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Photography Marketing Ideas for Photographers:10 Low Cost Ideas
Marketing your photography studio does not have to be expensive. I’ve used hundreds of low cost marketing strategies over the last twenty five years and managed to build my photography studio to the point where I am one the busiest and most successful studios in my city. Here’s a few tips for you:
1. Create a photo display. A photography display can be as simple as displaying a few small portraits at a store and offering some free information about your studio or more elaborate set ups with framed wall samples. You can even create large temporary displays in malls or at events such as trade shows. The important thing is how it looks. You will attract a lot of attention with some great images, especially from woman, who happen to be your target market. Displays will help you create a lot of business if you play your cards right. Have a great selection of images, be presentable yet never pushy, have a system for collecting names and address’s from those wanting more information by simply asking or offering a draw prize, and keep in touch with all those prospects. It’s the beginning of a potential long term and lucrative relationship.
2. Have a free giveaway. Offer a time limited in studio session and small reprint. Tell them there is no obligation for further purchase, and mean it. You will make some sales anyways and you will acquire many long term clients if you do a good job for them. Some will only grab the freebie, but the odds are very good that you will upsell without being sneaky or pushy. Especially if you are professional and create some great images. Do this at mall displays, banks, schools or offer it to a list of clients from a non-competitive business in your town or city. Freebies are the best way to get your studio busy, start making sales and most of all for getting tons of exposure.
3. Reward referrals. Make a policy to reward anyone who brings you referrals. When a client brings in a propective client, give them a gift of appreciation, such as a coupon worth reprints dollars at your studio, frames, or to a local spa or restaurant. As an added incentive, give a small gift to the new client as well.
4. Create a tie-in with another business. Contact a local business and offer to exchange coupons. For example, your client receives coupons from a local restaurant, hair salon, spa, or wherever your typical prospect would shop. A great place to start is with clients of yours who already own their own businesses.
5. Make your reception or waiting room “prospect and sales friendly”. Whenever you create a family portrait or are shooting a wedding there are often people waiting in your reception area. Offer them snacks or something to drink. Make sure your place looks great and smells nice. Make it comfortable. Use this time to increase your upcoming sales presentation by explaining some of the items such as wall portraits and other packages and services. Answer objections that you know will be coming up later during the sale presentation with a consultive approach and people will not only trust you more but will likely make the sale easier for you and even buy more. This is also a great time to collect names. These people are somehow associated with you and at this point make excellent prospects.
6. Make copies of news articles about yourself and your studio. Hang them on the walls or pass them out. Past publicity is better than any advertising or promotional literature you can create. Give copies of positive articles to everyone who comes in for information.
7. Raise money for charity. Not only do you help a good cause, you get plenty of free, positive publicity and exposure. Hold a contest, offer some photography classes, give out free booklets- that you can easily write yourself and print for pennies by having them photocopied- think up your own exciting charity event.
8. Submit press releases to the local newspapers about a noteworthy event at your studio or a human interest story. Did you win a photography contest? Is there and article on photography that relates to local sites in your area or has to do with the seasons? Make your release interesting to the readers, never self-serving and you will get press coverage.
9. Give a free photography seminar or presentation at your studio. Invite members of the public and clients family members to be a part. A seminar gives them the chance to see your studio and your work. Offer something timely to do with how to create great photographs with digital cameras or offer a slide show from some of your more exotic travels. You could create an exhibition highlighting your work. Don’t forget to invite the local newspaper.
10. Leave your business cards everywhere. Whenever you are at a restaurant, leave a nice tip and your card. Drop a stack off at the local jewellry store. Make sure card is loaded with your best samples and print on both sides to maximize the space for your sales message.
Sending Wedding Congratulations Messages
Toronto weddings mostly have the services of wedding DJ’s and Toronto photographers. A person who wants to send a wedding congratulations message should compose one that is heartfelt. Most people send congratulatory messages in form of writing. A person may do this by writing a love quotation in the card. Depending on the relationship that the person has with the married couple, one may include lighthearted humor. It is necessary for a person to express their thoughts concerning love in the card but at the same time depict how it applies to the couple.
Congratulatory messages are common in most Ontario weddings. A person should note down the happiness that one wishes for the couple as well as future hopes. If one cannot attend the ceremony, one should make an apology on the congratulations card. This will depict sincerity as far as the sender is concerned. One should make a proposal to meet with the couple later on and chat about the ceremonious moment. Mississauga weddings usually include Mississauga photographers who cover the occasion exactly the way the couple wants.
When writing a congratulations card or letter some time before the nuptials, one should kindly inquire if they can be of any assistance in the preparations for the happy occasion. If a person informs the couple early of their absence during the nuptials, asking to assist may be necessary towards chipping into the ceremony. If one sends the congratulatory message after the wedding, one may talk about how wonderful the ceremony was and may mention the bride’s glamorous dress too. Wedding congratulations offer emotional support to a couple getting married. Therefore, one should try to make it as presentable and heartfelt as possible.
Not everybody is good at writing congratulatory messages therefore, a person who does not know how to write one should get assistance from the thesaurus program in a computer. It will assist in writing a unique congratulations message that does not have commonly repeated words. The use of rough drafts may help in writing a unique congratulatory message. For most Ontario weddings, the wedding photos remind the couple of their marriage as well as the actual ceremony. If one cannot attend the nuptials, then a gift and a congratulatory message sent in advance to the couple are in order though not compulsory.
It is adequate for a person to send a congratulatory message together with a gift from the couple’s wedding registry. If a person lives somewhere near the couple, one may drop off the congratulatory card and gift. Most Toronto nuptials occur in the presence of photographers who take pictures of the couple as well as the guests. The newly wed couple may hire a bridal limousine for transportation purposes. The newly wed couple may also hire the services of a DJ. Many websites may offer fresh ideas to people who have a problem with writing congratulatory messages. One should log on to the various websites in order to obtain this.
Digital Photography Tip – How To Photograph Christmas Lights
Christmas is coming and so is the urge for us who love digital photography to get out there in the burbs and photograph the beautiful Christmas lights. It’s a beautiful time of year and when you are as passionate about digital photography as I am, then this is the time you whip that digital camera out.
Taking photos of Christmas lights with your digital camera can be a very disappointing experience for digital photography enthusiasts. Pictures of Christmas lights in digital photography are aimed at being crystal clear with beautifully bold colours and hopefully we can capture the delicate glow that radiates from the lights themselves.
But…Christmas lights don’t always provide the ideal digital photography experience does it? J In fact, in digital photography, Christmas lights can turnout to be smudged dots of colour, like water over ink and way too dark. The first time I took a digital photography image of Christmas lights the flash went off accidentally causing a flattening out of my images not to mention the lovely colours disappearing and it ended up just being a digital photo of the neighbour’s front lawn. Not to mention how it set the dog off barking!
So just what is the digital photography secret to getting crystal clear shots of our suburban Christmas lights?
Okay now I’m going to share a secret with you. The best way to get suburb results of sharp, colourful Christmas lights is to choose the house you are going to photograph. Depending on where you live and how fast you can run, you may need to tee it up with your neighboughs first and offer them the photo. The same rules apply with your Christmas tree.
Take your tripod with you. Take your digital camera off “auto” and take it off “auto flash”.
Now try a method called bracketing. Set the aperture at a wide f stop, such as 2.8 or 3.5 for example. Then proceed to try some different settings. Set the shutter to 1/30 or higher. I’d recommend, if it’s really dark in the street something around the one second, two seconds or three seconds shutter speed.
There is a groovy little trick you can also do for helping you learning faster, about what works in digital photography and what doesn’t. That’s recording and documenting your digital photography experience. I usually take a note pad with me and write down the number photo and the f stop and shutter speed so when I look at the photos I know which digital photo has worked and what has not.
But in the dark it’s very hard to write down anything so you can do what I sued to do, and that is record on Mp3 what your settings you had on what photo. For example you can record yourself saying “picture one, f stop 2.8, shutter speed 2 seconds.” Then again as you have tried another setting “picture seven, f stop 22, shutter speed 1 minute.”
These are just examples but they really work. Don’t forget the basics with your night time photography such as wide aperture and slow shutter speed and the necessity of a tripod.
If you are in a moving vehicle for example and you are taking shots of Christmas lights from a bus or car, then you can always use the maximum aperture and a smaller shutter speed. For example f stop 1.4 and a shutter of 1/350 or higher.
And don’t forget if you do have the time to set up a tripod and try the bracketing technique (ideal) also remember if you have the shutter open for a while the light can bounce off other objects such as windows and roofs. If you get too much reflective light, simply reduce the time the shutter is open.
Good luck and may you have a beautiful Christmas!
Happy Shooting,
Amy Renfrey
P.s Take a look at the photo used to describe the article; http://www.nomorebadphotos.blogspot.com
Photographers – Tips For High School Senior Boy Portrait Sessions
The end of summer is the time many soon-to-be high school seniors consider getting their senior portraits taken. Photographing seniors is somewhat different than photographing a wedding, newborn or family. The following is a list of tips for new photographers entering this market.
1. Provide the senior information regarding how to prepare for a photo shoot. Many seniors have never had a professional portrait taken outside of their yearly school portrait. Even if they have had yearly family portraits taken, often it was their parents who took care of most of the details. As a result most seniors will appreciate information on how to dress, wear make, and deal with glasses for a successful photo shoot. Providing this information is a small detail which will make a significant difference in the quality of images and degree of service the senior perceives.
2. If you are marketing to Senior boys offer a quick inexpensive session. Many of these young men have little interest in investing a significant amount of time and money on photos. In their minds, shorter session may set you apart from the competitors; however, when you space the booking of these sessions leave enough time for a longer session. Many times the boy’s mother will come along and ask that he be allowed a longer session.
3. Seniors are looking for images that reflect their personality. Before beginning the shoot, ask them about their personality. Ask them about their interests. Suggest they bring in props that are important to them. The more personalized the images are, the greater will be the emotional attachment. Greater emotional attachment usually translates into larger orders.
4. When posing senior boys (and men in general) ask him to direct him to put his face down a little and his neck forward. This will enhance the strength of his chin.
5. Take a few shots of him while you he is standing and you are squatting. Doing so will make him look stronger and taller.
The senior boy market can be a wonderful opportunity for many photographers. The above tips can make efforts to enter this market more successful.
The difference between film and digital photography
There are many differences between film and digital photography. To most amateur photographers they do not matter much. They prefer the convenience, ease of use and lower cost of digital cameras and are not going to revert to the film age. However understanding the differences can help taking even better photos and can also help when debating with friends about the future of film.
Following is a list of differences that are important to understand. The differences are listed in no particular order.
The sensor: The most obvious difference between film and digital is the sensor used to take the photo. With film cameras a film sensitive to light is placed behind the lens. When a photo is taken the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film. The result is a photo “printed” on the film. To take a new photo the film has to be rolled and a fresh “clean” film is place behind the lens. With digital cameras a fixed electronic sensor (sometimes known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The sensor is built from tiny light sensitive sensors each representing a pixel. When the shutter opens light hits the sensor and each pixel gets its “value”. Put together all the pixels comprise one photo. To take a new photo the photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.
What does a different sensor mean? The main difference is in the Depth of Field. Since digital sensors are smaller in size than a 35mm film the depth of field will be much higher and in fact in most compact digital cameras almost infinite. The result is that blur backgrounds can not be created.
The cost of a photo: Photos taken with a digital camera literally cost nothing. The photos are kept in erasable memory and thus can always be discarded at no cost. Also the photos you would like to keep can be copied to digital media such as a computer’s hard disk. With storage prices going down the cost of saving a photo on disk is practically zero. Film does cost money. With a film camera you have to pay for the roll of film, for developing the negative and for printing the photo. Every time you press the shutter button you spend money.
The capacity: With ever growing storage capacities digital cameras today can hold hundreds and sometimes thousands of photos on a single media. You can always have a few more in your pocket and changing is very fast. The result is that a digital camera has practically infinite capacity. You can shoot as many photos as you want and at the end of the day just dump them on your computer’s disk. Film cameras’ capacity is very limited. A roll of 36 photos can only hold 36 photos. After a roll is used changing to a new roll can take time and is not easy to do in scenarios such as darkness or a harsh environment. For that reason many professional journalists carry a few cameras on them and instead of changing rolls they turn and use another camera just so that they do not miss a shooting opportunity.
The feedback: One of the most important features of the digital camera is instant feedback. Almost all digital cameras include a small LCD screen. Once a photo is shot you can go back and watch it on that screen. The ability to see how the photo looks like results in better photos. If the photo is not good you can take another one. Being able to see the photos on the spot results in an educated decision how to fix a photo or how to better compose it. It takes a lot of the guessing away from photography. With film cameras there is no way to know how the photo on the film will look like when printed.
New shooting angles: Just a few days ago I took a great photo with my digital camera that I would have never taken with my film one. I shot a cat that was resting on little rock. I held the camera in my hand and positioned it down where it almost touched the ground and I started shooting. I probably took 50 or more photos. I immediately looked at the camera’s LCD to review my photos and make sure they were focused and had the cat in them. The result was one great photo looking at the cat from the ground. I can not imagine myself just lying down on the dirty ground with a film camera looking through the viewfinder and perfecting that one shot.
With digital cameras you can actually take photos without having your eye glued to the viewfinder. Overhead shots where you raise the camera over your head are much easier to do since you can still see what the camera is shooting by just looking up at its LCD screen.
Correcting photos: With digital cameras photos can be corrected using photo editing software. Some correction abilities are built-in to the cameras but many more are available as software packages for your PC. With film cameras what you get is what you get. After the film is developed it is very hard to make any corrections. Usually if corrections are absolutely needed the negative or the printed photo will be scanned (i.e. converted to digital) corrected and then printed again (in a long and costly process).
Changing conditions: Every roll of film is designed for best results in a specific environment. For example there are indoor and outdoor films or films with different light sensitivity. If conditions change rapidly a film camera user will have to either shoot with the wrong film, change the roll (and usually lose photos that were not used in the current roll) or use another camera with a different film in it. The results of shooting with the wrong film can be distorted colors (reddish photos for example), a grainy photo and more.
With digital cameras the characteristics of the sensor can be changed instantly for each photo taken. With a click of a button the camera can be put in an indoor or outdoor mode, low light, night photography etc. Some cameras will automatically sense the scenario and set the sensor mode accordingly.
The myth of quality: While it is true that film photography has its advantages the claim for superior quality is no longer true. As digital camera evolved the quality of high end digital SLR cameras is superb and in many ways even better than film. When considering quality you should also consider the quality in terms of composition and the scenario caught in the photo. With digital cameras’ high capacity, zero photo cost and instant adaptability to changing conditions photographers can produce better compositions and experiment more to get the best photo possible.
Longevity: We have also paged through old photo albums of our grandparents. The photo looked a a bit yellow, scratched and just plain “old”. Storage of printed film photos or even negatives results in quality deterioration. Digital photos on the other hand never lose their quality. A digital photo will be identical today and 500 years from now. As long as we remember to refresh the digital media every now and then and to back it up our photos can literally list forever and not lose their quality.
How Photography Has Changed Over the Past 200 Years
Taking pictures throughout one’s life has been a part of American culture for over a hundred years now. The camera was first introduced in the United States in the early 1800s and was commercialized later in the century. From the time it was first put into the American market until now, the camera and the technology of the camera has changed significantly. Also, with the camera, the items that hold the photographs have changed significantly as well. For example, picture frame lighting is now available to highlight the photographs they hold and there is also such thing as a led picture light which really emphasizes the photograph. The art light is something which has most certainly changed with the technology that came with the modern day camera. However, it is the camera that has dictated these changes in the frames.
The first official camera was invented in 1814. The big, clunky machine was used to take still life pictures in black and white. The photographs almost always came out scratchy and faded looking, but for the time, this machine was very impressive. No one probably could have imagined how photography would have changed over the next 200 years.
The next big accomplishment in photography came with the introduction of color to the photographs in 1861. In fact, some photographs from the American Civil War can be found in color. It took awhile for color cameras to be readily available to the public, so for the next thirty years, color photographs were still a relatively new, revolutionary technology.
A change in the way photography was done happened when the disposable camera was invented. This camera enabled travelers to take inexpensive cameras on vacations without carrying a big, expensive one with them instead. Also, many of these disposable cameras were made to be waterproof, so people could take photographs underwater on a snorkeling or scuba diving trip.
Next in the photography world came the introduction of the digital camera. This made it so that photographs could be taken and then loaded into the computer to be sent to people via the internet or they could be sent to most drug stores to be developed at a specific time, usually set by the customer. This new technology revolutionized the way people stored and used their photographs.
Finally, today there have been many new additions to the camera technology. Cell phones now have a picture-taking capability to them. Also, there is such thing as high definition photographs, which makes the photograph even clearer than it already was before this digital technique. Probably the newest thing to the world of photography is the camera that has a view on both sides of it for those who do not want to have to rely on strangers to take a picture for them and their friends. With all of these advancements coming in shorter and shorter amounts of time, it will be interesting, in the upcoming decade, to see what other changes will be made in this market.
Figure Photography
Photography can be considered as one of the sciences that has developed a lot in the past few decades. Figure photography is one of the types of photography that are becoming really popular these days. Science and technology has developed a lot in the recent past and as a result you find that technological advancements have made a lot of sciences really complicated. It is not always very easy to understand figure photography like many other branches of photography. You need to have a sense of understanding the science working behind successful figure photography and you need to be really good at what you do. Only then you can master the art of figure photography.
The world of fashion has also changed a lot in the recent past. With the internet as a household phenomenon today and with the ever innovative technology, every thing has changed. The world today is a small village where communication is very impressive and easy. As a result fashions of one part of the world affect the other parts of the world as well. In fact, this is one of the reasons that figure photography has flourished in almost all parts of the world. Figure photography is the kind of photography in which the photographers are focused on figures. There has been a strong trend of nude and semi nude figure photography’s in the past. At present you find fashion photography to be too close to the figure photography. The art and romanticism of the field is to be understood. It is not only the photography of semi nude people; it is the art which is important. You can only understand the technicalities of the figure photography only by understanding the themes of the task.
Photography has changed a lot in the recent past. In fact a few decades back there were very limited choices in cameras and the work of art was totally dependent on chances and the ability of the person who is working as a photographer to judge the angle of light and other factors while shooting. If the photographer failed at what he was doing, no one was able to save the photographs. Thus this branch of physics has improved a lot. Now you find it to be a reliable and very expensively researched branch of science.
Description of Photography
Photography is an art of creating moving or still pictures by recording radiation on a sensitive medium such as a photographic film. It has proved to be a beneficial medium for the purpose of capturing momentous moments of human life. The development in computer and technology has influenced the advancement in the field of photography. From black and white it has turned into colored picture making and then modified into the digital photography.
History of photography:
The word ‘photograph’ was first coined by Sir John Herschel in 1839. This word has been originated from two Greek words called ‘phos’ meaning light and ‘graphé’ meaning drawing. When you combine these two words together, they mean ‘drawing with light’. Pinhole camera was invented which introduced the concept of picture making. Then camera was invented producing black and white photographs. In the mid 1800s, the colored picture making made its beginning. The Lumiere brothers discovered the successful color process called Autochrome. This was introduced in the market by the Lumiere brothers in 1907. From colored picture making the digital photography made its appearance in the world. The photographers were burdened with capturing still pictures and not being able to work at remote locations. They also received competition from the television industry. Sony Corporation unveiled first consumer camera in 1981. Over the years, the digital camera advanced and was introduced with enhanced features as a result of which it became highly manipulative medium.
Benefits of photography:
The film making has earned considerable significance in many professional fields. It is used in the profession of film and entertainment industry. Even broadcast or print media made use of this medium to express the critical condition in any part of the world. It is also used for capturing images at home or in the studio. With the introduction of green screen, you can now place the subject in any part of the world. It is easy to add visual effects in the pictures through the green screen process where the background image of the subject is superimposed by any other image. The film making is useful for the scientists, doctors and engineers in their profession. The armed forces and police require the photography for data storage, surveillance and recognition.
What Kind of Camera Should My Wedding Photographer Use?
If you are in the process of looking for a wedding photographer, chances are you will soon hear the terms: medium format, 35mm, and digital. Those are the three primary types of camera systems currently used by wedding photographers. We, the wedding photographers, have argued amongst ourselves for years as to which camera system is best. I’ll start by sharing with you about the different camera systems and will then give you my opinion of which camera system your wedding photographer should use.
Medium Format
For many years medium format has been the absolute best option. A medium format camera uses film that is 3 times the size of a 35mm negative– resulting in higher resolution images and beautiful enlargements, however, the cameras and processing costs are very expensive.
Primary advantages: high resolution negatives. Previously, the fact that a person owned a Medium Format camera was almost, in and of itself, a sign that they were a true “wedding photographer” (due to the expense of the system).
Disadvantages: expensive to operate (film costs are so high that some wedding photography books encourage medium format photographers to limit the photos they take); film can be lost or damaged during processing; slower to focus and operate.
35mm
For many years 35mm has had a bad reputation for providing poor quality enlargements — especially when compared to medium format. However, over the past 10 years the quality of 35mm film has improved tremendously. It is now a common format used by many professional photographers, especially those who use the photojournalistic style and shoot close to a thousand or more images on a wedding day.
Primary advantages to 35mm: fast (easy to quickly focus and shoot during), much improved quality of enlargements (many people would have a hard time telling the difference between a 35mm and medium format 8×10 enlargement).
Disadvantages: processing film is becoming more and more expensive, and film can be damaged or loss during processing. Many photographers that shoot film are now having the negatives scanned so that the files become a digital file.
Digital
Professional digital wedding photography has been a viable option since about the year 2000 (although some would argue that date). The quality of digital cameras has now reached a point where I now feel digital has surpassed the quality of medium format negatives. Keep in mind there is a broad variety of cameras, and a “professional” digital camera from 2004 that cost $4,500 new will not capture the quality of images that a “pro-am” (a camera targeted to advanced amateurs and also professionals) from 2010 that costs $2,000 will capture. “Digital camera” covers a massive spectrum of cameras and camera quality.
Primary digital advantages: instant review of images on the back of the camera; no film and processing costs (although the savings is offset by the additional computer time required to process the digital images); more control over the images (i.e., a slight rotation or cropping of an image is quick and easy with digital but requires a custom print from 35mm or medium format). Many digital cameras surpass the quality of even medium format.
Disadvantages: technology changes rapidly over time and cameras soon are outdated (although this doesn’t necessarily effect you, as the consumer). Memory cards are easier to lose than rolls of film (if your wedding photographer uses a digital camera, ask them how they make sure the photos arrive safely back at the studio).
So, which camera system should my photographer use?
No matter what you have been told – all three formats are a viable method for wedding photography. Some might be more expensive than others, but they all CAN produce good results. The fact is that all three systems can result in poor-quality photos, too. Many photographers use several of the camera systems. Some might use medium format for the formals but 35mm for the reception and ceremony coverage. Others will primarily shoot digital, but might bring film cameras as backup equipment.
This is the key: before signing a contract with a photographer, ask to see sample enlargements that were taken with the same equipment that would be used at your wedding. If you like the quality and color of the images, it doesn’t really matter whether 35mm, digital, or a medium format camera was used to record the image!