Portraits by San Antonio Photographers

Once in while I receive e-mails or phone calls from aspiring or beginner wedding photographers asking me for advise on how to become successful in the wedding field. My first question is always what their motivation is to become a wedding photographer. Some will reply that they heard from somebody that it is easy money, or that they got a cool camera that takes great photos or that they would like to make some money on the side etc. While it is true that wedding photography can be a very profitable business achieving success in the wedding industry is not just a matter of getting a camera and start shooting. Wedding photography involves artistic talent, human sense, complete mastery of photographic techniques, business knowledge, and a strong desire to learn and deliver the best to the wedding couple.

Here I have summarized some points that I believe will guide beginner wedding photographers:

1. Learn photography before anything else. A wedding photographer is expected to be a master of the craft. You will be in charge of capturing people’s most precious life moments. The wedding day is not the place to learn photography.

2. Just because you got a brand new camera it does not automatically make you an effective and reliable photographer. Photography goes beyond cool toys and gadgets. Learn composition and develop a unique artistic vision. Some of the great photographs of all time were taken with manual cameras.

3. Master the digital workflow, including color management, digital image processing, file management and image correction and enhancement.

4. Learn to love photography more than anything else. Don’t come to the wedding photography field with just dreams of making money. It is true that there are many successful wedding photographers that make a lot of money. However according to the Professional Photographers of America the average photographer in America makes about $24,000 a year.

5. Focus on delivering quality more than quantity. Seek with all your heart to capture unique photographs.

6. Develop a style that is recognizable and unique. Don’t try to be like somebody else. Clients look for unique photographers, with a unique vision.

7. Give wedding photography all your heart and effort. Long when you are gone your photographs will last forever. It is a great way to be remembered.

8. Open your heart and your mind and great photos will happen. Concentrate on the human aspect of weddings, the details, and emotions and be ready to capture them. Let the camera become an extension of you.

9. Share your technical knowledge and make connections with other wedding photographers.

10. Participate in wedding photography image competitions. It will give you the opportunity to have your work evaluated by peers and the motivation to improve your work quality.

11. Learn something new everyday. Take advantage of professional photography organizations such as Professional Photographers of America (PPA), WPPI, etc. Attend their seminars, workshops. Participate in Internet wedding photography forums and learn and share tips, tools and techniques.

12. Don’t neglect the business aspect of wedding photography. Learn to manage your business effectively. Take business courses and seminars.

Juan Carlos Torres is a very respected and awarded wedding photographer in Oregon. He has a Masters Degree in Remote Sensing with a strong background in digital image processing and photography. He is a member of the several professional photographer organizations including the Professional Photographers of America, the Professional Photographers of Oregon, the Wedding Photojournalist Association,and the Oregon Wedding Photo Guild. His wedding photographs are unique and very artistic and have been featured in national and international magazines. For a sample of his works please visit Portland Oregon Wedding Photographer and Eugene Oregon Wedding Photographer

For a discussion on wedding photography see our Blog at Oregon Wedding Photographer

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

That s right. Who could say that there s no chance that your hobby could also be the foundation of your first business venture? There are a lot of people out there who are in need of a good photographer to capture images of their son s wedding, their daughter s graduation or their very own wedding. Why couldn t you be the one to supply your photography services to their needs?
For the transition of photography from hobby to your very own business, there are several tasks that you have to accomplish first.
Market Your Photography Skills Sell yourself, in other words! Let people know about what you can do in the field of photography, why they need your skills and why they should hire you. Make sure, however, that you charge them reasonable rates since you re still more or less an amateur in the field of photography.
To effectively market your photography skills, don t be afraid of spending a little money on posting ads in the classified sections. Don t stop there but post about your photography business in as many places as you can.
Join Interest Groups This could be the local photography club in your community or the association of young photographers in your school. It could also be a Yahoo Group that you could easily join.
Usually, these groups are able to hold regular or annual exhibits of their works and it wouldn t hurt to expose to the world the beauty of your works in photography.
Join Photo Competitions Two things that you could enjoy when joining photography competitions: fame and fortune. Both are equally important. Fame would do wonders to your career in photography because it would let the world know about your skills and winning a photography competition may also offer the prize of having an apprenticeship under a world famous photographer. And when it comes to wealth well, when did extra money ever hurt?
Offer Your Skills For Free to Government Projects The government is always on the lookout for professionals who are willing to work for free and you should take advantage of this. Offer your photography skills for free because this would give you the opportunity to show them what you got.
Offer Samples of Your Work to Newspapers and Magazines This is just like joining a photography competition. When you offer samples of your work to newspapers and magazines, you re improving the chances that you ll get noticed by the people who matters.
Although we can t say that the road to victory is easy, never give up, never stop taking pictures and you re sure to go far!

About The Author

Michael Colucci is a technical writer for http://www.photography-tips.org and http://www.digitalcamera-reviews.net – Free sites that offer photography tips and camera reviews.

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]

Digital vs. film
(What really matters? see below)

Here is a quick breakdown (and maybe more info than you were hoping for)

Digital vs. film should be a non-factor in your decision. Both have their positives and negatives. Digital has come a long way over the last several years. I would say at least 80% or higher of major magazine photographers shoot digital in their editorial work. That being said, what is the difference?

Film (35mm and medium format 120 / 220)
In this case, we will look at 35mm and 120 / 220 film. There are many other sizes of film. The general populations, when they say film are referring to 35mm film. It is the main size sold in Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

35mm is your standard film body camera (example: Nikon F series, Cannon). These cameras allow for interchangeable lenses and shooting flexibility much like a digital in that they are easy to move around. Film is more forgiving in terms of exposure than digital. The downside to film: if you have a certain speed of film (film speed below) in your camera, you cannot take it out to change film speed in the middle of that roll. Digital allows the user to change the speed of the film or ISO from frame to frame.

Medium format is rarely used by documentary wedding photographers and is usually the choice of the portrait photographer. Compared to 35mm, medium format uses 3~4 times as much film surface. This allows for better tonality (smoother gradations), finer detail, and less apparent grain. The downside is that medium format cameras are bigger, heavier; they are not great cameras to shoot candid images.

(Note on filmspeed: This is the main division between types of films (i.e. 100, 200, 400 etc). Speed is how fast a film can capture an image when exposed to a minimal amount of light. Slower film (the lower the number, the slower the film, 25 would be considered a slow film, 100 is also fairly slow) requires a lot of light to hit it to get an image. Slower film is great for making large enlargements from a small negative it has less grain and allows for more vivid colors. Faster films (200-800) need less light but you will see substantially more grain in an image as the film speed increases.

Digital equipment has improved dramatically in the last several years. I am a digital shooter who grew up using film and very much enjoy film and working in a darkroom. I use digital for two main reasons. 1.) It better fits my workflow 2.) It allows for more creativity. I take more risks when shooting digital than film because I can see if I got the image I wanted and if not, I can re-shoot it. I believe the biggest drawback to digital is that it cost more to shoot digitally. Camera bodies are significantly more expensive and it takes much more time to edit digital than film. With film, you drop it off to your pro lab and then get the images back when they are done. With digital, the photographer edits all the work. It increases time considerably per wedding, but the creative factor outweighs all others factors, for myself at least.

WHAT REALLY MATTERS in the camera bag?
The most important items in a camera bag are the lenses. I would much rather have a 1500.00 lens on a 50.00 camera body than a 200.00 lens on a 5000.00 camera body. Glass and the individual behind the camera are the most important factors to a great image. A pro lens allows for a much shallower depth of field. They also allow for greater flexibility in low light situations.

So if you have to ask about equipment, ask about lenses. What are the primary lenses the photographer shoots with. Which is his/her favorite lens and why. This will give you some insight into how the photographer will shoot your wedding.

Craig and Andy are lifestyle and wedding documentary photographers based out of Austin and Houston, Texas where they shoot for their studio, studio563.

http://www.studio563.com

[techtags: Family Photography, Senior Photographers, Studio Portraits, Portrait Photography]