Novophotography's Blog

Novo Photography Blog Is Moving!!!

novophotography — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:07:20 +0000

Yes folks, you heard right, it’s time to move my blog and host it myself. No worries, I’ll still keep bringing you posts each week and answering questions. In fact I hope to start posting several times per week and answering more questions and providing more technical info, critiques, and How To’s. Currently I get a number of emails each week and respond to them personally which I’ll still continue to do.

The new link and look is http://novophotography.com/blog
Additional places to find me:

Facebook: Novo Photography
Twitter: @novophotography
Email: mike@novophotography.com

**IMPORTANT FOR SUBSCRIBERS!!!** If your email address was private (WordPress users), then I DID NOT transfer it to the new blog, so you will need to click on the above link, and subscribe to the blog again. All other emails were transferred. If you do not wish to be subscribed and receive automated notices when a new post is made, you’ll have the option to unsubscribe in the same window.

All posts and comments were transferred over to the new blog, so you’ll have all the info and no need to go digging through the archives here! Your thoughts and comments on the new blog are very welcome and I look forward to seeing everyone there!! Keep sending those questions and comments!

Sincerely,
Mike

How To Get Into The Photo Business (Part 2)

novophotography — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:54:49 +0000

We left off in the previous post on the topic of education because that needs to be set before you can start planning out your business. It’s no different than going through college before you start applying for jobs. So assuming that we’ve got the education portion covered, we’ll look at this from the perspective of someone who has spent a few years or longer studying and practicing photography. Of course there are a few people who make it big fast, but that’s not the norm. So that’s the first bombshell to drop. Did you just purchase a camera, have gone out and used it a handful of times on test shoots with friends or family? It might be a little early to start thinking “business”. Again there are people who fall in love with it at first sight and their dream does come true straight away, but we’re going to talk about the norm here. In reality you’re going to need several years of study and practice before you will feel comfortable charging money and delivering consistent results. The results is what it boils down to. The amateur will deliver an amazing photo here and there, but the pro will deliver them consistently and be able to adapt to changing situations. So with your education in hand, let’s look at options of actually breaking into the photo business. Again let’s remember that to build proper skill and the business itself, should in reality take no longer or shorter than any other business. Want to become a chess master and then start teaching others while touring the world playing in tournaments? It should take you about the same amount of time to master photography and the business part of it. I repeat the message over and over again…simply having the camera and tools of the pro’s will not provide you any more or faster skills than you would acquire in any other business or activity. The majority of my readers are the self-taught hobbyists or newbies to the business side of photography, so these are the basic routes you can go when getting started.

Pure Self Promotion: Unless you have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill, this is one of your slowest methods from both the business side and personal development side. Why? Well because you’re simply sitting around and waiting for folks to call you. In reality to stay competitive you need to constantly be shooting. If you go to your full time job 5 days a week, why would running a photo business require any less work than that? What you end up having is an excessive amount of free or super discounted shoots that you do for friends and family. Which is ok from time to time, but should not be your norm. Every so often I have an idea for a shoot and am seeking out a model to put my creativity to work in which we do a TF (Time For) shoot. The models time in exchange for my photos. But these instances are and should be rare. You should be charging a fair market value for your work. Yes initially you will be building your portfolio with those freebies, but after some period of time you must progress into the monetary side of things. The other downer of self promotion, is that most of us don’t start off as great photographers which means that there’s nothing really to promote. The model or subjects that you shot even for free need to like their images before they mention you to someone else, otherwise you simply end up as just another “whatever” photographer. Stop here and think about this for a second. How many images do you look at per day, in ads, on tv, billboards, magazines, etc…How many of these images actually get you to stop and REALLY look at them? Not many. The image which you created may look amazing to you, but to many or most others it just looks like a “whatever” image that you wouldn’t stop to look at for very long if it was created by a total stranger. When I first started, I thought my photos were fantastic, only to be brought down a few pegs when I asked for critiques. I put so much effort into those photos and wondered how everyone else couldn’t love them!? But just like looking at family trip slide shows or wallet photos of other people’s kids…no one really cares. So if you choose this route, sit and go over all of the planning very carefully.

Freelance: The above method is a slower and more difficult one than the freelance method. Let’s say you decide to become a freelance photographer for a local studio such as Fred Fox or Bella Pictures. You’re actually quite likely to get a job because most of the places will simply put you up on the site and let the clients pick which photog(s) they would like for their event. At the time of this writing I freelance for a local studio myself, and my name is simply up on the site along with 20 or so other photographers and I get picked by the client (brides in my case) if they like my work. The studios often are very willing to hire very very new photographers and throw them right out in the field as a 3rd shooter (basically a backup) to the other photographers on an event. Why? Simple, because they don’t pay very well, so the crop of photographers that most freelance studios draw in are either inferior to the rest of the market or simply there to learn and move on. These studios are often designed for the budget bride and the studio is interested in bulk client bookings rather than individual attention to client detail. For anyone reading this article wondering what you’re really getting for your money when you spend that extra $1000 on a local/boutique studio vs the larger freelance ones, you’re getting personal attention, the ability to go over the photos individually with your lead photographer, and hands down overall better service and attention to detail than you would with a studio that simply hires and fires in bulk. Now it seems like I’ve said a lot of negative stuff about going to work for a studio which just hires freelance photographers, but it isn’t necessarily if you know what your plan is. Doing this kind of work is a great way to get experience fast, learn a few tips and tricks, and simply be out in the field and watch photographers in action. Think of it as a workshop where you’re more on your own. While the sharing of ideas and techniques is encouraged at these types of studios, let’s be real…the better photographers are not going to be giving their secrets away for nothing. Spend a few days as a third shooter for one of these studios for little or no pay and that can give you a quick idea if you want to continue into the business. The drawbacks of this type of work is of course that you pay less attention to detail (you rarely have to edit photos with nice effects and color changes as you would your personal clients), it’s a revolving door for the staff with most photographers passing through in just 2 or 3 shooting seasons, and no one there really cares about you. If you quit tomorrow, even if there were 15 weddings booked under your name for the season, you would be replaced by someone else in a heartbeat and quickly become an afterthought.

Intern: When I say intern, what I’m referring to is going to work for a serious studio or photographer who has a true passion for the craft of photography. These are often more select studios that have a smaller (and more permanent) staff, and you can see a solid consistency in their work. This is often just one or a few photographers who have a number of crew and assistants and perhaps an office manager. So right away the advantages become apparent…you deal with an established work flow, each person brings input and value to the studio, and you’re a much tighter group that works well together. This route is a fantastic choice for someone who is looking to further their education, but the tough part is getting your foot in the door. A boutique studio that charges let’s say $4500 to shoot a wedding and limits the number of weddings they’re going to book for the year, will also be a lot more picky in terms of who they hire. Why should they hire you, the aspiring photographer with little or no portfolio when they can hire a more established photographer or someone who was classically trained in school? This route may be more difficult, but in the end I feel has the biggest payoffs in terms of building your skill and reputation.

What not to be…
The Shadow Master: Now let me state that I actually don’t mind photographers who want to shadow or follow me (on non paid assignments), but that’s not necessarily the same feelings that others out in the field have. It’s not uncommon for me to be asked “Can I come with you on a shoot?” And my answer is “It depends.” If I’m doing a shoot for a client where I’m being paid, then the reality is that my priority is to the client and not teaching you. Ask the same question to someone in another profession…a plumber, office clerk, accountant, construction worker, you name it. What would their response be or countless other professions if you asked to come to work with them? Unless you’re an intern with an established education then it’s not likely that you’ll get a “yes” as your response. So why is it any more acceptable to ask a pro photo studio to tag along with them? It’s not. The only thing you are is one more liability at the event. The freelance studios very often send out 3rd shooters to shadow the other two photogs on assignment and there were instances here or there where it didn’t end up well. The shadow master is also the guy at the wedding who has a camera just like yours or maybe even better than yours! And they assume that with the same gear as you, you must be brothers. Now I’ll admit again that I actually don’t mind striking up a small conversation with Uncle Harry and his entire camera rig that he brought along to show to everyone. I can talk about cameras till the cows come home and it doesn’t really bother me that a guest at a wedding wants to take a few minutes and chat with me. In reality that’s usually all it is, they understand you have a job to do or you simply inform them when you need to move on. I like seeing people enthused about the hobby or business and busting their way in. Some mind the competition, others don’t.

GWC: Stands for ‘Guy With Camera’. And quite literally means it too. The GWC has no skill and little or no interest in gaining any skill, just likes to use the camera to look cool and snap a few images here and there. The GWC should not be confused with the hobbyist. The GWC could be compared to what a car enthusiast would be vs the guy who buys a sports car to look cool. No need to dive into this point for too long. GWC’s often know who they are and hey, if it works for them then fantastic!

So that covers some of your bases of the routes you can take. There is a lot more detail behind the writings above such as picking the direction that you want to go in your photo career, developing a personal style, etc…but those are a few basic routes that can be chosen. So go out there and give it a shot! Or don’t…there’s nothing wrong with keeping photography as a hobby too. You do need to understand that when it becomes a business, it’s a little different than when you did it as a hobby and it truly becomes a business. Either way there’s nothing wrong with going one route or the other. The final decision must be made by you and once that decision is made, surround yourself with people who encourage and support it!

Wow long article, but hope you enjoyed the read. Do you have questions or comments? Feel free to post them in the comments section or email them directly to me at mike@novophotography.com!

How To Get Into The Photo Business (Part 1)

novophotography — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:54:24 +0000

After my previous writeup on “Knowing Your Value”… http://novophotography.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/know-your-value-pricing/ I received a number of emails and questions about getting into the business. The questions I heard were a mixture of “What does it take to get started?” and “What can I expect to be different?” So I’ll cover those two questions. I know for my readers who just like to come here and look at photos this is now my second post in a row with no images, but no worries, my next post will return back to the images

So what does it take to get started in the photography business? Sometimes I’m not sure of the answer myself. In reality I’m still in the process of getting started myself with constant changes from month to month. There are a lot more season photographers out there who have made it and reading their stories is sort of like a dream come true. My story is presented as a work in progress.

So let’s look at education. Of course you, me, and everyone else needs some sort of education to get going. There is no “eye” for photography, let me clear that up first. You can read more on that topic here: http://novophotography.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/know-your-value-pricing/ No matter your thoughts or devotion to the hobby of photography, it doesn’t automatically give you the ability to capture good photos. Speaking of good photos, that’s a subjective topic that I’ll be covering later on to explain why it’s not as subjective as many think.

For education you have two basic choices. Classical training or self-taught. The classical approach is what photographers did most often back in the days of film. You would take courses, graduate, study further under an established photographer and take some of the tips and techniques they would pass down to you while adding your own flavor and then hopefully opening your own studio or heading off on your career path in the business. Going through all those years of classical training would allow you to “make your bones” and the assumption would be that you were a photographer who had a pretty good understanding of what they were doing. Granted there were a number of photographers who took the self-taught approach in the film days, it was still not like today where you can go on the web, learn a few settings and then set off to doing photos. Because film had to be processed in some sort of darkroom, the commitment, workload, and cost were much higher factors than they are today in the digital world where you pay pennies for each megabyte of space and then have the ability to reuse it.

Now that we are in a digital era, you don’t have to go off to school to get started and self-taught photographers like myself are a lot more common. Now the term “self-taught” can have much greater variables in the meaning. You can have someone who simply points a camera and starts clicking away and then adjusts and learns from there. Or you can go through a number of online tutorials and get online critiques of your images. Or go even further and do a number workshops which begins approaching the classical style. The self-taught photogs are more common today on the lower end of the business scale. Don’t get me wrong, you have a number of amazing photographers who have taught themselves on both film and digital, but the big difference is that the results that you as the client might get are more varied. What I mean by this is that even if you see an online portfolio from a photographer, that could be the best of the best that they’ve done and your results may not be up to the level that you saw online. There have actually been a few clients who have come to me after hiring other local photographers and getting less than desired results where I end up re-shooting them. The term “you get what you pay for” is often a good initial indicator and I’ve heard of quite a few folks saving up front, who ended up spending more in the long term.

So let’s talk more about the options you have for being self-taught.

Books: There are almost too many to list. One of my favorites for learning the basics is called “Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, but there are plenty of great authors out there. David Ziser, Joe McNally, and lot’s of others out there to learn from. The one disadvantage to the books is that if they incorporate talk about the technology of cameras, they can become outdated on that topic. Your lighting equations, composition, and other techniques don’t go out of style or change very often.

Online Tutorials: While I have never really relied on these, the one thing I personally use them for is when I specifically know what I want to see such as “How to lighten eyes in Photoshop” or something specific like that. There are too many tutorials for me to usually skim around and watch in search of a good one. Most are low quality and not something I would recommend.

Professional Videos: These are for sure a step up from most online tutorials. You can often find a photographer that you look up to and get their DVD. The studio setting and video quality along with the information is usually better than the free tutorials however you most often have to pay for them.

Magazines: This is one of my favorites because I can read a magazine just about anywhere. I can see images from a photographer and read an interview with them to see what their inspiration is behind a shoot or a photo. You do need to take a trip to the book store or read online reviews to decipher which publications are worth reading because there are a lot of them out there which have more ads than relevant information.

Workshops: The most expensive option usually but often the best hands-on education. There are workshops that cover everything from doing portraits, to commercial photography, and others that even cover how to run a photo business. Sky is the limit. Your best bet is to ask the pro photographers that you look up to. Many teach their own workshops and some are willing to work with you or mentor even if they don’t formally teach. On average a workshop can cost between $200-$300 per day and they range from being just one day (or less) to being destination workshops that can go for several days or even a couple weeks!

Online Forums: Many new photographers turn here only to be disappointed. This is not the best place for information because when you’re new it’s hard to tell the good info from the bad. That’s assuming you get a response at all. The online forums can also be a pretty negative place offering little constructive criticism and simply giving bad feedback. I use online forums in very limited quantities and try to cipher out the good info from the bad.

So now that we’ve gone over the ways to get your education, now how do you break into the business? We’ll cover that in Part 2 which I’ll have posted tomorrow!!

Know Your Value: Pricing

novophotography — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:17:21 +0000

This article is for any up and coming photographers who (like me) have struggled with trying to figure out a price point. Too high and you’re not going to get any clients for your skill level, while too low will leave you overworked and underpaid. I suggest that you do a lot of research before setting your prices and then stick with them.

Probably the most calls I get now are to shoot weddings and it’s not uncommon for me to hear “Hey so how about knocking a bit off the price.” And unless we’re working out a larger package deal then my answer typically is “No.” The tricky part is saying no without appearing like a jerk. For starters my price is nothing outrageous and the same goes for the bulk of photographers who I know and associate with. Sure you can get a sub $1000 photographer but I’m a firm believer in that most of the time you will get what you pay for. I have yet to see the $500 budget wedding photographer who will deliver the results that a $2500 one will. And I’ve had brides say “well I know this photographer who charged $4000 at my friends wedding and the photos came out fairly boring.” I’m sure that we can all come up with one off stories like that but the reality is that with pretty much everything in life, you get exactly what you paid for. We’ve all heard that story where the cousin, brother, aunt or uncle can do the shoot but they want to attend the wedding and that they would have done it for $1000 less than what I’m asking. When clients go online and see your work as well as your pricing, they are calling you because they are interested in you. To them they’re paying a couple thousand for a full day of work…seems high right? Let’s calculate exactly what goes in to a typical wedding shoot. The following is what you can expect from most mid level and higher wedding photogs:

GEAR
- Two SLR camera bodies typically ranging between $2000-$7000 EACH.
- Professional quality lenses which allow for not only better image quality, but they can shoot in dark conditions. Two of my most commonly used lenses are over $3000 for both together.
- Lights. Even an SB-900 flash costs over $400 alone. Studio strobes also start in that range and go much higher.
- Misc items such as memory cards, camera bags, light stands, reflectors, diffusers, umbrellas, backdrops.

TIME
You’re only shooting for 10 or 12 hours! If I pay you $1500 then that’s like $150 an hour! Well sort of. Let’s just add in a bit more time for me getting to and from multiple locations…brides house, church/temple, artsy shooting location, reception. Don’t forget the time you spend in the morning prepping your gear for the shoot, planning out some of the photos we’ll be posing as well. Of course after the wedding you can easily spend 5 or more hours cutting and editing all of the images, airbrushing, adding effects, hosting the photos, burning them to DVD, and mailing them out. Realistically the amount of time you the photographer spend on a shoot is doubled in reality. Let’s also not forget the photo workshops and events that you’ve attended to become a better photographer along with the thousands of hours of practice to get your images to a level where someone looks and says “You know what? I like those photos and that’s what I want to look at for my memories years down the road.”

Just those two things above are already costing the photographer a small fortune. And let’s not forget that most mid level and higher photogs are showing up with at least one other photographer who also needs to be paid. When you add everything up, you’re worth the price. Stick to it. Yes you will probably lose that budget bride who wants the full deal for a few hundred dollars, but that’s life. You will be better off shooting one wedding for your price than doing 3 for a fraction of it and your clients will be a lot more appreciative of the photos. It’s not expected that a client understands every detail of what you go through for a shoot, but it’s important that you do and price yourself accordingly. It’s easy for a client to sit on the sideline and point out how basic something like a shoot is just as it’s easy for me to sit at home and yell “Come on, you were wide open!” when a professional athlete misses a run. But it’s a different story to hop into their shoes.

Does this mean that you should buy all the gear and run out there with a high price point? No. For your first wedding you just might want to offer photos to a friend as a gift if they can’t afford a photographer. Or you can call studios and see if they’ll send you out as a third shooter where you get to see and follow the photographers in action. You might need to go out a few times to get it or take a workshop or spend a few hours online or read a book. Point is that all that time and effort you’re putting into it is making you better (see PRACITCE WITH INTENTION). Once you’re out on your own, you need to factor all of that in and stick to your game plan.

The Diplomats – All of the music, none of the politics.

novophotography — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:47:46 +0000

I was out one evening and was chatting with Kathy, one of the band members of The Diplomats of Solid Sound Featuring the Diplomettes, when she told me about a show they had coming up in Chicago. They were going to be performing at The Darkroom, where they had previously had a show that I was at to get photos. While I was looking forward to getting some shots of the band, the bar itself really is a pretty dark room! There wasn’t much to figure out in terms of the settings. Extreme conditions call for extreme settings. In fact out of the camera, most of the shots were much more underexposed than what you see because I could only go so high on the aperture and ISO and then had to have my shutter speeds no slower than 1/30th or 1/60th of a second otherwise everything would look blurry. In a room such as this, the flash would have been too disturbing to the band and audience so I decided to use the environment and lighting and just go for a darker and more grungy style of photos. So when you’re thrown into a certain lighting situation and you can’t modify it with your own lights and gear…adapt!

The Dimplomats gallery **HERE**

Amy – Videographer Extraordinaire

novophotography — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:00:59 +0000

Amy happens to do video work, much of it also in the wedding area where I do a lot of my work as well. She initially wanted to just get a few head shots for her website, but we managed to add a few more creative images as well. Since there was a bit of snow on the ground, I figured we could incorporate it into a few of the shots. I also took some time a few days prior to her coming by and wired up a small rig that would allow two fluorescent bulbs to be held by a model without the typical fixture that they’re plugged into. While Amy was initially hesitant about holding a couple bulbs with a bunch of exposed wires…she eventually opened up to the idea and we landed a few nice shots.

Click **HERE** for the rest of her photos!

Susana’s Maternity Shoot

novophotography — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:38:23 +0000

Before I roll into the usual shpeel, if you took the time to read this before scrolling down, you’ll will see this warning that some of the images below shouldn’t be viewed at work due to partial nudity. And with that warning out of the way…Susana called me and expressed interest in doing a maternity shoot to capture her pregnancy. I always love a challenge and trying something new, so with a bit of help from her husband we took a couple hours and put some shots together.

Jenny and Kevin – Where are the horsies?

novophotography — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 06:30:42 +0000

Been away for a while so you haven’t seen me post in a couple weeks! Apologies to my regular readers and from here on out you should be seeing posts from me on most Mondays. Looking back at last year and capping off this post with a wedding from the very end of the 2010 season…it’s interesting to meet and work with all of the great couples that I met. Jenny and Kevin were a perfect finish to the season. They were both very light hearted and fun to work with. From the joking around, getting chased around by security at Arlington, or catching shots of them doing imaginary jump rope…it was all a blast. There was also a surprise visit from Wayne Messmer who I got a chance to chat with while he waited in a separate room to surprise Kevin by singing the national anthem.

Catch their full gallery **HERE**

Clay and Burkut Families – Firefighters, Bees, and Dinosaurs

novophotography — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:23:11 +0000

Back on Halloween, I met up with two families that have been friends for a number of years. They got together for their kids to be able to play and spend Halloween together. Admittedly, I’ll say that this was my first time photographing firefighters, bees, and dinosaurs…at the same time The kids were great to work with and with them running around and energetic, it gave me a perfect opportunity to sit off on the side and take photos with my 70-200mm lens for a lot of candid shots. Once some of the energy was burned off, we focused on more family oriented shots out of costume.

K & S Reception

novophotography — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:31:51 +0000

Back in May I went to their home to capture their engagement ceremony. The wedding ceremony was out in California, however they came back to Chicago for their reception. Quite a bit of travel for a wedding, but makes the experience that much more memorable and exhausting as the couple told me! They were great to work with and willing to strike just about any pose I could toss at them!

Full gallery **HERE**!!!