently had some incredibly nice weather for this time of year, so we decided to take a walk in the park. I didn’t feel the immediate urge to “GET THE SHOT” like I’ve often felt before. I really felt calm and enjoyed catching up with them and realized I’d get the shot eventually, so I didn’t need to stress about it. After about an hour or so, we wound up in a small grove out of the way of other people. I sat them down on a log and Honey Fluff sat in between. It’s always a little difficult when shooting pets, but my friend brought treats along, and we were able to distract her with them to get some great images. This month I didn’t so much learn a technique, but I did gain an even […]
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Let me preface this by saying yes I fell for the hype. I had been using my trusty 40mm pancake lens for years now but I kept seeing this “nifty fifty” everywhere. Seeing how inexpensive it was, I thought heck, why not give it a try? I was not as amazed as many online voices seemed to be. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great little lens (that’s far better than the 18-55mm zoom that comes with most entry level rebels) but it didn’t give me the WOW factor that I had expected. In hindsight, I think I should have just waited and saved up a bit more to get the 50mm 1.4, but I’ll just plan on upgrading later once I have another camera body. I should also note that these are my experiences with my T3i. Things may be different on a newer cropped sensor or full frame body. So with that back story out of the way, I’ll list pros & cons of this lens and share my final thoughts. PROS -The focal length causes no distortion -The ability to have a shallower depth of field and congruently creamier looking […]
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In the same way I took a topsy-turvy path to find my love for photography, I also stumbled upon my overall “style”. I tell you it was difficult. At first I was just snapping away enjoying the life with no real rhyme or reason. I even did minimal editing because I wanted to keep that candid look. Pff, that sort of candid looked like anyone with a camera and an idea shot it. And there were still remnants of yellow… blech. I continued to shoot my editorials, but there wasn’t a particular editing style bringing them together. Once I made the decision that photography was more than an additional skill I possessed, I decided to look outwards for advice. I read countless articles on how to find your style and many of them had more or less vague suggestions to “just keep shooting and it will come to you.” These were not the words I was looking for. But I went with it, since that’s all I really could do. I still had my beloved Pinterest board to inspire me as well, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I knew what types […]
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This month’s challenge was to use two concepts from Lindsay’s book: have your subject in the frame multiple times & shoot through crystal. I wanted to continue along with my Holy series, so with those specific techniques in mind, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to tackle my ‘Trinity” shoot. As the name suggests, I wanted to capture the The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit all in frame. Now this could be easily achieved in post by cloning my model two more times, but that would take away the challenge of trying something new. So I brought a few different materials that might give me my desired effect. Here are a few images and what I learned from each iteration. I found that although the crystal did split up his image, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted (I think the crystal was too small.) So I experimented further with other materials like a metal mesh-like candle holder. This gave an awesome texture that framed him, but it wasn’t glass, so he wasn’t multiplied. I tried by having my model move his head while I had a slow shutter speed. Though […]
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Sometimes, creative juices dry up and we find ourselves wishing we had projects to work on. We could mope about in the world, slice off the nearest passerby’s arm, then run and hide in a cave somewhere OR we could throw the mope aside and loudly proclaim, “IT’S CHALLENGE TIME!” I’m personally going to go with the latter. Specifically I am drawing inspiration from the 52 week challenge envisioned by Lindsay Adler. She is an amazing photographer with a very clear vision and has the great ability to teach others. I highly recommend you check her out if you haven’t already heard of her. Alright enough fangirling, back to the post. During the time of me trying to define my brand/find my style, I stumbled across her book and was quite curious. With her challenge she had specific techniques or solutions that she wanted the shoot to answer. She planned a different challenge for each week of a year. But, considering I have a full time job and don’t have access to an endless supply of models, I’m going to modify this challenge and make it a monthly one. A couple years ago, […]
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Today I would like to address something that has seemingly fallen through the digital cracks of the internet: how to photograph print art work. We live in a majorly digital world, but there are still times when having a printed representation is required. Typically, these times will be interviews, reviews, or for commercial purposes. This is something that is essential to illustrators, graphic designers, & fine artists for their portfolios & if they run an e-commerce store. It is true that people could simply post digital versions, but if they were originally intended for print, photographing them like this will help show the context in which they were made. Another advantage is that the images can be used for both your online website & your physical portfolio book. I am most experienced with graphic design prints, but I hope these tips can help other types of artists as well. I apologize though for fellow photographers as these may not be applicable to your work, but if you have a friend that asks for your services for their portfolio, then perhaps these 6 considerations can help you. Have high quality prints. Aside from looking professional, a high quality […]
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It all began with a youtube video. I know, sounds strange, but the path that ultimately led me to becoming a photographer was not straightforward at all. Back when I was in highschool, a junior or so, I loved watching youtube videos.] Like…everyday for multiple hours a day. Because in 2009 that was still relevant. I remember thinking that the people I watched seemed to be having so much fun making these videos. I knew viewers like me enjoyed watching them, so I decided that I wanted to start making my own videos as well. I began on a “trusty” point-n-shoot canon powershoot that was hand-me-downed from my dad. The quality was questionable of course, but I was having fun and that’s what really inspired me in the beginning. I wanted to answer questions and help people, but in a humorous way. Eventually I started to include more fashion and natural hair videos to help & inspire people too. (In case anyone is interested, my youtube username is ShekinahShazaam and there’s still a bit of content on there.) I haven’t made a video in quite some time partly due to my aging macbook’s weakness with […]
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Hello Dear Reader, thanks you for joining me today! This post marks the start of my blogging adventure for 2017. I plan to post every Sunday. No matter what. I know what you’re thinking… Gosh Shekinah, sounds like you’re making some cliché New Year resolution that will ultimately fail and make a bigger explosion than the Death Star! Thanks. Thanks a lot for that load of confidence. Dramatics aside, you’ll be pleased to know I think I’ve found a way around that sort of painful end. Over the past handful of months, I have made a list of topics I’d like to discuss. All of them relate to photography in one way or another. I have drafts, I have ideas, and best of all I have a plan! Sometimes it’s hard to stay consistent. On my design site I gave blogging a try. What had happened was I blogged about many different things…then stopped. There was no focus or schedule I upheld. No subject matter was off limits, I did reviews, travel recollections, fashion posts, and lifestyle stories. I know that my favorite blogs focus on only a small amount of […]
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