Starting the Week Slowly

I’ve got an early morning eye doctor’s appointment today – the kind of appointment photographer’s hate. You know when they dilate your eyes and you can’t see anything for the next few hours. Kind of like bokeh on crack. So that being the case let me just get a few things out there and then I’m gonna hunker down until tomorrow.

If you’re playing along with the yearlong Project Double Take, today marks the end of Project #2 (Self-Portraits in the Landscape) and the beginning of Project #3 (Barns – Vertical Format). You’ve got two weeks to put your Larry Kanfer on and go make an image of a barn. Good luck.

Hey – it seems like a lot of people are in the business of photographing youngns. Babes. Kiddies. I am not generally one of them but after reading this insightful article on Photographing Tots and Toddlers (over at Digital Photography School), well at least I know what I should be doing when caught in this unexpected situation.

Ever get asked to photograph folks for passports? Ever need your own passport photo? Photographer Nic Myers has created a very nice and simple template for Photoshop (Elements or full-blown PS) for the easy creation of passport pics. This might be a template worth keeping around (free for personal use) if you feel the need – the need for speed (outta the country).

Questions about how to price photography always come up – especially if you do a lot of custom photography for folks. How do you estimate your level of work so that you make the fair value from that work? Photographer Marianne Drenthe (from the southwest Chicago suburbs) has an interesting bit of background information on this – on Why Does Custom Photography Cost More (found on the informative website for children’s photography Professional Child Photographer). Just something to consider as you estimate everything that goes into your work – and why the folks down at THE big box store charge very little for their work. Remember – you aren’t them – and the work you do probably holds a lot more value for your customers.

Another website I picked up from this last article seems like a treasure trove for the wedding photographer. Called the Wedding Photographer’s Directory, it’s a good resource for both the consumer and the wedding photographer. If you are in the wedding biz in any way shape or form, it might be a good site to direct your customers too – for a real good listing of what they should expect from the process.