I know from my e-mail that many readers work in corporate environments harboring dreams of someday being their own boss. While some may actually be planning for this eventuality, others may find that, like greatness, being an entrepreneur can be thrust upon you. In my own situation, I long had a dream of owning my own photographic studio and had started making plans for that day, only to get laid off long before my scheduled departure. So I said “the hell with it,” and started my business the next day. I was unprepared for how similar my little operation was to my Fortune 500 job but the big differences lie in all of the advantages of flying solo.

Along the way, you may have to make a few sacrifices in lifestyle or quality of life, but true entrepreneurs do it because they see a future payoff. It took me many years to make the same kind of money I had received from corporate America and it took me many years after that to have health insurance as good as when I was a wage slave.

Most new entrepreneurs don’t do it for the money; they do it for the freedom. As “the boss” you have the freedom of making decisions that affect the direction of the company. This includes flexibility in making quick U-turns to adopt new policies, strategies, and technology without having to run it through a middle-management filter. (“Oh Rob, Snafu Industries could never do that!”) If you do it and it works, you’re a hero. If it flops, you gain valuable “school of hard knocks” experience.

Some people are attracted to entrepreneurial life because they want to take time off to play golf. If you received a golden parachute from your former employer that may be possible but few of us are that lucky. While you may work more hours than before, you will have flexibility in your calendar to take your kids to a ball game during the week or attend a recital at their school during the day without “your boss” taking the gas pipe. If you can’t be flexible regarding spending time with your family within your work schedule allocation, then you’re a workaholic and should consider getting a “real job.”

In addition to having the freedom to make decisions that affect your studio’s growth and work schedule, you also have the freedom to run an operation that has more dignity and ethical concern than the company you left. You have the freedom to treat your clients with the kind of respect you think they deserve, not what some suit in the home office long removed from what it’s like in the real world tells you to do. For many entrepreneurs this is one of the major reasons they left what, for some, were long careers. Knowing that you “did it with integrity” will help you sleep at night and live longer and prosper.

 Joe Farace has been an independent photographer for more than 30 years and can’t image any other kind of lifestyle that’s better.

Caption: In the first shot of Jamie-Lynn I used a Canon EOS 1D Mark II with EF 85mm f/1.8 lens and an exposure of 1/80 sec at f/7.1 at ISO 400 with an EX 550EX speedlite on camera. It was used with a Sto-Fen Omni Bounce diffuser to produce a soft, flattering light. Fill is from a window at camera left. But the overall feel is flat. © Joe Farace

Caption: In the second shot I used the same camera and lens with a shutter speed of 1/250 sec to minimize the effect of the available light. A Flashpoint monolight with standard reflector is placed lower and slightly lower and left of the camera to create a different mood, which the model, after looking at the test shots, responded to with a tougher “don’t mess with me” look. I also got some natural hair light effect from the window but not as much fill. © Joe Farace

Joe Farace is the author of a new book called “Studio Lighting Anywhere” that’s available in all the best bookstores as well as Amazon.com

San Francisco de Asis in Taos

exposure: 1/400th sec at f/10 and ISO 200.

..at least this one. I made this photograph of a limited edition Jaguar with a Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN and showed it to my friend Steve who had borrowed the camera to make a few shots of it for his club’s newsletter. While looking at it, he said, “I just don’t see like that.” So I thought it might be fun to give you some idea of how I came to make this particular image.

A Colorado Springs Land Rover dealership celebrated the groundbreaking of its new Jaguar dealership and invited people to bring their cars to the site for an informal show. All kind of interesting cars showed up including a Sterling Moss limited edition XK-R Jaguar coupe. I was only planning on making some snapshots and only brought one lens a Canon EF 16-35mm zoom, which based on the 1.3 multiplication factor that this camera produces, might have been a better choice for an indoor show. The first image I made was just a “walk up to it and click” shot and shows the lines of the car and a few of the distinguishing characteristics (stripes/wheels) of the XK-R and a whole lot of stuff around it. I walked around back and made another similar uninspiring image of the XK-R’s back. Then I went back to the front and made a shot similar to the first one but from a lower angle; I didn’t like any of’em and walked away.

Later on after I was thinking about the XK-R, remembering that it was such a unique car (there’s less than a dozen in the world) it needed a shot that made a statement. Two things stood out for me: the red fender strips ala Corvette’s Grand Sport, and three-piece racing wheels atypical of the standard luxo Jag. With the camera in P mode, I racked the lens out to 16mm (effective 21mm) and started looking at the front left wheel because I liked the lighting on that side of the car.

I knew I had to shoot from a low angle with the camera pointing up to minimize background clutter, so I am either knelling down to get this low perspective. While composing this shot, I saw those two little powder-puff clouds in the background and damn near yelled “Eureka” when I clicked the shutter. I made only one exposure. I had been shooting all day and found that exposure compensation tended to be the standard stuff: underexpose black cars, overexpose white ones, but this silver car was as Goldilocks once said “just right.”

The image was originally shot as a horizontal and after I opened it later in Photoshop, I preferred a vertical orientation better. And no I didn’t crop anything. I seldom do preferring to get what I like on the viewfinder and since the EOS 1D Mark IIN shows 100% of the shot, what I saw was what I got. There is little or no tweaking other than processing the RAW file using Adobe’s Camera RAW. Some people tell me that, “it doesn’t look a Jaguar,” but they are missing the traditional “growler” cap in the center of the wheel.

Joe Farace is the author of a new e-book called “15 Tips for Better Car Photos” that’s available from Flatbooks.com.

This photograph was made in my basement with the model two steps away from the furnace. Camera was a Canon EOS 50D and EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens. Exposure was 1/60 sec at f/11 and ISO 125. A monolight with softbox was placed at camera right. Another monolight was placed at camera left with a 36-inch white umbrella attached. A third monolight with barn doors was used at camera right near the edge of the background to accent the model’s hair. The image was originally captured in color and converted to black and white.

No matter where and what kind of space you use for your studio some compromises are inevitable. Using the basement means  gear can remain set up from shoot to shoot saving set-up time but for me it also meant I had to deal with low ceilings. Shooting in the garage, which I’ve also done, offers high ceilings providing more flexibility in lighting set-ups but that is not a viable option for me because of winter weather. In more temperate climates, this could be an ideal solution.

In the first portraits made in my original 8×9 foot space in my basement studio the lighting was provided by the two small, inexpensive and no longer manufactured Adorama monolights shown in the illustration. You could accomplish the same kind of lighting using speedlights. In addition, the only amenity my original basement studio offered was a stool and a 4×5 foot rug purchased at Target. It’s not a “real” photographic posing stool but one that I sit on to run my model trains. This set-up wasn’t fancy but it worked and over time I’ve expanded the studio and changed most of the equipment. In my new home I have a dedicated 11×15 room with 9 foot ceilings. How I set that up will be the subject of a future post. But the idea of today’s post shows you ca do studio photography anywhere.

Joe Farace is the author of a new book called “Studio Lighting Anywhere” that’s available in all the best bookstores as well as Amazon.com.

How we handle client complaints is sometime more important that the quality of our photography. Bad news travels fast but word about a bad photography shoot travels at Warp 9. We all try to do a good job but on some day’s we’re Francesco Scavullo and other days we’re Frank N. Stein. Correcting problems is an important component of the eighteen “impressions” a photographer must make before a prospect becomes a client. Some of those impressions happens when you deliver photographs and the client isn’t happy? Recently, this happened to a photographer I know and here’s how it was handled:

They asked for a face-to-face meeting with the client to review the images and go over her problems with them. At that meeting, he found out what was really bothering them. The truth is that the work wasn’t bad. It wasn’t as good as a similar assignment the studio had done a year ago but was within acceptable levels of professional performance. Because this particular client spends a lot of money, they agreed to reshoot several — but not all —of the setups. They also discovered that the real reason the customer was unhappy was that they preferred working with a different photographer from the studio and that’s why it was decided that this. person would handle reshoot. This client had been a source of many referrals and my friend wanted to keep it that way. Reshooting was cheaper (out-of-pocket costs were low) than loosing a valuable client. The client was impressed that one of the studio’s owners cared enough to meet with them and work out a way to solve their problems. So what’s the big deal, you say, anyone would have done the same thing? The difference is that I would do the same thing even if a client spent very few dollars with me and has never referred an assignment.

Making impressions begins with knowing your capabilities and who you are as a photographer. When a prospective client calls me, instead of being ready to shoot any assignment regardless of whether I have the proper equipment or expertise, I’ll refer them to a photographer who can do what they need. Most callers are astonished at this and before I hang up, I remind them about my own specialties and ask when them to call me when they need those particular skills. I want to make sure that this impression has been favorable and that, over time, when they’ve accumulated the other seventeen or so impressions they’ll remember me. Movie buffs will recall this is the same kind of customer service “What! Macy’s is sending people to Gimbles” exemplified by the classic film “Miracle on 34th Street.” Every now it works the other way. No too long ago, an aerial photographer sent me one of their clients who needed some shots made on the ground.

Joe Farace is the author of “Studio Lighting Anywhere” that’s available in all the best bookstores as well as Amazon.com.

0.4 sec at f/3.5 and ISO 2000

There are few if any secrets about capturing images when light is low. The ingredients are a simple witches brew that include fast lenses, high ISO settings, and an appropriate camera support. What sets a successful image apart from a less successful one is how these ingredients are combined and what you did before the image was made. A sunset can happen rather quickly, so it’s important to have most of your work done ahead of time. Before snapping the shutter, you should already know which ISO setting and lenses you’re planning to use so that’s why it’s a good idea to scout the location and determined the best spot to place your camera. Knowing the exact time of sunset will let you be in position so that when that golden hour arrives (and quickly departs) you are free to concentrate on the proper exposure and properly framing the image.

Just as with sports cars, bullet trains, and Internet connections, being fast is great for camera lenses too. It’s much easier to take photographs in low light with an f/1.4 or f/2.0 lens than with a f/5.6 lens because it produces a bright viewfinder (or Live View image) and gives you more choices for a matching shutter speed. Lens companies don’t bury us with choices, usually selling just two or three similar lenses in the same focal length range and designed to work under normal lighting conditions. In photographic terms, “normal” means outdoors on sunny day. Out here in the real world where we all live and make photographs, “normal” lighting may be overcast weather, under the shade of trees or buildings, or in brightly lit rooms (one with skylights or maybe large and plentiful windows.) Basic zoom lenses supplied on point-and-shoot cameras and bundled with entry level SLRs have maximum apertures ranging from f/3.8 to f/4, f/4.5, and even f/5.6. Some point-and-shoots cameras only have an f/6.3 maximum aperture!

Not surprisingly, zoom lenses for SLRs come in fast or slow varieties. Many of the slower zoom lenses have a floating maximum f/stop. That means the maximum opening changes within the lens’ zoom range. A 24-105mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens is a good example. At the widest focal length of 24mm the maximum aperture is the f/3.5. As the lens is zoomed toward the telephoto end, that maximum aperture shifts to f/5.6. The downside is that fast lenses cost more and with digital SLR’s performance getting better and better at high ISO’s, is the fast lens going to go the way of the passenger pigeon? I don’t think so because; right now anyway, nothing can replace that big, bright image in the viewfinder.

Joe is the co-author of “Better Available Light Digital Photography” published by Focal Press.

It’s getting to be car show season again: If you get to the show early and you should placards may not have already been placed under the windshield (windscreen if you’re British) wiper and the added benefit to being an early bird is that it’s also less crowded so people won’t walk into your shot. Most owners can talk for hours about their cars because there never was a restoration project that didn’t have some interesting twists and turns. While chatting ask them to also remove any show placards such as the identification cards placed on the dash or under the windshield wiper. Don’t do it yourself!  Always ask the owner before touching any part of his or her car! It’s best to have them to remove any show placards, so ask politely

You don’t have to be an expert on a particular marque or even cars in general, but you should be curious and polite when inspecting a car that might make an ideal photographic subject. If you see the owner, ask them a question. People who own interesting cars often have interesting stories to tell about their cars before it reaches the state where you would want to photograph it. If the owner is not around and the light is perfect, just shoot it as it is and try to select and angle that minimizes the placard or makes it easy to remove using Photoshop later in the digital darkroom.

This Nissan-powered hot rod (above) was photographed at the SEMA auto show in Las Vegas—with the hood up! (Sometimes you can’t always get what you want.) Exposure with a Canon EOS 5D was 1/40 sec at f/4.0 and ISO 800.

This Allard above was captured using a Canon EOS D30 that had been converted to infrared-only capture (www.lifepixel.com.) Exposure through an eBay purchased Russian 16mm f/2.8 lens was 1/160 AT F/16 and ISO 200 in Av mode.

Joe Farace is the author of a new e-book called “15 Tips for Better Car Photos” that’s available from Flatbooks.com.

No matter where you are in your photographic path, you can always pick up nuggets of information, tips, and tricks from others.  That’s part of why it’s important to stay networked with others in your field.  I know many wedding photographers who have had conflicts and referred clients to friends.  These sorts of referrals are worth their weight in gold because it almost always comes back tenfold.  One of the best things I have gained from other photographers though, is insider tips and tricks for saving a photo, taking pictures in tricky lighting scenarios, and insights for working in other challenging circumstances.

 To that end, here are five tips I’ve found extremely helpful in my own photographic endeavors.  Enjoy!

1. Blown highlights are not necessarily a bad thing.  Convert the image to black and white, add a vignette and the photo can become quite powerful!
2. Use your on-camera flash!  We all are likely aware of the downsides of an on-camera flash.  In a pinch though, you can still use it for fill though.  Got a piece of paper (or even a cocktail napkin)?  Tuck that around the flash to diffuse and soften the light a bit, and you can get that photo you may otherwise have missed.
3. Quick Field Metering! Need to get a quick white balance measurement in the field?  Put your camera in manual focus mode and stick your hand in front.  Use that for a quick custom white balance in a pinch where a gray card isn’t available.  (Believe it or not, I actually use skin as a white balance point in Lightroom!)
4. Do’t be afraid of ISO!  Traditional wisdom has actually shifted here.  In the early stages of digital photography, ISO was always  recipe for disaster as the noise (grain) in photos would quickly render images useless.  This is no longer the case.  Canon, Nikon and the rest have made high ISO much more manageable, as have software programs when you go into post production.  So, if you need to, don’t be afraid to crank the ISO up to help capture your images!
5. Look for emotion!  This especially holds true in photo journalism, but all images can benefit from capturing the essence of human emotion.  Whether it’s a laugh, anger, crying, or the intimacy of a kiss between a bride and groom, these will almost always be in your “keeper” lists, because emotion trumps all else in photography!

Like these tips?  Visit Jason over at his website for more useful tips, tricks, articles, insights and more on how to make and take better photographs!