Be Professional
Be polite. Be professional. This may come as a surprise, but the photography business is not a talent show. No matter how good you are, if you’re unreliable, difficult to work with and a jerk, the fans will hate you, other photographers will shun you and no one will hire you. Be polite to fans [...]
Mar 02, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Keep Your Gear Clean
A friend just sent a couple hundred wedding photos back to her photographer because there was a spot or smudge in every photo. The poor guy is going to spend hours cloning out that piece of dirt on his lens/sensor when a two minute cleaning before the event might have been enough.
Mar 01, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 2 Comments »
Keep Learning
No matter how long you’ve been shooting, there is always more to learn about some aspect of the craft. Find a mentor, read a book, or check out really awesome online tutorials from Todd Owyoung and Zack Arias.
Feb 28, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Noise Reduction
Whether you shoot JPEG or RAW, noise is best managed after capture. In-camera noise reduction will turn your sharp (albeit noisy) photos into impressionist paintings that lack fine detail. Turning all in-camera noise reduction off will solve half of the problem. The solution lies in third party software noise reduction like Picture Code’s Noise Ninja. [...]
Feb 27, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
FOCUS TECHNIQUE
If you don’t like that your camera re-focuses every time you press the shutter, try moving the autofocus activation from the shutter to the AF-ON button on the back of the camera. It takes some getting used to, but after you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to lock focus and recompose without [...]
Feb 26, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 5 Comments »
Batch Process Everything
Whether you’re editing photos, making invoices, or sending press requests, if you find yourself doing the same thing over and over you should probably have a batch process. In Photoshop batch processes called “actions” can be used to re-size images , sharpen and add watermarks. These actions can be used on single files or an [...]
Feb 25, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Flash Card Errors
Like other types of storage media, the flash cards used in digital cameras can run into problems. If you’re shooting and you encounter an error writing to your flash card, wait a few seconds to see if the problem goes away. If the images finish writing to the card but the problem persists: 1) remove [...]
Feb 24, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Find the Correct Exposure
The rear LCD screen of your camera is a lying liar who lies. Though the screens of newer cameras are fairly good, the image they display can be lighter, darker or a different color from your actual photo. Do not use them to accurately judge exposure (until you get to know the bias of your [...]
Feb 23, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 4 Comments »
Renting Lenses
Don’t have the right lens for the job? Do as the pros do – rent one. From wide angle primes to super zooms, most lenses can be rented for $25 to $50 per day. (Telephoto lenses may run as high as $100 per day). If your local camera store doesn’t rent equipment there are a [...]
Feb 22, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Shooting Position
The old saying about “location. location. location” certainly holds true for concert photography. Once you get the proper credentials for your concert, remember to ask your contact if there are any important shooting restrictions like “soundboard-only.” Don’t get caught without the right lenses for the job!
Feb 21, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Prime Lenses
If you’ve tried every setting but your low light photos are still coming out dark it’s probably because the zoom lens that came with your camera can’t let the light into the camera quickly enough. The smallest, lightest and cheapest solution to the problem is the 50mm f/1.8 prime lens. For about $100.00 USD, a [...]
Feb 20, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 2 Comments »
Spot Metering with Backlit Subjects
In backlit scenes (background is much brighter), the subject will often turn out too dark because the camera is measuring the brightness of the entire frame. Spot metering is a good solution to this problem. Without getting into too much techno speak, spot metering measures only the small area in the center of the scene [...]
Feb 19, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Shooting Manual
Being comfortable shooting entirely manual is extremely important in all types of photography but particularly concert photography. Rapid changes in stage lighting can easily fool the camera in any of the automatic shooting modes. The problem is that the cameras light meter will never be as smart as the human eye. I think it’s preferable [...]
Feb 18, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 1 Comment »
Quality Light
Knowing the difference between bad lighting and good lighting can save you from wasting valuable space on your flash cards and tons of editing time. While the difference is subjective based on intent, good light is generally directional and casts some shadow that give the subject a sense of shape. Bad light either hits the [...]
Feb 17, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 2 Comments »
Underexpose on Purpose
Hate the typical blown out rock shot? Me too. When the lighting is difficult and the exposure is hard to pin down, I find it helpful to shoot RAW and err on the dark side. (And no, I’m not talking about the Force.) Don’t worry if you’re photos are slightly underexposed. It’s better to push [...]
Feb 16, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 2 Comments »
Invoice Immediately
Make it easier for your clients to pay you. Always send your invoice with the high resolution files. Immediate invoicing will help you get paid as quickly as possible and with fewer complications. If you know they received the photo, you know they received the invoice.
Feb 15, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Compose in Camera
Don’t rely on cropping after capture to improve you photos. Composing every shot in the viewfinder maximizes the printable resolution of your images, helps develop your eye and saves time in post production. Leave the cropping to production department.
Feb 13, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Shoot More than you Need
Shoot more than you need but not more than you can afford. While taking a single frame at the decisive moment is often all you need, you cannot publish, admire or sell a photo you didn’t take. Making an effort to shoot more gives you greater options when editing and will improve your photography in [...]
Feb 12, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Self Promotion
Always send a link to your press coverage back to the press representative who set up your photo pass. Doing this simple thing gives you a chance to say “thank you” and saves the rep from having to search for your photos later.
Feb 11, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | 1 Comment »
Use quality Batteries
BATTERIES 01.24.2009 – Use Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries in your flash. They shorten the time between shots, last 4x longer per charge and are much better for the planet. They will also keep you from missing shots!
Feb 10, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Lens Flare
Is lens flare ruining your photos? Try removing any protective filters you have on the front of the lens. The optical coatings on third party filters do not match the coatings on your lens. This can cause flare. Be very careful with your lenses if you decide to take off the filters. Also, be sure [...]
Feb 09, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Join the discussion »
Concert Photography Questions & Answers
Leave your concert photography questions as a comment and I’ll do my best to answer, no strings attached. Please indicate if you would like my response to be public or private. *EDIT* – Please skim the comments to see if your question has already been answered! Best, Chris
Jan 13, 2009 | Categories: Photography Tutorials | Tags: 2009, Add new tag, canon, faq, frequesntly ask questions, Music Photography, nikon, questions, tutorial | 98 Comments »
