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How to manage your time better as a freelance photographer – Tin House Studio audits my business

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Last year I read a book that alarmingly told me that if I lived to an average age of around 80 years, I probably only had around 2000 weeks left. Cue panic: 2000 weeks doesn’t sound like a lot to achieve my goals and live my best life. One of those goals, of course, is to have a thriving photography business and let’s say that it is anything but thriving at the moment.

Still, not all heroes wear capes, as they say. I was presented with a great opportunity to have my underachieving photography business audited by Scott Chouciño from Tin House Studio. Scott is a working commercial photographer based in the UK. He is fairly well known for his no-nonsense, somewhat blunt approach, but I was keen to see what he had to say. Have a watch of the video because it is full of gems that will be helpful for anybody struggling with their photography business.

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Five clamps and brackets every studio shooter and strobist needs

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What even is a ‘studio shooter’ today? Years ago it was a little easier to define, but due to us having tons of heavy, cumbersome lighting and cameras, we were all pretty grounded in the actual home-base of a studio. Today though, the vast majority of my own jobs are not shot in my own space. I shoot wherever I’m needed and whether that be in a home, an office, hair salon or even another hired studio, I’m always on the move. 

The clamps and brackets I’m about to run though in this article are great for all types of studio shooters, and although they will be ideal for those of you who may never shoot outside of your own controlled space, many of these items will be invaluable to those of you, who like me, need to carry, assemble and breakdown their studio setups regularly in a multitude of spaces. 

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Build this portrait studio at home for under $20

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Whether we’re in lockdown or not, it’s always great to have the option of shooting high-quality photos at home. And it’s even better if we can do it on the cheap. In this video, Pye Jirsa teams up with Adorama to show you how to create a portrait studio at your own home for under $20.

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BBC releases photos of 100+ empty popular TV show sets to spice up your Zoom & Skype calls

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With much of the world now working from home and communicating via Skype, Zoom and other online video conferencing platforms, the standard headshot against the backdrop of a plain wall or a messy bedroom has become a little old.

So, the BBC wants to help spice things up a little for you, and have released over 100 photographs of the sets, sans actors, from some of their most iconic TV shows including Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Absolutely Fabulous and Doctor Who, as well as countless other shows that most people outside of the UK probably haven’t even heard of (but they’re popular here).

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How to light and shoot portraits of yourself or your family in your home

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There are lots of videos out there on lighting and shooting portraits, but they often show huge studios, with the kind of space that no reasonable person would have available in their home. That observation was pointed out to photographer Nathan Elson on a video he posted shooting self-portraits at his studio. So, he’s made another one, to show how you can use smaller equipment to get a similar look in a small space in your home.

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Ten things a photographer wishes he’d known before he started using strobes

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When you first start using strobes, it can be exciting but also overwhelming. There’s a lot to learn and a lot of mistakes to make before you get it right. In this video from Behind the Shutter, photographer Michael Corsentino shares his experience with strobes. He talks about ten things he wishes he’d known before he started shooting with them. If you’re just starting out, this video will help you learn and avoid mistakes.

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Shooting in a small space – a brief tour of my tiny home studio

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A lot of people seem to think I have this giant space. I do not. I actually never had more space than those 2 converted bedrooms I work in now and not so long ago I rented a small, bedroom-sized commercial space. And even before that, I used to work in my studio between my bed and desk. And going even further back, I had to sit on my bed to even be able to shoot a half body. I started working with clients in the time I had a one-room living studio space. Good times.

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Getting creative with one light

So you have just picked up your first light or you have had one light for a while now and you are wondering what more you can create with just that one light, well you can create LOADS.  I see many post/comments saying they can’t do that as they only have one light and while it is more efficient using more lights in certain situations it really is quite amazing what you can create with just one, so my best advice is to get out and shoot loads, experiment and fail as many times as you can, because honestly you will learn more this way and the experience gained will stay with you, In this post I will show you just a few ways I have created images with one light, now this is no tutorial more a post on ideas to try . If you want to jump straight to the video for this post click below.

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How I did this pink & red studio shoot: a step-by-step breakdown from planning to post-processing

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Shooting for yourself is something I talk about a lot, I talk about it a lot but I have struggled to do over the last 12 months.

In 2016 I shot maybe 20-30 shoots which were for myself to try new skills, develop my work and give myself a break for the paid work I was doing.

In 2017 I did only 4 shoots like this. Now a little of that is because I was a victim of my own success, my commercial work grew massively and became my biggest photography year on earnings and hours worked. This meant my own personal work had to take a little bit of a back seat. Well not a little, it wasn’t even in the back seat, it was left at home in a cupboard which was locked and nailed shut!

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This is how different softbox placement affects your portraits

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When photographing portraits in a studio, you can create many different looks using only one light. Depending on how you place it and how big it is, a softbox can significantly change the look and mood of your photos. In this video, Jay P Morgan discusses different factors of softbox placement. And when you learn how they affect your portraits, you’ll know exactly how to achieve the look you want.

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