professional photographers Archives - Page 7 of 13

Wireless Flash Controllers Explained

Back in the day there were manual flash’s were simple. An electrical contact inside the camera closed a wired connection with a battery pack in the flash handle which then sent a jolt of current through a glass bulb stuffed with magnesium filaments. A blast of light ensued that would have you seeing a giant blue dot in your field of vision for five minutes and was hot enough to make the glass bubble. You would set the exposure on the camera.

Flash bulbs were replaced by flash tubes and eventually the camera and flash units learned to talk to one another across the hot shoe. The flash could “see” the scene through the camera lens and the flash power and duration were set automatically. It wasn’t long before someone came up with a connector cord that let you put the flash on a bracket handle with a diffuser.

One advantage wires had was the ability to act as an extension of the hot shoe. The camera and flash could still work together, albeit thorough a coiled cord connecting them. The camera could tell the flash the proper exposure and flash power, just as if the flash was reading the scene through the camera lens.

The wires connecting the camera to the flash unit were eventually replaced with wireless transmitters and that’s where the confusion began. Companies like Canon had their own proprietary wireless e-TTL technologies and, for a long time, no one could figure out how to get that to work across a radio link. It was either buy a Canon flash or forget it.

Early on, and in most inexpensive wireless flash controllers today, all the wireless connector does is tell the flash to fire. The flash fires at maximum, unless you manually scale the power back.

Even today professional photographers don’t use anything more complex than units like this Cowboy Wireless Flash Controller because they still prefer to use a light meter and set the flash power manually. Shooting that way is perfectly okay.

Some of the newer units like these can give you control over the sync and flash power (not full TTL support) over the wireless link.

But along came a photographer who was annoyed that his e-TTL would not work across a radio link and, even though many others had failed, he partnered up with an engineer and figured out how to get it working. They called it The Radio Popper.

Other companies have since figured out the wireless TTL magic and now wireless TTL is available for almost any combination of camera and flash, if you want to spend the money.

Some people, even those who have the money, still prefer to use a light meter.

infrared flash controller — Infrared flash controller

A wireless data link is not your only option. If line-of-sight is not an issue, you can still go with an infrared transmitter. There really just isn’t much incentive to buy infrared over radio these days. It’s so convenient to be able to put a flash unit out of sight in the background that limiting yourself to line-of-sight seems silly.

Five Requirements For Getting Started In Wedding Photography

Wedding photographer — Wedding photography is a tough business - by Lee J Haywood

Wedding photography is often the first paying job for many interested in a career in photography and the bread and butter for most professional photographers. It’s also the one facet of photography that you’re most likely to fall into by happenstance.

Many times a career in photography has started with a friend or relative getting married but are too poor to afford a photographer. If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a professional photographer, that’s probably where your journey will begin as well: As the unpaid photographer for someone you know getting married on a tight budget. That will be in spite of many good reasons not to take that job.

If you’re still determined to pursue this career option, here are my tips for getting started in the business.

Expect Fierce Competition

While you may be able to luck your way into a decent portfolio, luck will not keep you in the business. Wedding photography is a brutally competitive field, more so now than in times past. As full-time employment becomes harder to find, more people are looking for ways to start their own business and, for anyone with a decent camera and good eye for taking pictures, one of those ideas will inevitably be wedding photography.

Complaining about people new to the business is a part-time occupation for professional photographers, but what I’m hearing lately from my associates in the business is a level up from the normal background griping. Many are having a tough time making ends meet right now, bookings are down across the board. Competition is one of the the greatest challenges you’ll face getting started in the business.

Learn About Running a Business

On top of being able to sell yourself and compete, you have to understand cash flow, advertising, billing, collections, taxes, insurance, licensing, liability, and incorporation; the basics of running any business.

Take general business classes at night and see if your state or county has any programs to help new businesses get started. This will be a lot easier to do if you still have your day job.

Learning about contracting is absolutely crucial. That can be the difference between making it and getting sued for everything you’re worth. You don’t have to become a legal expert, but you have to know and implement the basics.

You can also think about investing in some books specific to wedding photography, like this one by Dane Sanders.

Get Insurance

Organizations like Professional Photographers of America (PPA) can help with training and connections but the most valuable aspect to joining is the insurance coverage. Memberships now come with $15,000 in equipment coverage and E&O insurance. They also offer group discount rates on liability insurance.

Good insurance can save you when things go wrong. When you’re holding the broken components of your Nikon D300 with a wedding to shoot that weekend, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Study The Industry Tirelessly

My friends in the wedding photography business are fantastic photographers. Not just good, scary good. On top of that you still have to stay on top of the trends and expectations in your own business.

Many of those trends that more brides want require a substantial investment in equipment or partner companies to supply that gear. That means rental equipment, contracts, and extra time and effort moving gear around. Does your liability and theft insurance cover rented equipment? Better know the answer to that before you pick it up.

You can’t just learn about the industry, you have to live and breathe it and that includes the technical aspects of the business, the expectations of your customers, and any value added service you can provide to give yourself a leg up on the competition.

Avoid Debt Like a Plague

Being in photography requires a continuous balancing act between cash flow, eating, and investing in equipment. The biggest mistake I see people new to the business make is going into debt to get started. All it takes is one mistake, one bad month where you miss that payment, and you’re out of business.

In wedding photography, cash flow is going to be a big deal. You’ll be slammed for four months out of the year, sometimes double-booked on some weekends, covering morning and afternoon ceremonies. It’s critical to get in the habit of putting away a cash stash to last through the fall and winter when there will be fewer bookings. Learn this skill or die your first year.

Some photographers slip into the habit of borrowing money during the slow season and pay it back over the spring and summer. Don’t do that. One bad year, one accident where you can’t work, and your business and financial future are dead.

The Top Four Types of Flash Brackets

External flash brackets are another one of those subjects that can turn into War and Peace. The concept is relatively simple: A bracket that attaches to your camera and allows the attachment of a flash next to it. Simple, right? Not exactly.

Bracket technology has advanced over the years to include a bewildering array of options, some so complicated they look like the International Space Station. These aren’t your grandpa’s flash brackets anymore.

The Folding Bracket

Folding Flash bracket — Your grandpa started out with a bracket like this

Okay, actually this is your granpa’s flash bracket. A basic folding bracket with a hot shoe attachment for the flash. A quick release button on the side allows you to flip it from horizontal to vertical.

The Basic Bracket

The basic flash bracket has a plate with a mounting screw along the bottom, a handle on the side and a brace that holds the flash across the top. The top brace usually pivots to allow the flash head to pivot so the flash can still be over the lens whether the camera is oriented horizontally or vertically.

The Flip Bracket

Like the basic bracket but is hinged so you can flip the camera from horizontal to vertical without moving the flash.

These come in all kinds of configurations. Some have multiple extensions on the flash extension, like a tripod leg for really getting your flash up there.

The Rotating Bracket

A variation of the basic bracket built with a track that the bracket handle pivots around for changing camera orientation without moving the flash around.

Besides the rotation track, there are usually articulated arms that allow a longer extension and more options for positioning the flash above and off to the side of the lens.

As you can see the options, and price points, are limitless.

Are Professional Organizations Worth The Money?

At some point in your photography career you’re going to consider going full time. Or you may be working in the business already, either full or part-time, and might be wondering if it’s worth joining a professional organization.

There are several professional organizations aimed at photographers, but the biggest and most popular, at least in the U.S., is the PPA, Professional Photographers of America.

The annual 2011 dues for professional photographers is $323 a year, which you can pay off at $27.92 per month if you wish. There’s also an Aspiring Photographer’s option that is $194 a year, but does not include a listing in their referral database and you’re limited to two years at that level before stepping up to a full membership.

So what exactly does that money buy you? Quite a lot actually. Because the PPA can offer vendors real buying power, they can offer discounts on services like data recovery, shipping, music licensing, office supplies including discounts on Adobe, Apple and several other hardware and software vendors, even discount financing for new equipment purchases.

You’ll also get access to their online learning resources (for six months) and Professional Photographer magazine.

Probably the best learning resource is having access to the local chapters of PPA, where you can get together for events with other local photographers. Those might include things like lunches, photo walks, charity events and TFP shoots with local models.

By far the biggest benefit that comes with your membership is the PhotoCare equipment insurance, that covers up to $15,000 of your gear against loss or theft.

You also get access to PPA’s malpractice Indemnification Trust when things go wrong on an assignment for which you might be liable.

In addition you get access to discounted liability coverage for your equipment and studio.

The insurance and local PPA meet-ups are worth the price all by themselves. Having coverage can really save you in case of an accident.

The best part is professional association dues are generally tax deductible. Provided the organization is not primarily devoted to entertainment, like a country club, the dues are generally a write off.

How The Pros Do It – Portable Lighting For Wedding Photography

Ac 3 — The PocketWizard AC3 paired with the MiniTTL for Canon

My nephew got married recently, an event I was unfortunately not able to attend, although my high tech family managed to send me pictures of the event. One picture that made my teeth grind was one with the wedding photographer in the background, trying to light a dress shot with a dinky external flash.

This was the photographer with a killer web site that my future niece felt she was lucky to get, but there was no way the results displayed on the web site were captured with the camera and flash combination in that photo. Judging by the pictures I’ve seen so far, she was duped by a slick web site with, at best, a tenuous connection to whoever took the promo pictures displayed there.

To contrast the difference between that lighting setup and the real pros, I went to see Karl Leopold at Images4Ever near Melbourne Beach, Florida. Karl has been shooting weddings longer than most photographers working today have been alive, has won more awards than I can list here, and is the president of the Atlantic Professional Photographers Association. I wanted to see a real pro lighting setup and wasn’t disappointed.

Karl builds his portable lighting kit around a pair of Canon 580 EX ii Speedlites, pairing those with a PocketWizard FlexTT5 for Canon. The trigger on the camera is a combination of the MiniTT1 matched up with an AC3 Zone Controller for changing the power settings on any of the flash units on the fly wirelessly.

“I can change the power by 3 stops on any of the flash units right from here,” Karl explains, dialing back the power with the AC3. I watched him flip through the power settings while shooting nearly continuously, much faster than making the change through the camera menu.

The arrangement provides the flexibility to mount the fill flash on a monopod and let an assistant adjust the location and height to fit the situation. If he’s working alone he can mount the remote on a light stand and adjust it himself. Instead of being tethered to the camera, he can also move the key off the bracket handle if the situation calls for it.

Lighting set up — How it all comes together - One Speedlite on a standard bracket, the other a remote that can be mounted on anything

It’s all about speed, reliability and flexibility, with added bonus of being able to light the world.

“The big advantage is you can put a light behind the subject for those nice, bright highlights,” Karl explained. The radio triggers work around corners and even when concealed behind foreground objects.

Equipment isn’t the only factor separating the pros from the posers, but having the right gear is definitely a bonus.

In the days to come I’m planning to work with Karl and Images4Ever on more articles on studio lighting, exposure, and working with models on commercial shoots. Stay tuned.