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Now ye're talking - to a professional photographer

24

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 5,066 ✭✭✭Mech1


    Hi, and many thanks for doing this.

    I have a almost new Nikon D5300, + kit lens 18/55, 50mm prime, 35mm prime, 55/300, is that enough to start taking decent photos?

    I also have a external flash nikon sb600 and what i consider a light but suitable tripod.

    Would i be laughed out of a camera club?

    Am i missing anything and if so what?


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    Do you ever do or get requests for stereoscopic pictures?

    I've an old 'stereo photo' viewer from the 1950's (Sawyers viewmaster) with a load of patents stamped on the body. It was really ground breaking at the time.

    Basically it's twin slides (about 86mm gap) on a rotating reel that gives an impression of really being there (all be it low quality images of Lourdes). It's 'mid-century VR' in essence.

    Have a basic cheap, but good, NikonDSLR was thinking of getting a twin, mounted for stereo photos (assuming focal point and settings can be matched).


    Afterall you wouldn't listen to DAB or FM in mono with one ear or one speaker.
    - So why just look a 2D wedding photos, when they could be viewed in stereo (3D) via a VR (HD tablet/phone) holding headset.


    It's not something I've ever had requested, to be honest. I did have to do a Google search to ensure I knew what you were talking about. It's not something I'd be very familiar with (although the technology behind it is amazing).

    So why just look a 2D wedding photos, when they could be viewed in stereo (3D) via a VR (HD tablet/phone) holding headset.

    I think a lot of people look at VR as a gimmick/novelty thing that will fizzle out. Wedding photos are usually hung on the wall, and the wedding video goes in the drawer. Both get ignored until the anniversaries start to roll around.

    I could imagine a VR video recording of the wedding bring a more likely future, or transition, for the videographer, rather than the photographer. Stick your VR headset on and watch the wedding ceremony as if you were there as a guest.

    Although I think the next step for weddings is a tripod in the middle of the floor, cradling a tablet that's recording and being broadcast on 'facebook live' (for all the guests that thought 'i'll be on holiday' was a good enough excuse to get out of going to the wedding).

    Will have to google stereoscopic stuff some more. Never really knew about it. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    Mech1 wrote: »
    Hi, and many thanks for doing this.

    I have a almost new Nikon D5300, + kit lens 18/55, 50mm prime, 35mm prime, 55/300, is that enough to start taking decent photos?

    I also have a external flash nikon sb600 and what i consider a light but suitable tripod.

    Would i be laughed out of a camera club?

    Am i missing anything and if so what?

    There are people who attend photography clubs that don't even have a camera, at all. They just go for something to do, and to look at other people's pictures... and for tea and biscuits.

    You sound like you've more than enough gear. You have covered pretty much everything (minus wide-angle, but that's one people generally come to later on) and I would imagine you would be more than capable of getting great shots with what you have named there.

    I've never really been into camera clubs, but they tend to vary wildly in terms of what they actually get up to. Some camera clubs rarely go out taking photos, and spend all their time doing presentations instead. Whereas other clubs are the exact opposite.

    The best thing would be to get out taking photos, and learn from watching others. But this depends on what kind of photos you want to take. Are you interested in any particular area of photography at all? Your lens choice would cover almost every area of photography.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,586 ✭✭✭ Octavia Tender Seesaw


    The 3D steroscopic technique has been around for a while, have one of these yokes from the 50's.

    yYIXwVW.png

    They even made an adaptor called the 'Stereax' in the '50s which split the lens using mirrors.

    With the rise of VR, it could be a nice gimmic, but also 'added value' to offer to the marketplace.
    A cheap VR headset is ideal for photo slideshows not just full HDVR movies with 360 sound, or full interactive stuff.
    But remove the concave lens things and insert splitter.

    This random sample is actually a 5-frame 'wiggle' but appears to use the 60mm type gap as per stereo photos.
    https://i.imgur.com/seD6fIr.gif
    There is also slight rotation used between the two extreme points, as there would naturally be using actual eyes.


  • Registered Users Posts: 27,983 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    Any tips for the amateur about how to file/archive/tag the family photo collection so it is of some use in years to come?


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  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    Any tips for the amateur about how to file/archive/tag the family photo collection so it is of some use in years to come?

    It can be done on windows directly, or via different dedicated programmes.

    On Windows, it's as simple as: Right Click > Properties > Details > Comments (write a word here, hit 'apply', then X out of the window. Now, search windows for that word. If the photo comes up, you know it's working for you).

    If you use any tagging software you'll be possibly a lot quicker. PhotoMechanic is a decent one, but I'm unsure if there's a free version of it or not. Failing that, in Photoshop you can tag the files, too, (Ctrl, Alt, Shift and I at the same time) and you can fill in the description there.

    Effectively, your aim is to get the people's names, or a word, tag etc. into the description tab on the metadata (metadata is the fancy word for the words you can attach to the photo file itself to help identify it).

    Be careful of spelling mistakes.

    For example, if I open windows and do a search for John, all the photos I have with a John (or Johnny, or Johnson or anything with John forming part of the word) will show up. But if I accidentally wrote Jhon in one of the files, it won't show up.

    Helpful for when I take a photo of someone and they later decide they want to buy a photograph from me. I can just search their name and show them everything I have with that person in the photo.

    Would imagine it'll make sorting family photos easier, too.

    Another suggestion I would have is that, if you take a lot of photos, create a series of folders and sub-folders.

    My organisational tier of folders is effectively all inside a Photography Folder. Inside that, I have folders called "Family", "Newspaper", "Portraits", etc. and inside each of those, there's a folder called "2010", "2011", "2012", etc.

    Inside each of those is a folder whose name is just a date (month-day-year). Month goes in first, as if you put the date first, windows will sort by name and mess it all up). So I have folders called "02-01-2010" (1st of february) and "04-05-2015" (5th of April).

    I find it helps me swiftly get through things. If you've already got a lot of photos taken, having to enter the file descriptions will be very time consuming, so just sorting by a rough date will help more (and you can add tags as you go forward, for future use).

    I've never used Apple products, so can't comment on how you'd achieve this if you use Apple stuff. I'm sure it's just as easy, though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,295 ✭✭✭p to the e


    Do you ever do any Macro photography?

    Do you ever use any home made equipment?

    Where would you get your printing done? Recommendations?


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,283 ✭✭✭fixXxer


    Can you look at my Instagram and tell me what I'm doing wrong???? :D

    Seriously though thanks for doing this AMA. I take photos as a hobby and as a way to relax. The only time I did it seriously was at a friends wedding when the photographer was sick and the replacement couldn't get there in time for the church. The pressure was unreal and that was just a favor for a friend. Fair play to you being able to make a living from it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,841 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    How many of these "amateur" photographers are just sleazeballs trying to get young wans to strip off for them?


    Or is it just a coincidence that groups of ould fellas in the 50's and 60's suddenly develop an interest in "glamour photography".


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 907 ✭✭✭Alpha_zero


    So help us all get some killer travel pictures.
    What are the best manual settings used to get the best sunrise/sunset pictures aperture and all that jazz your the photographer not me.

    How to get pictures in very bright/sunny conditions.

    How to get the best pictures in low light conditions.


    I haven't event bothered to check if this has been asked already cause i don't have the time or inclination to do so.

    If your report this post i will get banned and that will be on your conscious.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,683 ✭✭✭Darren 83


    How do you back up all the photo's, online or offline or both?


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,672 ✭✭✭seannash


    I'd personally love a camera but can't bring myself to carry around a big camera when I travel. I use a Huawei p20 pro which is meant to have one of the best smartphone camera out there at the moment. That being said I would be able to carry a small compact one. Can you recommend any good compact ones.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    p to the e wrote: »
    Do you ever do any Macro photography?

    I've done a small bit of Macro photography, but only ever been paid for it once, and it wasn't really "proper" Macro photography even then.

    As a general hobbyist, when I was playing with different things, I messed about with Macro flower photos, trying to get bees, etc. but it's not an area of photography I was ever in love with.
    p to the e wrote: »
    Do you ever use any home made equipment?

    Not really. Made some DIY light diffuser accessories for sticking onto my flash unit before, when I was stuck or experimenting, but I find you can get such a wide array of accessories online, often not for too much money, that it's not really worth messing around with DIY'ing it, unless you're really trying to avoid spending, or have an idea that you're not sure will work.
    p to the e wrote: »
    Where would you get your printing done? Recommendations?

    There's a local store that I use in the course of everyday life. I can email them directly and they will post photos out to customers for me, or allow customers to go to the shop and pay for the prints there (so I call in to the shop every few weeks and grab what they owe me, or pay them for prints). It's handy.

    If you're online, Photobox do a great job, and I've used them extensively. I get preferential pricing on printing locally, but even then, some of the sale pricing on Photobox can be hard to beat.

    I avoid places like Harvey Norman and Tesco. These places have machines that generally apply a sharpening and contrast/saturation to photos, as they're generally used by people with photos from their phones or printing 1,000 holiday snaps.

    When you edit in Photoshop, and then put your photos through the automation used in these machines, it can make the end-result a bit rough. (they are great for phone photos and the casual printing though).


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    fixxxer wrote: »
    Can you look at my Instagram and tell me what I'm doing wrong???? :D

    Seriously though thanks for doing this AMA. I take photos as a hobby and as a way to relax. The only time I did it seriously was at a friends wedding when the photographer was sick and the replacement couldn't get there in time for the church. The pressure was unreal and that was just a favor for a friend. Fair play to you being able to make a living from it.

    Weddings are a great income. People often don't grasp that you're working for longer than they actually see you (your initial meeting with the couple, scoping out venues you're not familiar with, editing, etc. are all parts of the job that they don't see), so it can be hard to price some weddings and not feel like a thief. Although some (many?) photographers are, in my opinion, robbing people blind with their wedding pricing.

    Although if people are happy to pay it, who am I to complain.

    For my first wedding, I barely slept the night before, and felt legitimately nauseous all day at the wedding. Thankfully, they had a videographer, and he helped guide me through it.

    I had googled extensively, went to the church and hotel a few times and took sample pictures, practiced poses, but it almost all went out the window when the actual wedding was taking place.

    Nowadays I still feel anxious before weddings, but it goes after things start moving along.

    Don't worry about your photos not being as good as you want them to be. As I said earlier in the thread, I think it's good to be harsh and critical of your own photos. If you think everything you've done so far is brilliant, you're not likely to improve much going forward.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    How many of these "amateur" photographers are just sleazeballs trying to get young wans to strip off for them?

    All of them. Maybe. Probably. Possibly none of them.

    You could as easily ask 'how many of these 'young wans' are attention seekers, stripping off for lads with cameras'?

    It's rare that anyone has a gun put to their head, so I'd be confident that almost all of these shoots are agreed upon by all involved, and no one is being forced into it.

    You calling them sleazeballs means you're probably not into it, or anything overly sexual in nature? Like dogging, swinging, having key parties etc. (and I have never done any of those things, either) but if people want to engage in that then let them at it. What harm? Nudity isn't a bad thing, and I often admire the bodies of people I'm photographing, and would be open with them and complimentary about their body (would never say anything bad, of course).

    It's natural to be attracted to people.
    Or is it just a coincidence that groups of ould fellas in the 50's and 60's suddenly develop an interest in "glamour photography".

    I do know a few gentlemen that would be older, that do glamour photography. They're generally pretty good at it though.

    For the most part, however, the photographers that I know that do nude shoots are mid-20s or that general age group. Could well be that they're just looking for someone to ride, and using the camera as an ice-breaker, but regardless, if someone is doing a 'glamour' photo session, chances are they're voluntarily involved, and they haven't been trafficked in from another country and forced into it.

    I've noticed that women photographers get the most paid work doing nude or sexy stuff. Presumably women feel safer with another woman.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    Alpha_zero wrote: »
    So help us all get some killer travel pictures.
    What are the best manual settings used to get the best sunrise/sunset pictures aperture and all that jazz your the photographer not me.

    How to get pictures in very bright/sunny conditions.

    How to get the best pictures in low light conditions.

    It's all very much based on real-time situations. I can't tell you what settings will work when you're shooting a sunset, because it'll always be different.

    If you've a landscape in front of you, and you want a decent shot, stick the camera into Aperture Priority, stick it to f/8 (or 8.0 on most camera displays) and then just hope for the best.

    If this doesn't work, simply google a photo of a sunset at your location, and pretend that it's yours.

    As a slight tip, though, if you push the aperture as far as it goes (f/22, f28 etc.) you get more of a 'starburst' effect from the sunlight. Try to get the sunlight looking hazy. You'll get much more dramatic pictures in the moment before the sun actually rises (or just after it has set) as the sky will generally be nice and colourful, but the strong bright light of the sun won't be there to blind you.

    Of course, the actual sun itself is nice, too, in photos, but everyone has their preferences.
    Alpha_zero wrote: »
    I haven't event bothered to check if this has been asked already cause i don't have the time or inclination to do so.

    If your report this post i will get banned and that will be on your conscious.

    I shoot people for a living. I don't have a conscience.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    Darren 83 wrote: »
    How do you back up all the photo's, online or offline or both?

    I'm probably 'old school' (and naive), but I don't use cloud storage. I just have hard drives. Loads of hard drives. Numbered, and duplicated, some kept in different places (so if my house burns down, I still have my hard drives backed up elsewhere).

    I've been meaning to find a service to upload everything to Cloud storage, but I've not yet done so. Must go looking for a reasonable one. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any.

    My fear with using online cloud storage, is that you can't rely on them. (I thought Pix.ie would be around forever).

    I'd be afraid of putting my trust in a service provider, considering how flakey some of them can be.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    seannash wrote: »
    I'd personally love a camera but can't bring myself to carry around a big camera when I travel. I use a Huawei p20 pro which is meant to have one of the best smartphone camera out there at the moment. That being said I would be able to carry a small compact one. Can you recommend any good compact ones.

    I'm not familiar with that phone, but I have a Samsung Galaxy S6. The camera is grand on it.

    If your phone is newer (mine is a few years old), and it is supposed to have one of the best smartphone cameras out there, then I'd argue that a small compact camera may be redundant. You kind of already have a small compact camera.

    I have a Canon Powershot G5 X, that I keep in the car incase I'm out without the camera and see something, or I'm out hiking, travelling, etc. and don't want to lug my proper camera gear around. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've reached for it after the 'honeymoon' phase of having a new toy to play with ended.

    Nowadays, I just use my phone. My phone doesn't have any manual settings (just exposure compensation), but I believe they're being incorporated into smartphones these days? If you have that, you're laughing (I know smartphone cameras and actual cameras are a different technology, and a smartphone doesn't feature an actual shutter, with aperture blades etc. but i presume they're able to mimic the effect to a good standard).

    Just use your phone, it'll likely have a 'pro' mode or something where you can fiddle with the settings yourself. HDR effect can work well on smartphones too (usually built into the camera itself). This helps in photos with lots of bright/dark areas, as smartphones can struggle with the dynamic range of a sunset or bright sky over a dark street, but the HDR modes tend to do well at countering the smartphones weaknesses.

    I'm basing most of this on my experience with Samsung Galaxy phones, your Huawei is likely miles ahead of my smartphone camera.

    You'd likely not benefit greatly from a dedicated compact (unless you buy a decent one, and are a real photography enthusiast) so I'd imagine a compact camera would quickly gather dust and end up being resented after a few weeks.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,672 ✭✭✭seannash


    I'm not familiar with that phone, but I have a Samsung Galaxy S6. The camera is grand on it.

    If your phone is newer (mine is a few years old), and it is supposed to have one of the best smartphone cameras out there, then I'd argue that a small compact camera may be redundant. You kind of already have a small compact camera.

    I have a Canon Powershot G5 X, that I keep in the car incase I'm out without the camera and see something, or I'm out hiking, travelling, etc. and don't want to lug my proper camera gear around. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've reached for it after the 'honeymoon' phase of having a new toy to play with ended.

    Nowadays, I just use my phone. My phone doesn't have any manual settings (just exposure compensation), but I believe they're being incorporated into smartphones these days? If you have that, you're laughing (I know smartphone cameras and actual cameras are a different technology, and a smartphone doesn't feature an actual shutter, with aperture blades etc. but i presume they're able to mimic the effect to a good standard).

    Just use your phone, it'll likely have a 'pro' mode or something where you can fiddle with the settings yourself. HDR effect can work well on smartphones too (usually built into the camera itself). This helps in photos with lots of bright/dark areas, as smartphones can struggle with the dynamic range of a sunset or bright sky over a dark street, but the HDR modes tend to do well at countering the smartphones weaknesses.

    I'm basing most of this on my experience with Samsung Galaxy phones, your Huawei is likely miles ahead of my smartphone camera.

    You'd likely not benefit greatly from a dedicated compact (unless you buy a decent one, and are a real photography enthusiast) so I'd imagine a compact camera would quickly gather dust and end up being resented after a few weeks.
    Thanks for that very honest answer. You're right about the pro mode on my camera. I guess I should focus more on learning it rather than looking for an alternative


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,283 ✭✭✭fixXxer


    seannash wrote: »
    Thanks for that very honest answer. You're right about the pro mode on my camera. I guess I should focus more on learning it rather than looking for an alternative

    You could look at mirrorless cameras. I swapped my Nikon gear for a Fujifilm XT-20 and have never regretted it.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 18,841 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    All of them. Maybe. Probably. Possibly none of them.

    You could as easily ask 'how many of these 'young wans' are attention seekers, stripping off for lads with cameras'?

    It's rare that anyone has a gun put to their head, so I'd be confident that almost all of these shoots are agreed upon by all involved, and no one is being forced into it.

    You calling them sleazeballs means you're probably not into it, or anything overly sexual in nature? Like dogging, swinging, having key parties etc. (and I have never done any of those things, either) but if people want to engage in that then let them at it. What harm? Nudity isn't a bad thing, and I often admire the bodies of people I'm photographing, and would be open with them and complimentary about their body (would never say anything bad, of course).

    It's natural to be attracted to people.



    I do know a few gentlemen that would be older, that do glamour photography. They're generally pretty good at it though.

    For the most part, however, the photographers that I know that do nude shoots are mid-20s or that general age group. Could well be that they're just looking for someone to ride, and using the camera as an ice-breaker, but regardless, if someone is doing a 'glamour' photo session, chances are they're voluntarily involved, and they haven't been trafficked in from another country and forced into it.

    I've noticed that women photographers get the most paid work doing nude or sexy stuff. Presumably women feel safer with another woman.



    Nobody is saying anything about guns being held to heads. But they do prey on naive 18/19 year olds with dreams of becoming a model. Get them in for a "TFP" shoot. And then convince them that they need certain types of shots for their portfolio if they want to make it.


    The girls usually don't even know that the photos aren't good quality and that the cameras/lighting are crap.


    I know of a group of them, all old fellas, who used to do it and post the photos of the naked or topless girls to their facebook friends.....needless to say, none of the girls involved ever got those magical modelling contracts. Getting another one to take her kit off for them was considered a "win".


  • Boards.ie Employee Posts: 12,597 ✭✭✭✭✭Boards.ie: Niamh
    Boards.ie Community Manager


    Donald Trump, I understand that the situation you are describing is pretty crappy (and may deserve a thread elsewhere) but a reminder - OP is not here to represent any photographers other than himself and answer questions based on his own personal experience.


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,841 ✭✭✭✭Donald Trump


    Donald Trump, I understand that the situation you are describing is pretty crappy (and may deserve a thread elsewhere) but a reminder - OP is not here to represent any photographers other than himself and answer questions based on his own personal experience.




    Well I asked in the context that because those people exist, they give the industry a bad name and I was just asking what he thought about them, given that it is his livelihood

    I am sure that he knows people like that.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    ....
    You'd likely not benefit greatly from a dedicated compact (unless you buy a decent one, and are a real photography enthusiast) so I'd imagine a compact camera would quickly gather dust and end up being resented after a few weeks....

    We have a compact and a DSLR and yet 95% of all our family photos are on smart phones. because thats always with us. Also because when going many activities you want to be free of bags etc. Still we make an effort to frame correctly and make more interest in the photos. I expect because we both did Photography courses in the past and just are interested in it. We'd both love to do more classroom courses in the future. Just as a hobby.


  • Registered Users Posts: 603 ✭✭✭angeleyes


    Hi there - delighted see you are a Canon user.

    Would you be tempted to sell all your gear and use the new mirrorless cameras. I know a good few that have and its main selling point to them is the weight especially when photographing weddings and you might be using two different cameras.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,586 ✭✭✭victor8600


    Who owns the pictures that you take for a paying client? And who owns the copyright?


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    Nobody is saying anything about guns being held to heads. But they do prey on naive 18/19 year olds with dreams of becoming a model. Get them in for a "TFP" shoot. And then convince them that they need certain types of shots for their portfolio if they want to make it.

    The girls usually don't even know that the photos aren't good quality and that the cameras/lighting are crap.

    I know of a group of them, all old fellas, who used to do it and post the photos of the naked or topless girls to their facebook friends.....needless to say, none of the girls involved ever got those magical modelling contracts. Getting another one to take her kit off for them was considered a "win".

    In all honesty, the situation you're suggesting sounds so ludicrous, that I simply don't believe it happens like that, at all.

    All these old fellas that are doing these shoots and posting on Facebook, where are their wives/children/relatives when this is going on?

    The girls that are being photographed must surely see some photos before going to the photographer? Or, assuming the group of old men aren't moving around the country, they must know of other girls that have had their photos taken by them in their area?

    Don't get me wrong, there are some gullible girls out there, and there are some photographers that will act seedy or push their luck, but an organised effort like you're describing sounds like something that I wouldn't believe happens in real life. I'm confident you'd be found out pretty swiftly.

    Well I asked in the context that because those people exist, they give the industry a bad name and I was just asking what he thought about them, given that it is his livelihood

    I am sure that he knows people like that.


    Genuinely, the first I've ever heard of anything like you've described, is in your post. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen. It could be rampant across the country, but I can only comment from my perspective, and I've simply never heard of such a thing in my life.

    It's a good question all the same, though. It could well have been a situation where i knew of it, and was involved in it, which would have perhaps made for some interesting reading, but unfortunately not the case.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    beauf wrote: »
    We have a compact and a DSLR and yet 95% of all our family photos are on smart phones. because thats always with us. Also because when going many activities you want to be free of bags etc. Still we make an effort to frame correctly and make more interest in the photos. I expect because we both did Photography courses in the past and just are interested in it. We'd both love to do more classroom courses in the future. Just as a hobby.

    I'd be the same. If I'm not working, I wouldn't generally opt for the DSLR, unless I know I'll need it.

    Don't get me wrong, for serious photography, the DSLR is the way to go. Dedicated buttons for the quick changing of settings, the image quality, shooting RAW (though I realise some phones can do this), hotshoe, etc. make it superior to a smartphone in many ways (but only if you actually need these for whatever you're shooting).

    It's also an image thing (I'd rather attend an event with a crappy DSLR than an amazing smartphone. You get taken much more seriously when you have the right gear with you).

    As i mentioned before about bringing a big lens to events when it won't even be needed.

    For convenience, a smartphone will always win.

    I was a teacher of classroom photography before (did both kids classes and a more serious class for adults). I found most of the people attending were practically dumbfounded when it came to how to use a DSLR properly, and how the different settings interact with each other, but almost all who attended had the ability to frame a decent picture, which is what helped them along a lot.

    Knowing small, simple things like the Rule of Thirds can help so much.


  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    angeleyes wrote: »
    Hi there - delighted see you are a Canon user.

    We do seem to be a rare breed. Almost everyone I know shoots Nikon.
    angeleyes wrote: »
    Would you be tempted to sell all your gear and use the new mirrorless cameras. I know a good few that have and its main selling point to them is the weight especially when photographing weddings and you might be using two different cameras.

    While there are likely great benefits to switching to mirrorless, until it's practically forced on me, I don't think I'd be interested in changing.

    For many years my camera bag was a series of items I wanted to change, or improve upon. Nowadays, I'm very content with the camera bodies and lenses I have. Although I'm sure I'll be using mirrorless sometime soon, when my cameras break or die off and mirrorless is being touted as the best thing since sliced bread, and it's much more common and tried-and-tested.

    I'd never have any interest in voluntarily selling my gear to replace them with a new system. I know photographers that have done it to change brand (why, I do not know - must be a sign of insanity).

    For the time being, I'm really happy with all that I have.
    angeleyes wrote: »
    especially when photographing weddings and you might be using two different cameras.

    Just in relation to that - I don't use two cameras anymore. I just change lenses. I find it's a bit more annoying during the wedding itself having to change lenses, but I was always fiddling with two cameras and changing lens on both. I could never settle.

    So I just use the one camera nowadays (though I always have a second camera, incase the main one breaks or gets damaged). That said, I did get used to the weight of two cameras, I never found them particularly heavy (though people who hold them always comment on the weight of them).

    I used two cameras for my first couple of weddings, because that's what everyone seems to do, but I swiftly enough moved back to just a single camera (and a carry bag of lenses).


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  • Company Representative Posts: 44 Verified rep I'm a Professional Photographer, AMA


    victor8600 wrote: »
    Who owns the pictures that you take for a paying client? And who owns the copyright?

    Copyright is something I never voluntarily mention to a client. I usually charge enough that I don't really care if they use the photos for purposes we didn't specifically agree.

    There are photographers that will go out of their way to see if a client has misused an image, so they can invoice accordingly, but they never get hired again. Whereas the companies that use me tend to keep coming back.

    But to answer your question. I worked for a large photo agency in the past, and they owned all the copyright to every photograph I took. I used their cameras, I used their lenses, I got jobs that were booked by them. It was very similar to just having a normal job (without the decent wage, I wasn't making much from it, at all).

    Nowadays I'm out on my own, as my own business. I own copyright to everything I take, regardless of who I'm working for. The only time that will change is if I'm specifically asked about copyright, at which point I'll invent a modest fee to sign copyright of the images over to the company. So far the amount of money I've made by signing over copyright is €0.

    I have no issue with photographers that chase copyright, when it's been done in a way that the photographer could or should have been paid for it.

    For example, I wouldn't have issue with a photographer doing a photo for a gym for a small fee, because the gym want to put it on their facebook page for the local customers to see, but then it actually turns out that the photo is being used in a nationwide advertising campaign with newspapers, billboards, etc.

    In a situation like that, where the photographer has possibly been cheated a bit out of an income, then I'd have no issue with them pursuing it.

    Just a tip for anyone in that situation, though. If you're gonna chase after a misuse of your photo like that, make sure you invoice for a realistic amount, but a very, very high-end of the realistic amount. There's no point invoicing for €50, because if they say no, you're not going to be able to chase them legally. No solicitor will cost less than €50.

    So you invoice a high amount, and haggle backwards from there (keeping in mind you'll be expected to justify the amount you're invoicing for).

    Thankfully, I've never been in a situation like this, but a chap I know was, with a company not too long ago. I don't actually know how it ended for them, but I never heard of it being in the newspapers so I guess they sorted it, or he stopped pursuing it.


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