When sorting your photos give it some time before the throw away too many images

Woke up this morning with very cold temperatures outside. Cold and windy with just a little snow is not good for much around here.

After cleaning out the horse stalls and balancing my checkbook I went exploring pictures that I took last year. It seems like when I look at photographs that I took some time ago, there are always a couple that look better than they did when I first saw them. In fact I found that it is important for me when gleaning through my images that I not throw away too many images. In the past I would end up trashing some of these incubating images before they “grew on me” so to speak.

Now I throw away images with focus issues, images that are clearly under par, but I keep many more images than I used to. Now when I go back, there are many images that mature over time.

I thought I would share a couple.

This is an image that I took at a FEO shoot. FEO in Dayton is a support group for photographers willing to share and grow. There are FEO groups that meet all over the country as a result of Dane Sander’s book Fast Track Photographer. The initials stand for FOR EACH OTHER and locally, most of the members are wedding and some portrait photographers. They meet on the second Tuesday of each month to go over selected topics together. This particular meeting was a photo shoot with models at my home near Germantown, Ohio. The thing that I like about FEO is that the other photographers challenge me and keep me fresh. One of the things that I experimented with at this meeting was back lit portraits like this one. If I had an assistant with me I might have used a reflector to bring a little more of that warm light back onto the subjects.

This is just a quick snap shot of Sarah Wheeler at a Starbucks when I delivered an 11×14 stretched canvas print to her. Sarah is now at school at Wright State University and we were able to meet up at Starbucks so I could give this to her. Sarah is still very active in horse sports at Dancing Horse Farm in Lebanon, Ohio. If you would like to see more from Sarah Wheeler’s session go to this link: http://www.photosbypdemott.com/2009/09/sarah-wheelers-senior-portraits-at-dancing-horse-farm/

Follow-up from Sarah Wheeler 1/19/2011. My question: Hey girl, what does your mom think of the canvas print?

I’m still working on trying to find the time to start a podcast about equine photographers. I’ve been thinking about audio clips and video clips as part of my other web site as well. My other web site is about growing your business in Dayton, Ohio. Actually the posts there can help any business except for the parts about the coupon magazine that I work for. I post a lot of facebook tips, internet tips, and other tips that are important to businesses in general. That web site is Grow Your Business in Dayton – http://www.gybindayton.com

Hopefully you got something from this post. I think that I am in a cold winter funk which makes it difficult to come up with more interesting material.

Peter DeMott • peter@photosbypdemott.com • 937-478-6222 • http://www.photosbypdemott.com • http://gybindayton.com •

Becoming a photographer, being a photographer, learning about photography

Recently I received an email update from F-Stop Beyond: THE EXPERIENCE. I have been subscribing to his email newsletter for several years. This one captured my interest in that it had an offering. For $29 he would send me a pdf about blogging for my business AND a audio file about pricing professional services (it is a mp-3 of a coaching session about pricing). In addition for a short time anyone who purchased this small package, the entire amount would be sent to Haiti Relief. I am listening to the audio file right now as I create this post.

I like to provide my photographer friends with resources from time to time in this blog.

Today I am listing a couple of podcasts that I receive through iTunes. I listen to these when I am driving places or when I am mucking out stalls or working out in the gym. They offer inspiration and knowledge.

If you do not have an ipod, the smaller units are very inexpensive and many of the more current phones include M-p3 players in them that can be synced to the iTunes podcasts that you subscribe to. THESE ARE ALL FREE PODCASTS! If you don’t want to be able to listen as you go, you can also listen directly from your computer, no problem.

Here is short list:

One of Ron Dawson’s web sites: F-Stop Beyound.TV

On iTunes look up these podcasts (Open iTunes and search under podcasts, then click on the subscribe button):

F-Stop Beyond: THE EXPERIENCE

F-Stop Beyond / Shows 1-99

Rangefinder Radio

Pictage Podcast

I also listen to podcasts about internet marketing, and some general photography podcasts.

So check them out and enjoy.

This post is posted on my website and blog. It will be in my notes on facebook and on my wall at Peter DeMott Photography of facebook.

Taking better portraits and pictures with your digital camera

Recently I’ve had a couple people email me to ask how to improve their photography. Even though I’ve been taking pictures since I was about twelve, I have found that the speed of learning has increased significantly since going digital. My personal goal is to continue to improve with every shoot or every session that I do for the rest of my life. For someone who loves photography, that is an easy goal.

I’ve always appreciated other photographers who were willing to help me to get to the next level in my work. So in this post I am going to make some suggestions for those who are new to photography or those wanting to grow in their knowledge of photography. I’m going to list some basic suggestions that followed can bring you growth and learning.

The first thing is to have a teachable mindset. These days things are changing pretty fast. It is very easy to reach a point where you think you know enough and you just stop being willing and open to learning. It means not being embarrassed to ask questions. It means being eager to continue to learn no matter how much experience you think you have. My goal is to be a lifelong learner. My associates at Professional Photographers Of SW Ohio will testify that I am always asking questions and open to learning and sharing.

Where can you practice your teachable mindset. Here are some of the things that I do.
- Subscribe to free podcasts on iTunes about photography (try several and stick with the ones you enjoy most)
- Join some free photography internet forums or even pay forums where you can get constructive criticism ( I am a member of EPnet)
- Buy photography books AND/OR pick them up free from the public library
- READ you camera manual and try out each feature to see what it does until you feel comfortable using all the dials and buttons on your camera
- Join a local photography club or professional organization (if you are a professional)
- Go on a photography weekend training seminar or participate in your club’s field trips or call someone you meet to do a shoot together

Take lots of pictures. I don’t mean to take a bunch of the same pictures from the same place, but rather if you find something that you would like to photograph, that you really explore your subject and take lots of pictures from various angles, various distances, and from various places. I was discussing this with a new photographer that asked me for some guidance. I asked her if she moved her feet when she took some pictures. It is common for a newer photographer to plant their feet and start shooting. When you take lots of pictures of a subject you have interest in, explore your subject and unplant your feet. One great thing about digital is that you can take lots of pictures from lots of angles using lots of different settings and it doesn’t cost you a thing.

Learn to LOOK at what you are seeing in your viewfinder. One of the easiest ways to improve your images is to eliminate clutter in your backgrounds and foregrounds. If there are piles of junk or trash cans in the background, that distracts you from your main subject. Sometimes it means that you will have to unplant your feet and move around some. Maybe it means that you will have to try some different angles to shoot from. In some cases you just have to pick up before you start shooting.

Learn to SEE THE LIGHT. This is something that comes with some time, but it comes faster if you work at it. Here is how you work on it. As you look at a scene that you want to photograph, look at where the light is coming from. Are there bright spots? Are there areas where there is not much light? Find out what soft light means and what harsh light means and learn how each affects your pictures and portraits. I’ve been having my wife, Patty, assist me with my location portrait sessions. I have a 52″ silver reflector so that I can shoot with light coming from various directions and still have her reflect some light onto my subjects for a more pleasing portrait. Sometimes I have taken the reflector and showed her by having her concentrate on my subject’s face while I adjust the angle of the reflector. I will say… see that even when the difference is very subtle and suddenly, as she concentrates on the subject she will say, “Oh, wow, I do see the difference now.”

NOW IT IS MY TURN to learn from you. I was just listening to a podcast about how you can learn from your clients by asking them to complete a simple sentence. For a bank, you would ask your customers to complete this sentence, “If I were a banker I would……….you fill in this part……..” Well, I’m wanting to learn what my portrait customers and prospective customers want, so if you have gotten this far, please finish this sentence as if you were me. “If I was a professional portrait photographer, I would_____(complete the sentence)_________________.”

This post is on my web site where you can click on the comment after this post. It will also appear on my personal facebook notes page and it will be on my facebook fan page wall where you can “comment” or “Like” it.  You can comment in any of these three places and I will get to see your response. I also want to know if you want me to continue with these how-to-photography posts?

Surviving as a professional photographer in a down economy

As a professional photographer, I always want to be growing in two ways.

First is to always be improving my photography. In light of that there are several things that I do. I participate in monthly training through PPSO (Professional Photographers of SW Ohio). I am a member of PPO (Professional Photographers of Ohio) and I go to the annual convention in the spring. At the convention I participate in every seminar that I can get my hands on. I also have a subscription to PhotoVision which is a collection of video presentations for professional photographers (Also a bi-montlhly DVD mailed to my home). Communication with other photographers through Facebook and photography forums, email and the telephone is important and I also have several Podcasts that I regularly listen to. Through these involvements I am always sharpening the product and the experience that I provide to my clients.

One thing that I just discovered, I think I saw it on a Twitter Tweet from another photographer, is the Jeff Smith books blog. This particular blog has an email subscription option (something that I always do – I don’t have to login, go searching for a web site or blog, it just shows up in my email box) so I signed up. He just published yet another book for professional photographers, this one on Senior Portraits. Yesterday I went on Amazon and purchased that book and another.

But this brings me to the other way that I think that I and other professional photographers must keep growing. That is to understand your market and current trends that effect your business. Each of the sources that I mentioned regarding improving my photography above also provide education about marketing and advertising professional photography.

Jeff Smith books blog had this post today. In it he was talking about not just surviving, but learning to do well in our current economic climate. It involved changing things up a bit on his senior portrait marketing and packages to eliminate some of the guilt and fear that people are experiencing about spending money. Here is a portion of what he said:

As business people we have to be smarter in this economy. While excessive spending is currently out of fashion, spending on memorable moments with the ones we love is viewed by Americans as perfectly fine. With our seniors, we are marketing more for the mother being included in the session and making it a “lady’s day out” experience. If it’s as much (or so the senior would think) about mom as it is the senior, the seniors doesn’t feel guilty when moms wants to buy the largest package, a wall portrait or additional wallets.

In this changing economy, many seniors that used to expect senior portraits at a premium studio as just a part of their senior year and now having to ask for senior portraits as gifts for birthdays or Christmas. The good new is when a senior is willing to give up a birthday gift for senior portraits the guilt of spending more is lessened. Again this just means as a business we change our marketing strategies to thrive in this economy as well as the next, because when it comes the economy nothing lasts forever!

Just as it is important to always be willing to learn new things with regard to the quality of your imagery, it is important to be willing to learn new ways to package and market your photography to meet the needs and wants of your clients. If you are a photographer friend, I would encourage you to go and sign-up for Jeff Smith’s blog and continue your learning (and being willing to learn) each day.

This blog post appears on my web site: Peter DeMott Photography. It will also appear on Twitter and Facebook on my personal page and my business page. You can follow me using the subscription option or by friending or becoming a fan on Facebook.

Leading a Photographic Life, learning to live a creative life.

I was again listening to a podcast called The Candid Frame by Ibarionex Experello (available free on iTunes) and for the 12/6/09 episode there was an interview with Chase Jarvis. Chase is a well known younger photographer who has created quite a buzz with his discussion of the BEST CAMERA. The best camera being the one you have WITH YOU. I believe he has an iPhone app called BEST CAMERA and a blog and perhaps a book about this idea as well. He is also a very well know commercial / advertising photographer with many national and international clients.

In any case the discussion was about leading a photographic life and learning to live a creative life. It made me want to look over some pictures that I have taken and just share them here. I decided to look through my 500 GB drive and look at some memorable images and share them here. These are all recent images when you consider that I have been an avid photographer since I was in Jr. High School many, many, many years ago. So, since I have not taken any pictures for a couple weeks, here goes.

First, here is a picture of my home in winter. I’ve been thinking about it more as I think more about my country barn photography studio. Right now I don’t have a studio, but when we built our new horse barn we build in a large room and upstairs room in it so that some day I could make it into a portrait studio. It’s just not as fun right now to take portraits of people when the trees are bare, the grass is brown, and it is 16 degrees outside. With a studio I could take indoor studio portraits and shoot year round.

When I was in Jr. High School and High School I carried my camera everywhere I went. Now I carry my camera much less, but when I do the opportunities abound for a creative life. Chase’s challenge was to take pictures everywhere and use the camera you have, your cell phone camera. Almost everyone has a cell phone camera now and it is a matter of taking the initiative to get it out and use it where ever you are. I thought this was an interesting challenge and it just made me think of memorable images and pictures that would never have happened had I not had my camera with me. These next images were not taken with my cell phone camera, but they are memorable images from the recent past which I thought I would share.

The next four images are from the Peace Point Endurance Ride. The first image is in the morning before the endurance ride started. The photo of the children became the cover image for ENDURANCE NEWS, the publication of the American Endurance News Conference. The other is a point in the day when the water was reflecting the riders as they entered the river first to let the horses drink, then to cross past me as they continued to compete. One rider was using a sponge to cool her horse. She had great technique as she would drop the sponge in the water and bring it back up into her hand using a string.

The next three images are from two different vacations that Patty and I have taken in the past several years. They represent the beautiful places and the beautiful people we have encountered. It seems to me that I see many beautiful people and places where ever I go, however on vacation I make a particular point of recording the images. These make me think that I should be wearing my camera more often the way I used to when I was young. One picture is of a dance demonstration. Another is the wonderful place we stayed. and last is a fun exchange with a street vendor down the beach from where we were. It was fun to see this man and my wife interact as she expressed and interest in some of his wears.

I hope you enjoyed my little visual vacation. Pictures and portraits can bring back strong memories. I think that is why I enjoy taking pictures and portraits so much. This podcast challenged me to keep my camera more handy and if it is not available to use my iPhone to record images. It also made me want to start work on my country barn photography studio soon so that I can lead a photographic life, a life of creativity.