master photographer | photographic craftsman | certified professional photographer
For some reason, newer photographers get all mired up in the gear, it’s ALL about the gear. Believe me, it’s NOT about the gear and it’s especially NOT all about what camera body you have.
Continue reading “My camera is better than your camera. Not!”
Candice commented on Facebook:
I can just see it now… ‘Photography 102, Week 2: Take a photograph featuring critical Wootness. Make sure to document your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, and adjust each one stop above and below.”
That comment just made my day!
Candice is a student in my Photography 102 class that started this week. She had been in the Photography 101 class this summer and decided to take the next step.
The 101 class was lots of fun and many creative assignments were completed
Photography 102 is massively different. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty and learning to shoot in manual mode. The first class was spent discussing stops. Oh my goodness – it was tough. I had to stop and figure out a way to explain some things in plainer English than I’m used to so that these students, who were new to the concept could grasp it more readily. They asked questions and we went through a number of examples and questions until everyone had it figured out. After the 3 hour class, MY brain hurt, so I’m sure they were a little overwhelmed, too.
So, here were are, several days later and they are reading the Wootness articles (part of their homework) and making comments, and along comes this gem of a comment from Candice. She not only is speaking in very technical camera-geek terminology, but she also seems to have a superior grasp on the concept of Wootness.
I need a moment. Talk amongst yourselves.
This is THE most important article you should read.
If you said “NO” three times, we’re good. If you said “YES” three times, we’re good. If you had a mix of answers, we have serious issues and the rest of the article is for your benefit. All others are excused. Continue reading “Get legal or get out!”
Maybe it’s just me and I’m a little weird, but I firmly believe in shaking hands. Firmly.
Monday, September 12, 2011
5 AM – After 5 hours of sleep, I get up and continue to work on a presentation I need to give in the evening.
8AM – Drive 2 hours to the board meeting of the Professional Photographers of Ohio. Arrive 25 minutes late. Stop in the restroom to check my appearance and notice that I have spilled coffee on my pink shirt and the zipper of my favorite pair of jeans has broken.
4PM – Meeting has not ended, but I need to leave for my next appointment. Drive 2 hours to Dayton to speak for the Professional Photographers of Southwest Ohio.
5:45 PM – Arrive in Dayton, set up my laptop and presentation materials, run to the restroom to freshen up, drop my Droid in the toilet.
7:00 PM – The president is introducing me and suddenly hems and haws and hands me a note telling me my zipper is down. Yeah, it’s broken, I’m hoping the end of my coffee-stained shirt will cover it up.
9:30 PM – Presentation is finished. I pack everything up and hit the road to begin the 4 hour drive home.
12 Midnight – Stop for gas and then to McDonald’s for a cup of coffee to help keep me awake. More than an hour left to drive. I get a cherry pie to munch on. Hit the highway, take a bite of the cherry pie, which proceeds to explode, spewing cherry pie filling all over the steering wheel and my lap. Grab the McDonald’s bag to get a napkin. There are no napkins. Fumble in my purse for the napkin I wrapped around the toilet-water logged Droid and use that to try and clean off the steering wheel and my lap. Cherry filling mess is too big for the napkin. Drive the remainder of the way home with sticky hands.
1:30 AM – Stumble into the house, wash my cherry-sticky hands, take off my coffee stained shirt, try to wiggle out of a pair of jeans whose zipper will not go down and land in bed. Whisper goodnight to the hubby and fall asleep in his arms.
I thoroughly enjoyed this day, even though I spent 8 hours of it in the car and the day itself lasted nearly 21 hours. The evening presentation that I gave was the final requirement for a PPA degree. I am now allowed to apply to receive the degree in January (which is subject to review and voting by the powers-that-be, so it’s not guaranteed until after the vote, but still I am very happy about this).
This is the joy that is photography. Some days you will spend crawling around on the floor photographing babies, some days you will spend locked in your office trying to get your accounting work caught up. Some days you won’t touch a camera, some days you will never want to touch a camera again. And some days you will look like you were drug through a deli.
At the end of each of these days, you will smile your happy little tired smile and drift off into happy little dreams.
This, my friend, is Wootness.
By request from Caroline:
Can you please do an article on what type of entity to start with? I have emailed a few CPA’s, and my only response is, “Come to my office, and we will chat. It will costs about $500”. I just want a general what is best for a one woman photography business. Perhaps just to point me in the right direction. Sole proprietor, LLC, Scorp?
OK – I’m on the soapbox, again, watch out!
I briefly mentioned (see THIS article) that I would be addressing this issue in the future. The future has arrived.
You are either in business or you are not. You should charge full price or you should pay to shoot.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT charge money to practice on people. They are either MODELS (in which case YOU should be paying THEM) or they are CLIENTS (in which THEY are paying YOU).
Melissa asks:
This may be a silly question, but how did you know you were ready? Were there specific skills you worked on before applying? Are there specific training materials? Thank you
NOTE: This question was in response to the article “Set a Goal: Become Certified.”
Continue reading “QFR: How did you know when you were ready?”
Victoria & Travis write:
My question is where do you get the disk that you give to your clients? We don’t give away high resolution disc, only web quality, but we get the disk from the local office max, they are blank, and we write the customers name on it with a sharpie. Considering our new Nikon D700, new website and blog, and other new purchases we have made to improve our image we are very embarrassed by still handing out the sharpie written blank office mask
disk, HELP!!!Continue reading “Where do you get the disks to give clients?”
Real advertisement:
I specialize in newborns, babies, children, families, senior photos, maternity, family gatherings, birthday parties and engagement sessions.
Wouldn’t it have just been easier to say “I do everything but weddings.” ?
