Photo workshops

As alluded to in my last post, I will be leading photo workshops in the new year.

I've done them before in the UK and Germany, where I gave classes to the families of US service personnel. For a while I even did some for Canon when they bought out the the beautiful T90. I would go to hotels etc and teach new owners about the camera and what it could do.

This time however will be a bit different as they will be given in German!

Luckily I was able to prepare myself for this by giving a private portrait photography workshop last weekend. Two ladies who had attended beginners photography courses wanted to expand their knowledge and learn more about portraiture with emphasis on how to create mood, how to work fast and simply and how to make use of depth of field.

The day went amazingly well. I first showed them a Powerpoint about the techniques we would be learning then I took them to the local railway station where we practised fill-in-flash and depth of field.

Then it was back home to try some portraiture using natural light, flash and diffusers.

Six hours later we finished off and I can honestly say that we had a great time. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm for photography. They had earlier learned the basics of photography but thanks to the extra tuition, had been able to see what they could actually achieve!

Two satisfied pupils! Beatrice and Sonja

To prepare my Powerpoint, I enlisted the aid of my favourite twin models (who just happen to live nearby and love using my camera themselves), Jeniya and Lera whom you may remember from this earlier post. The picture below shows me taking a shot of Lera with my 24mm lens. I did the same portraits at different focal lengths to show how the face can get distorted.

24mm for a portrait is not recommended

Since then, I've had several queries to give other workshops and I'll be starting that in earnest in the new year. First I have to work out dates and subjects to be covered. If you want to expand your photographic knowledge with a like minded group or on a one to one basis, then please contact me.

Of course the girls simply HAD to take photos of each other. They always produce some great work.

 Keeping track of the shoot.

 Jeniya shoots Lera

 Instant proofing!

 My final pictures. Too good an opportunity to miss.

If you are interested in attending a workshop or having a one on one session with me then please drop me an email.

Thanks for reading

 

Diversification

Technology is moving at breakneck speed. Print media is no longer king. If you don't get on-board social media you are doomed to be left behind. That is not an understatement. 

I was somewhat saddened and amused at the ignorance of a man I spoke to at a large Swiss company a year or so back. I asked him ( in his new role as head of the advertising department ), what plans he had to implement social media.

His reply? "I have no plans whatsoever to use socia media channels. They don't bring anything to the table".

Out of curiosity I Googled this gentleman (don't we all?) and found that he actually has a Twitter account, into which he has posted precisely (at the time of this post) FOUR tweets since joining in 2009. One of the Tweets concerned one of the firm's new products.

It's quite inconceivable to me to see how he is going spread the word for his company if he refuses to join the revolution. I see that none of his sixteen followers re-tweeted the product launch news from him. He seems to think that the company's website and paper based print media is the way forward.

At a recent trade fair where he was hosting a stand, I noticed that nearly every other company had a dedicated Facebook page and Twitter account. I was able to follow their activities and get details on the newest product releases etc but from his company there was nothing.

I do notice to his credit however, that he had had videos commissioned to show off the company's products but without the social media aspect to spark interest, there have been very few views.

In October 2011, I began to get interested in social media and online marketing. Statistics fascinate me and with these facts in mind, I started an anonymous blog to test out my theories. I decided from the start to make it anonymous so that the visitor count wouldn't be influenced by any of my acquaintances visiting it. I launched it without any fanfare whatsoever and studied the statistics. Using only keywords, hashtags and a few other search engine optimisation techniques I see that it has now had 61,000 hits!

 Statistics as of November 2013

So what exactly does this have to do with photography I hear you ask?
 
On my own personal website, I again played with the S.E.O. management and elevated it to number two on the Google Switzerland search results when people type in "fotografie aller art" (all types of photography) into the search field. All this without paying for Adwords or anything.

Well as the title of this post suggests, diversification is the key to surviving nowadays. Apart from photography, I am now offering website optimisation and building to several clients. I'll be helping them get a foothold in the world of social media. Also in the pipeline will be photography workshops in the new year. I'll be writing more about that in my next post.

So to reiterate. Content is king and the best way to get that content out there is to jump onboard the social media bandwagon. You'd better hurry though because it isn't slowing down!

Thanks for reading.


 

Shooting a wedding

Many years ago when I lived in the UK, I did freelance wedding photography every weekend for a national company. I shot everything on medium format film (which was supplied in almost unlimited quantities) and simply covered the proceedings. At the end of the shoot, I'd mail all the film back to the company in a pre-paid envelope and receive a cheque a few weeks later.

This type of photography was a great tool in building up my confidence in dealing with people. Simply turn up at the bride's house on the morning of the wedding, introduce yourself and start shooting!

If there were any faulty images, the company would send me a contact sheet and provide suggestions such as "flash too weak here" or maybe "don't pose anyone in front of the ride in a group shot". 

I was supplied initially with a "shot list" from the company in the form of a contact sheet and carried this with me to all my early weddings, referring to it surreptitiously when no-one was watching.

After a while I discarded the list and made my own. This is a list that I try and get at every wedding that I shoot. It's by no means exhaustive and these not the only images that you should capture.

The best piece of advice I can give is to make contact with the best man and use him to gather the people necessary for your pictures. Tell him to stick with you. 

Naturally these aren't the only pictures you should take. You should always be on the lookout for candid pictures which help to tell the story of the big day.

I try and make the process of getting the group shots as fluid as possible so that people are simply added or removed from subsequent groups.

 Shot number 22 from my list.

EOS 5d MKII, 17mm lens, 200 ISO, flash 1/200 @6.3

Here are my "must have" pics.


Before the ceremony:

1. Bride at home getting ready, last pics with mum and dad.
2. Pic of bride and dad at the doorway. Possible taken from inside the house with them looking over their shoulder at you and one from outside.
3. Guests mingling and waiting outside the church.
4. Groom with best man waiting. (Maybe looking at his watch impatiently  :o))
5. Bride getting out of car. Dad helping her.

During the ceremony: This is dependent upon the location and the permission but normally includes:

1. The bride walking up the aisle from behind with the groom in the background.
2. Each person placing a ring on their partner’s finger.
3. The priest blessing the couple.
4. Signing the register.
5. Maybe a pic with the couple and the priest in the church.
6. A pic of the couple inside the car. Sit on the front seat and ask them to squash together.

After the ceremony:

1. Confetti as they come out of the church (let them get congratulated by guests etc., then proceed with these shots).
2. Bride and Groom together (bride on your right).
3. Bride and Groom together with her parents (boy, girl, boy girl).
4. Bride and Groom together with his parents (boy, girl, boy girl).
5. Bride and Groom together with both parents (his on his side and hers on her side).
6. Bride and Groom together with her parents plus brothers and sisters and spouses / partners.
7. Bride and Groom together with his parents plus brothers and sisters and spouses / partners.
8. Bride and Groom together with best man and maid of honour.
9. Bride and Groom together with his grandparents.
10. Bride and Groom together with her grandparents.
11. Bride and Groom together with both sets of grandparents.
12. Bride and Groom together with any special guest(s) (maybe someone from overseas).
13. Groom with best man.
14. Bride with maid of honour.
15. Bride and Groom together with bridesmaids.
16. Best man alone (full length plus three quarter).
17. Maid of honour alone (full length plus three quarter).
18. Best man and maid of honour together.
19. Separate pics of the bridesmaids.
20. Group photo of all bridesmaids together.
21. Group photo of all bridesmaids together plus best man.
22. Maybe one last photo of all guests together with the couple standing about six feet in front of them. (You have to get elevated for this one. I use a small stepladder).

You can also download this list in PDF form on my website here.

Thanks for reading.

Cover up. Or not

I was recently up in my attic looking for slides worth scanning.

As in usually the the case I got distracted and began looking in other containers as well. I came across my old lens caps. 

I learnt early on in my career that situations can change fluidly when you are on a job. For this reason, I have never bought an ever ready case, ( also known as a never ready case ) to put my camera in. There's nothing more frustrating than trying hurriedly to get a picture but first having to snap open two studs on the case, manoeuvre  it over the camera and lens, switch on the camera then bring it up to eye level ready to shoot.

 My old lens caps. Some dating back to 1982.

My solution is to get rid of the caps and to protect the front element of the lens with a good quality UV or skylight filter and a deep lens hood. In the early days I used the collapsible rubber lens hoods which also acted as shock absorbers.

 Body caps. L-R  EF, FD and FL (I think)

If I later sell a lens, I will of course include the lens cap but I do tend to keep my equipment for a long time.

It's embarrassing to bring the camera up to eye level then realise that everything in the viewfinder is dark. Also if you are using a range finder camera (without live view obviously), you probably wouldn't notice that the lens cap was on like this unfortunate gentleman. . . .

Thanks for reading.