I’m a full-time photographer, I take photos for a living. It’s my main source of income. Its how I pay the rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table. The problem when you work for money, specifically when you get paid for your photography, is that you are no longer in full control.
Can you really get good commercial photography for $19?
The race to the bottom never seems to end. The latest is a new service claiming to produce marketing photography for as little as $19. Yes, that’s right, photography that normally costs thousands for only nineteen bucks. The service is called Catalog and they’ve raised $1.5 million to kick the business off.
They’re not the only company starting up with a similar model, either. Photographer Daniel Norton discusses these types of services in this video, and how they’re really not a great thing for either the customer nor the photographers who might shoot for them.
Photographers, don’t let one rejection steal your dream
If you are currently knocking some doors, searching for opportunities and chasing your dreams as a photographer, you know that it can get tough. You may want to give it all up and just start doing something else. If this is the case, here is some inspiration to keep you going. In this video, Joel Grimes talks about how his first portfolio showing almost caused him to quit. But luckily, he managed to get through the tough times and rejections, and he ended up fulfilling his dream to be a professional photographer. In case you need some encouragement and inspiration right now, this is the story you absolutely must hear.
Very nice…how much??! – a breakdown of day rates in commercial photography
It’s standard practice for commercial photography clients to ask photographers their ‘day rate’. Most estimates that photographers provide start with a day rate before going on to production costs and expenses.
Now I used to think I could simply take it for granted that anyone involved in the industry would be able to appreciate this isn’t exactly what a photographer or for that matter any independent creative professional working on a short term project earns for every single day of the year.
I’ve realised that the world of photography is in so much flux that this isn’t a safe assumption and now I much prefer to provide a rate for each job. My reasons can be best illustrated with an example.
Making it work on real life budgets and why Content is King
“Content is king” is what people say. Well, recently I delivered a video clip that was part of a series of clips I produced for a client. I wasn’t 100% proud of it on a technical level. So why did I still deliver it to the client? This was, after all, only one part of a series of clips. I could have delivered all the rest and explained to the client that this one wasn’t quite perfect and so would rather not release it.
I still sent it to the client because I knew that the content in the clip, the story if you would, was very engaging. And if you have a great story and decent audio, I believe you can get away with it if some of the shots aren’t perfect.
First, let me explain why the shots weren’t perfect. This was a corporate shoot and, very often in corporate shoots, you don’t have full control of what and how you’re going to shoot.
Underwater Photography In Murky Water – Tips and Tricks
If you’ve ever tried to photograph a person underwater, you know how important crystal clear water is to producing usable images.
I do most of my underwater photography in Georgian Bay which is exceptionally clean and clear.
It’s also freezing cold, and far away from urban areas – which complicates the logistics required to produce a commercial photography session (it’s a 3 or 4 hour drive for me and most models, stylists, make up artists etc. and there is a window of about two weeks in August when it’s warm enough to swim without a wet suit).
However, I live right beside Lake Ontario (which is not exactly known for being clean or clear), so I thought I’d try an underwater photography session here – with easy access to talent from Toronto.
In this article I will share a few of my tips and tricks for underwater photography in murky water.
Italian town of Positano to impose €1000 photography tax
The picturesque town of Positano in Italy is one of the most popular photography destinations in the world. But, if you’re planning a visit and taking photos for commercial purposes, be prepared to pay a pretty expensive fee.
Starting from mid-November, the municipality of Positano is imposing a €1000 (almost $1200) of tax for all photographers who want to capture the town’s panorama for commercial purposes. It will be even worse for videographers, who will need to pay €2000 for the shooting permission.
This is how to shoot a $2,500,000 car with a $50,000 camera
There’s only a hundred Pagani Huayra BC in the world, and each one costs a cool $2.5mil. The “BC” in its designation stands for Benny Caiola, the first person to ever buy a Pagani automobile. With a Mercedes AMG designed V12 bi-turbo engine built exclusively for Pagani and pulling more than 750bhp, it’s a beast of a car.
When it comes time to photograph it, one also needs a beast of a camera. So, LA based automotive photographer Richard Thompson chose the Phase One XF 100MP for this Huayra BC advertising shoot. They also shot a behind the scenes video, so we can see what goes into a shoot like this.
This is how they shoot those epic air-to-air photos of a 787 Dreamliner
About every 10 years or so, large airliners need a repaint. Many airlines take the opportunity to come up with new livery for their fleet. Modernise the look a bit, add some flashy new graphics, etc. Air Canada recently put their new livery on a 787 Dreamliner. And with each new paint job come a new photo shoot to promote their new look.
It might surprise some of you (it sure surprised me) to find out that they still actually photograph the actual planes. It’s really not just done with CG. There’s a lot of prep and planning that needs to go into shoots like these. Everyday Reviews tagged along on this particular photo shoot to get some insight into how it was all done.
This analog tool makes shooting to format super-easy
If you are shooting for an ad agency, a magazine or a social media cover, there is a good chance that the brief includes a format, or an aspect ratio in which you have to deliver.
That means that you will have to crop your image to fit that ratio. Now, cropping is the easy part, taking the photo so the composition will support that crop is a little more tricky. Some cameras support assisting tools, like crop marks for HD, the rule of thirds, or the golden ratio. But none of the cameras that I know (yet) support aspect ratio for social media.
crop is a little more tricky. Some cameras support assisting tools, like crop marks for HD, the rule of thirds, or the golden ratio. But none of the cameras that I know (yet) support aspect ratio for social media.
Photographer Anna McGunn created a simple tool, basically a bunch of matte-frames, which you can overlay on your LCD to visualize the final image.
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