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Very nice…how much??! – a breakdown of day rates in commercial photography

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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.

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Making it work on real life budgets and why Content is King

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“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.

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Underwater Photography In Murky Water – Tips and Tricks

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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.

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Italian town of Positano to impose €1000 photography tax

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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.

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This is how to shoot a $2,500,000 car with a $50,000 camera

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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.

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This is how they shoot those epic air-to-air photos of a 787 Dreamliner

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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.

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This analog tool makes shooting to format super-easy

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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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India requires license for photographers so they don’t “pester” visitors in protected monuments

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Have you already been to India and photographed Taj Mahal and other famous monuments? If you haven’t, from now on you may need a license to do it. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is changing their photography policy, and they will soon require photographers to be licensed if they want to operate commercially in India’s protected monuments.

Unlike the Swiss village that banned photography, this isn’t a PR trick. The reason for this move by ASI is to prevent freelance photographers from “pestering” the visitors who want to take photos.

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How to photograph a high end cosmetics product shot with inexpensive equipment

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Even if you don’t photograph products regularly, they’re great test subjects to learn lighting. You get to play around, experiment, and explore how light interacts with different surfaces. And you get to do it in a very controlled way. But high end cosmetics typically have a certain look to them that can be difficult to achieve with modest equipment at home.

Canadian photographer, and pretty good keyboard player, Dustin Dolby is here to help. In this video he shows us his workflow to photograph cosmetic products. And he does it with very inexpensive equipment, too. Just a piece of plexiglass, some foamcore, a speedlights or two, and a couple of cheap softboxes is all you need.

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Target’s new swimsuit ad campaign goes “Photoshop-free” (or at least, liquify-free)

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Photoshop has received a bit of a backlash over the last few years about its use in advertising.But, it’s not really Adobe’s fault. Photoshop is just a tool. It’s like blaming Ford because you took a wrong turn down a one way street. But, the criticism has made a lot of companies sit up and think. Their average customer doesn’t really look much like the people used in their advertising campaigns. In fact, even the people used in their advertising campaigns don’t look like themselves in the final result a lot of the time.

More and more organisations have started to go “Photoshop free” for their advertising. And Target have now jumped on the trend, to great effect. To promote their new spring swimwear line, the campaign features women of all shapes and sizes, completely unretouched.

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