Wedding Photography

Wedding photography in itself is a challenging vocation. Adding travelling to a different destination adds another dimension to it.

Destination weddings are those that are organized by the family of the wedding couple at a destination far away from their home. And photographers who travel with the couple to these destinations to document their events through photographs are called as destination wedding photographers.

Destination wedding photography is a fusion of travel and adventure photography clubbed with wedding photography itself. It’s a mix that though seems to be a lot of fun, has a lot of effort, planning and execution that goes through it. Wedding photography can be tricky enough in itself. There are deadlines, tight schedules and a lot of processing work in front of the computer. Destination wedding photography can throw a lot more challenges in the mix.

If you are reading this, you probably are a well-established wedding photographer who is trying to add destination wedding photography to your list of offerings. Or may-be you want to move on straight away to destination wedding photography. Either way, here are some tips that will help you with setting your destination wedding photography business up.

Getting started

In wedding photography, no matter how talented you are, the success of a photographer heavily lies on referrals. It basically boils down to getting the word out there about your services, both online and through word of mouth. Most travelling wedding photographers invest in spending some time at the destination where they just finished the shoot to network with the locals. In wedding photography business, this kind of direct networking goes a long way.

While you are at it, never forget to mention about your love for travel. Make sure people know that you love to travel to such an extent that you are willing to travel to any destination where the couple is intending to get married.

Plan ahead

Probably the biggest challenge there is with destination wedding photography is that when it comes to international travel you have to be prepared way ahead in advance. And that includes work permit or visa, learning about culture, restrictions and rules of the place you are travelling to. The last thing you want to do is tax the wedding couple with your travel problems.

Always assume the worst and prepare for the worst case scenario. It’s even better to have a backup plan for every plan that you have made for your trip.

Build your rapport

In most of the assignments, you will most likely meet the wedding couple a day before the wedding when you reach your destination. This makes it difficult to create a face-value for yourself. An online call over skype, or a good old telephone call goes a long way in helping you build you rapport with your clients. It’s also a good idea to follow them over Facebook and Twitter. Bring this habit of networking when interacting with your wedding clients and most likely, when the wedding couple see you for the first time, they will greet you like a bunch of long lost friends.

It’s a great idea to keep in touch with the wedding couple as the days close by to the wedding. You don’t have to call them every now and then. You can text and email them, check availability and then call if necessary. Check with the couple if you can cover the rehearsal and engagement session as well. This will lead to building trust with your client and will help build a relaxed atmosphere during the wedding day.

Know what’s at stake

Travelling to various locations and following your passion of photography does sound dreamy but know that it comes at a price. The biggest thing that you will need to consider is that you will be away from your family for most of the days. It also requires a lot of planning, time management skills and a lot of effort to building your own brand name in this niche.

So, ask yourself. If destination wedding photography is really for you?

The first step towards this dream job is to sharpen your skills at wedding photography itself. Like most businesses around the world. You will have to start small with local weddings and build your name and reputation with everyone you meet. From there on, take your presence online. Create your own blog, share your experiences, write blog posts frequently and promote them on your social networks.

Street Photography

Street photography is all about detailing the everyday life of people, society, and circumstances on the street. It features the subject in open situations within public places. Street photography is a kind of photography that is generally done without the permission and knowledge of the subject. It’s like art that features the ability to spot an interesting character or some rare incident on the fly. It doesn’t require the presence of any street or urban environment. You can practice your street photography anywhere and it doesn’t require traveling a lot to capture awesome shots.

Street photography is one of the most challenging and exciting types of photography. Capturing strangers along with their actions and emotions is the ultimate goal and it requires good planning and skills. However, street photography is not as easy as its name might suggest. Photographers do face a lot of challenges, such as how far can you stand from your subject, put the camera close to your eye, focus on the subject, and click without getting nervous. With practice, one can overcome the fear of photographing strangers as well as learn the various techniques that can help in getting better candid shots.

In this article, Shaw Academy is going to explain that will help you in taking awesome pictures of people without getting noticed.

Choose the best lens:

Deciding which lens to use in street photography is the most important aspect. Street photographers get very close to their subject as it allows them to capture the actions and emotions. Whether you want to capture the subject’s emotion or portray an action, a wide angle lens is usually best. People also prefer to choose a compact camera as it’s lightweight, smaller and easy to carry.

Camera Settings:

Switch your camera to aperture-priority mode and keep on selecting the ISO and aperture manually. This combination is ideal while doing street photography. If possible, choose a high ISO with as fast a shutter speed as allowable as it will give you a perfect shot and reduce motion blur. It’s recommended to keep the ISO settings between 400 and 3200. Also, be prepared to change the camera setting fast.

Get close to the subject:

Using a wide-angle lens is suggested in street photography as it gets you close to the subject. However, you also need to get physically close to the subject to be an observer and keep your eyes open to capture interesting scenes and moments. Getting close to the subject is very important to get a good picture composition and lea out any distractions.

Shoot from the hip:

It’s perfect to shoot with the camera to your eye, however, sometimes it’s not possible in street photography. Holding the camera and pointing it at a stranger sometimes feels and looks odd. So, shooting from the hip is the best method to capture vital moments. It also helps in capturing people from a low angle.
Be creative: It’s necessary to be creative in street photography. Look for interesting spots, spend time at restaurants, markets and keeping your camera ready to take opportunities. This is the best way to get creative and capture technically superior photographs.

Forget about image quality:

This may sound odd, but it’s true. Image quality is not important in street photography. According to professional photographer, lighting, composition, depth, the drama and the story are more important than the image quality. Image quality has no value if you have bad composition and no story to tell in street photography.

Zone focus:

According to Spyros Papaspyropoulos, “zone focusing is when we adjust our camera to be in focus for a particular zone, or a particular size of invisible mask. This can be a short zone or a long zone”. It’s very crucial in street photography and depends upon three aspects, i.e. aperture, lens focal length and subject distance.
Have fun: Like other photography, it’s important to have fun with street photography too. Fun brings happiness and creativity, which is required to get the best out of your street photography. Moreover, the more fun you have, the more relaxed you are. You will see the reflection of joy in your pictures.

The key for successful and beautiful street photography is to be organized, prepared and confident. You should practice capturing the right moments and develop an eye for detail. Street photography requires more practice, patience and creativity.

Following these tips will definitely enhance your street photography. With the information mentioned above, you should be ready to capture the perfect shots every time.

Pet Photography

Pets are often just furry children, taking up a lot of space in their owner’s hearts and, of course, things that are close to the heart make great photographic subjects. Although they are a beloved subject to shoot, most pets don’t sit still and certainly don’t understand “look at the camera.” Capturing the furriest members of the family can be a big challenge. Here are seven pet photography tips for beginners to get started.

 Be patient

Photographing pets is a lot like photographing children. A good degree of patience is necessary. Pets aren’t likely to look at you and give you a winning shot the first time you press the shutter release. Plan to spend some time working to get those shots. If the pet doesn’t have a long attention span, try working in short bursts, giving both you and the pet a break in between.

Get their attention with treats and toys

Most pets aren’t going to look at the camera, at least not easily. Some pets will look at you when you call their name. Others may have a preference for squeaker toys. Some may be eager to look for a treat.  If you are not photographing your own pet, be sure to ask the owner what catches their attention most. You don’t want too much attention, or they will rush up to the camera and be too close to photograph, just enough to get them looking your way.

Let them play

You don’t necessarily need to photograph them looking at you. While portraits where the pet is sitting and looking nicely at the camera are great, photographing pets at play can make some great images too. Simply letting the pet play is a good way to capture their individual personality. Play fetch with a dog or encourage a cat to play with cat nip, or string. If you can, head outside to capture the play in natural lighting.

Shoot at their eye level

If you photograph from your eye level, chances are you will be looking down on them (perhaps if you are photographing a horse, this isn’t the case). Looking down on a subject will make it appear smaller than it really is. A better approach is to shoot from their eye level. That may mean sitting, kneeling or even lying on your stomach. However awkward the adjusted position may feel, the perspective captures pets much better. Shooting at the pet’s eye level will help the photos to feel more like portraits than casual snapshots.

Focus on the eyes

In any portrait, pet or human, you should focus on the eyes. That’s what adds personality and depth to the shot, so be sure to get the eyes crisply focused. The easiest way to get the eyes in focus is to use single point autofocus. This mode allows you to move the focus point to whatever part you would like to focus on, in this case, the eyes. You can usually find the setting in the camera menu, and then move the point with the cursor. If you’re not sure, check with your camera’s manual, since every model is a bit different.

Use a fast shutter speed or sports mode

Most pets move fast. You’ll need a shutter speed to match, or they’ll appear blurry. If you haven’t yet learned how to use manual modes, use your camera’s sports mode to help freeze the action. If you’re a bit familiar with the manual modes, use shutter priority mode to select a high shutter speed. Outdoors, push the shutter speed as high as the scenario will allow. Indoors, you will likely need to use a flash with a 1/250 shutter speed to really freeze the action.

Try a diffused or bounced flash

Don’t be afraid to use a flash if the animal isn’t startled by it. A flash will actually help freeze the motion a bit more. The key is not to use a direct flash. Ideally, you should use an external hot shoe flash and bounce the light off the ceiling or a wall. Alternatively, you could also buy a diffuser to fit over your pop up flash, so it’s not quite so harsh, but a bounced flash is the best option. If the flash startles the pet though, avoid using it altogether.

As members of the family, pets should be photographed too. Be patient and come prepared with treats and toys, or simply photograph them at play. Shoot at their eye level, with a single point autofocus on one of their eyes. Use a fast shutter speed, and if needed, a flash to freeze the motion.

Kids Photography

Kids are constantly growing and changing. Of course, that makes them great portrait subjects to watch them grow throughout the years. But at the same time, kids are among the most difficult portrait subjects. They usually don’t have much of an attention span, have trouble sitting still and many are too little to understand what pose you want them to do.

That’s why, when it comes to posing kids, it’s an entirely different ballgame. Posing kids involves a much different strategy than posing teens and adults. Instead of expecting a child to sit still and say cheese, taking a child’s portrait involves getting creative with poses. Here are eight ideas for posing children.

“Act like a _______!”

In general, the older the child is, the easier it is to pose them, though of course there’s exceptions for different personality types. For kids that are just on the edge of understanding how to pose and what you are asking, try using something they’re already familiar with. For example, ask them to act like a certain animal, like a lion or a bird. You could ask them what they want to be when they grow up, and then ask how that career person would pose for a picture. This method involves things that kids are more familiar with, but it also is more likely to generate genuine expressions as well.

Use props.

Sitting still isn’t fun for kids. Ditch that idea and instead take photos of the child at play by incorporating fun props that still look great in pictures. The possibilities are endless here. Bubbles are great props, and almost universally loved by kids. Balloons can add bright pops of color to a shot and work particularly great for birthday photos. Props don’t have to be items that you bring—they could be taking pictures on a swing set at a park, picking wildflowers or playing in puddles after the rain.

Give them an action instead.

Not only are actions easier for kids to understand, they’re also more entertaining and more likely to generate those real smiles that light up the eyes too. Make sure your camera is set at a fast shutter speed, then ask the child to jump, run, sing or any of hundreds of other options. Exactly what you do will depend on the child and their age—you may get great shots of older kids by asking for something a bit more complicated, like a cartwheel or handstand. Take photos of the action, but be ready to capture the happy smiles that usually happen right after as well.

Use a familiar environment.

Putting a kid in a setting they’re not familiar with is bound to create some discomfort. Instead of starting with a bundle of nerves right off the bat, head to an environment that the child is familiar with. It could be their own home or backyard, their favorite park. Set up the pose in a place that the child is comfortable with, and you’ll be more likely to have success.

Use a favorite toy.

Take that comfort level one step further, and invite the child to bring their favorite toy with them to the photo shoot. Favorite toys are comforting, but they can also be used as props or at least ice breakers. Start out the session with the child playing with their toy, and move on to other set-ups without the toy as they become more comfortable with you and the camera. By photographing the child with their favorite toy, you’re also giving them an image of something else to remember from their childhood, so as an adult they can look back and remember what they played with as a kid.

Try some sweets.

Most kids can’t help but crack a smile when presented with a sweet treat. Make sure to check with the child’s parents first, but sweets can make nice props. A colorful lollipop or an ice cream cone can generate some great smiles without the pressure of a pose, and they still look great included in the photos. Be sure to save sweet props for the end, to avoid getting clothes and faces messy at the start of the session.

Play a game.

Games can be great ways to capture genuine smiles and get a shy child to open up, or a fidgety kid to burn off some of that energy. Hide and seek can create some cute images of kids peeking out from behind objects (just set some boundaries so you don’t spend too much time seeking!). Hopscotch is also fun and photogenic. Twister, tag, marco polo—the key is to get the child to engage in something fun for real smiles. Games work well for kids that have a hard time sitting still, even if they are old enough to pose.

Involve the family.

Once of the best ways to get a good pose and a genuine smile is by using those who know the little one the best. Moms and dads can often stand behind you and joke or make silly faces for smiles, and help translate the pose you are looking for into something that they’ll understand. It’s also a great idea to get mom and dad in some of the photos too—they can expand the possibilities of getting a good pose through asking for an action. The child can tell mom a secret, or be tossed in the air by dad, or swing from both parent’s hands.

Kids are wonderful subjects—but they’re often hard to work with. Instead of fighting against a child’s natural instinct to move and play, work with it by creating a pose through action, games or fun props.

Macro Photography

A camera is a tool that allows us to capture what we see, as we see it. But sometimes, the camera is also a tool that encourages us to look. Macro photography is an excellent example of just that.

What is macro photography?

Macro photography is simply photographing small items, often insects and flowers, but also still life like jewelry and small household objects. Macro photography encourages the photographer to take a closer look. It enables the shooter to search harder for minute subject matter and to make the everyday objects appear extraordinary.

In the days of film, the answer to “what is macro photography” was a little stricter, and required much more equipment. Shooting with a film camera, an image that captured something that was at least 1/10^th of the original size on a piece of 35mm film was considered macro. Images that captured the object life-size, or at a 1:1 ratio, were considered micro.

Today, macro photography doesn’t require nearly as much equipment. Many point-and-shoot cameras have macro modes that can capture pretty decent close-ups. A macro lens with a DSLR offers even more quality, and offers additional flexibility for getting closer with adapters and other gear.

The macro capabilities of a camera can be written in two different ways. The first is using ratio. A 1:1 macro image means that lens will capture a life-sized image of an object. A 1:2 ratio captures a small object at half of its original size, and vice versa.

More commonly, a camera or lenses macro capability is measured in the distance the object can be from the front of the lens. Perhaps you’ve tried to take a close photo with a compact camera, only to hear the lens whirring in back and forth, unable to lock a focus. That’s because you were either too close to the subject, or you forgot to turn the macro mode on.

The minimum focusing distance, listed in a camera’s specifications, indicates just how close you can get in macro photography. Many modern, advanced compacts let you get an inch from the object and still focus. A compact camera’s lens focuses on subjects at varying lengths by moving the lens closer or further from the sensor. Macro photography requires the lens to be close to the sensor to acquire a focus, and not all cameras are able to position the lens close enough to lock a focus.

On most compact cameras, there’s a shortcut to tell the camera you’d like to focus close to the lens. This shortcut looks like a small flower icon. When macro mode is on, the camera will be able to focus on objects that are close to the lens. It’s still possible to get too close, so check the minimum focusing distance on your camera’s tech specs. Many newer compact cameras can focus as close as an inch from the front of the lens.

On DSLRs, macro capability is dependent on the lens, not the camera. Lenses with macro capabilities can get closer to a subject. A macro lens usually lists both a minimum focusing distance and a macro ratio in the technical specifications. A 1:1 is a great ratio for a DSLR lens, and many photographers consider anything less than 1:1 not a true macro. Macro lenses aren’t limited to just close-ups, either. They can also focus to infinity, meaning they can also snap non-macro photos too. Unlike on a compact camera, when shooting macro with a DSLR, there’s often a switch on the lens that tells the lens to focus on close subjects.

Which is better for macro photography, a compact camera, or a DSLR?

While many newer compact cameras have excellent macro modes, they don’t give the user full flexibility when it comes to exposure and depth of field. There are a few models that allow the use of manual modes when shooting macro, but many don’t. Manual modes are important in macro photography, as they’ll allow you to choose just how much of the image is sharp and how much of that background is blurred.

Macro photography is simply photographing items up close. However simple the concept, there are different macro photography tips that apply to taking close-ups. Many cameras can take macro photos, though DSLRs have more flexibility and a higher resolution. Taking images close-up is a fun way to rethink items we see every day, or explore something you think you know well, like your backyard.

Family Photography

Family photos are challenging, as there are often little kids who don’t want to sit still, and usually, there’s at least one person that doesn’t really want to be there. So, how do you pose great family photos? The key is to make the poses fun, while still including everyone close together in the shots. Start by ditching the idea of family photos that you remember as a kid—instead of stiff poses and fake smiles, try these five family photo pose tips and ideas.

Tip 1: Be Flexible and come prepared

Posing families is quite different from posing an individual. For one, there’s more people that need to be placed in a flattering spot. Photographing families usually means there’s a child (or two or three or four or…) involved. Younger kids won’t understand the “chin up, foot back” directions you give them, and while older kids may understand, they’ll get bored quick and there goes the chance for genuine smiles.

The key is to come to the shot being both prepared and flexible. What does that mean? It means having a few ideas, but not being too upset if those ideas don’t pan out. A child might be too cranky for the idea to work, or the pose might not suit the family best. Have a few backup ideas, and don’t be afraid to try new things on the fly if none of those are working. Prior to the shoot, talk to the parents and find out what the kids are interested in—it may be a good idea to bring a few props for shoots with really young kids, like bubbles or balloons, to keep bring out once their boredom hits in order to get smiles the entire session.

Pose 1: Take a walk

“Sit still” poses often don’t work for families with little ones. Instead, have the family walk and talk together. Don’t try to get them to look at the camera, just capture the way they are together. Piggy back rides work good for little kids, or holding hands or simply however the family feels comfortable. You don’t want to force them into a pose that doesn’t really show their family dynamic well.

Tip 2: Try triangle shape with the faces

The best poses will create a triangle shape with the faces, because that leads the eye through the photo, yet still makes the family feel like one cohesive group. The traditional way of making a triangle with the faces is to have the tallest in the middle, but families with little kids don’t do traditional so well. The “tallest” could be the shortest with someone else riding piggy back. Or, mom and dad could be sitting while the younger kids come from behind.

Thinking triangles while you’re posing can be hard to do, especially with everything else that’s going on. So, if in the middle of your shoot you find thinking about geometry out of the question, aim for a simpler goal—just to have all the faces close together. That means working in layers so short kids aren’t so far away from mom and dad’s face, like using chairs or a fence or simply having mom or dad hold a child.

Pose Idea 2: Tell secrets (or give kisses)

When you want a candid photo of everyone talking and laughing together, putting them together and saying “now talk and laugh” is just going to make everyone feel awkward. You have to create the moment. To get them to talk and get them close together, ask one or two family members to tell the others a secret. With some ages, kisses on the cheek work well too, though with older kids that might get you a pretty grossed-out expression.

Tip 3: Give an action instead of a pose

Remember going to get family pictures as a kid? It was a lot of dressing up and sitting with stiff smiles. Family photography doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, go for a bit more relaxed approach. Instead of sitting and posing everyone, give them an action to do instead. That could be taking a walk, blowing bubbles, playing tag, tickling the kids, surprising mom and dad from behind, going for a piggy back ride, holding hands, telling secrets, jumping…the possibilities are endless. Try to create actions that get everyone’s faces close together and move to new poses quickly, before that attention span runs dry.

Pose Idea 3: Jump

It’s hard to frown while you’re jumping. There’s something about action that helps people relax a bit for the camera and gives younger kids something to do. Line everyone up in a row—holding hands if the kids are younger, or just near each other. Then, tell everyone to jump on the count of three. Make sure to have your camera focused before you even start counting, and the burst mode on.

Tip 4: Account for different ages

A newborn can’t tell a secret or go for a piggy back ride. Make sure you know the kid’s ages prior to the session, and be sure to account for those age differences. Newborns can’t do much, but they also can’t run off—try poses with mom, dad or another family member holding the baby.

Toddlers are a boisterous bunch and are often much happier moving around. With toddlers in the family, keep poses short and try for poses that offer an action other than sitting and looking at the camera, like walking or playing together. Props can sometimes help distract a cranky toddler as well.

Elementary school kids might be a bit better at sitting and listening to directions, but you still want to keep them engaged so that they have genuine smiles. Still try action poses, and keep the “sit still” moments to a minimum. Kids at this age may enjoy sneaking up on mom and dad and surprising them.

Teenagers can be posed much like adults, but be flexible with teens in the picture. Most aren’t going to want to hold their siblings hands or kiss them on the cheek. Be sure to include them in the action poses. If you can, ask for their help on some so they don’t feel like all the attention is going to the little sibling.

Pose 4: Spins and tosses

While younger kids may not be very good at sitting still, at least they’re still small enough to be tossed into the air. With younger kids, try having mom or dad toss them into the air, or spin them in circles or ask them if there’s a certain game they like to play. Be sure to turn your shutter speed up for these kinds of poses.

Tip 5: Prioritize your poses

With more people in the photos, you never know when a child will start to get too crabby, someone will get cold or hungry or any of a number of other scenarios. Since you don’t know how much time you’ll actually be able to get everyone’s attention for, start with the most important poses first. If you have poses in mind that are less action oriented, start there, then move to action type poses when the kids start to lose interest. Make sure you’ve gotten everything on your list of must-haves before you get creative and get them riled up with games.

With that in mind, keep in mind the youngest kids have the shortest attention spans. So, it’s also a good idea to get all the ones that the littlest ones are included in first. Save pictures like just mom and dad together for the end, while the kids are free to play during mom and dad’s turn.

Pose Idea 5: Lying Down

Who says poses just have to be standing or sitting? Try one with everyone lying on the ground, either with their heads propped up on their elbows or lying completely on the ground with the cameras above them. Get creative with ways to keep the little ones entertained this way—perhaps looking for shapes in the clouds or with a bit of tickling from mom and dad to get the smiles going.

Family photos are challenging to capture, but when you truly capture a family’s dynamic, it can be very rewarding. Come prepared, but flexible enough to go with flow if what you planned doesn’t work for this particular family at this particular time. Try to create poses that put the faces either in a triangle or all on the same level. Creating an action, instead of a “sit still” pose, works well for many families. Be sure to account for the kid’s ages and have reasonable expectations for what they can do. Make sure to get the most important poses done first, you never know when a little one may lose all interest in photos.