Don’t give up the ship!
Since photography has developed so fast to a computerized medium, I have no digital technical knowledge to share with anyone . . . but, I could recall situations that may be helpful to a budding photographer.
As a young man, I lived in a ship building town, and I was very busy photographing new ship’s interiors and exteriors.
One particular ship had a gigantic cargo area below deck, which I had to photograph. I set up my tripod and the heavy camera (8×10 format) with wide angle lens. Since there was very little light, I figured a time exposure of about four minutes should do it. Just when I started the exposure, all hell broke loose!
With a big BANG the deck started to shake violently, and the tripod with the camera started to move around like some sort of ritual dance. Realizing that somebody had started the huge engines, I ran up three decks to the bridge and yelled ”Stop the engines!” Now, they were testing the engines and in no mood to comply, but after some arguments, they gave in and provided me half an hour of calm, so I could finish my job.
Lesson: Let people know what your plans are!
Background on Backgrounds
Choosing a backdrop is a tough choice, there are so many things to consider. Color, width, length, portability, versatility, durability, affordability, likeability, photographability, howtoholditupability and the list keeps going. Objective is getting the right combination of all these variables for your use.
POPUPS: If you are shooting only head and shoulders, half-length and a few three quarter lengths the popups are a good choice. Look at the Twistflex available through Denny Mfg. or my personnel choice, the Botero line available from B&H Photo. A size around 5’x7’ will do for 1 or 2 people. Theses backgrounds setup in a second with no obnoxious wrinkles and are hung from a stand (I prefer two stands). Word of advice: Practice folding these things up before you’re seen in public. I didn’t, and ended up stuffing the thing in my van like an accidentally inflated lifeboat, as my customer looked on.
FULL LENGTHS: If you are doing full lengths, the biggest issues involve width of background and wrinkles. For estimating the width for a fixed location background, set up your camera with a normal lens (not a wide angle), and backup to your anticipated maximum shooting distance. From there, note the side-to-side width of your frame coverage on your reference wall. Measure the width of the reference wall visible in your view finder. This will be your required background size. Note: Changes to your lens mm, will affect the required background size. When shooting a large group or bride, you never can have too much background.
Consider the wrinkle factor if you’re using them on location. If the wrinkled look is not what your after,consider the Freedom Cloth Background from Denny Mfg., or my personnel favorites, Backgrounds-In-A-Bag available at PhotekUSA.
COLOR: This of course is a matter of taste. You will find that it is easier to lighten up a darker background, than it is to darken a light background. A darker background can be lit with varying degrees, and gels added to achieve different effects (as I have done on this background).
PRICE: Buy only what you need. It’s a nightmare to take a 12 by 20 foot background out on location when you’re only doing a head and shoulders portrait. Consider having more choices of smaller backgrounds, rather than one huge background.
Also check out Calumet Photo and Knowledge Backgrounds for other selections.
Create a Coffee Table Book (Portfolio)
Here’s a quick tip for putting together a professional presentation of a like-kind collection. Lets say you want to promote your “Seniors” sitting packages. Get together about 20 or 30 of your best Senior images and turn them into a hard-cover coffee table style book!
Most photographic printers, such as MPIX, offer this service for around $30-$50. Applications like Apple Aperture (and iPhoto) will let you order books right from the application.
You can create a custom cover, and even have a little promotional blurb on some of the pages. Most printers offer a choice of paper and cover styles, as well as sizes (5×5, 10×10, 8.5×11). Mix it up a little and use an 8×10 on one page, with a couple of smaller images on the facing page.
This is a great way to display your collection in a unique format, that you can leave out in your sitting area of the studio, or take with you to meet a client.
Think about using this for Publicity Photos, Modeling Headshots, Commercial Products, etc.
If you have any other unique formats for promotional items, let us know!