Saving the World One Pixel at a Time

It may seem obvious but it’s a good idea to use a camera strap. In some parts of the world, shoulder carry makes the camera vulnerable to theft, so be aware of what’s going on around you when you find yourself in dodgy surroundings. The neck strap is part of the camera’s basic equipment and fulfills the important role of protecting the camera from being dropped. While you may think that, “this would never happen to me,” It happen to two of my students during a workshop in Montana. Both photographers were experienced but I watched one drop an expensive pro digital SLR onto extremely rocky ground while we were traversing it. While the damage was minor, the camera was damaged and required expensive repair. Another photographer dropped a mid-level SLR cracking its top-mounted LCD panel. We’re all human and make mistakes but simply using a camera strap not only saves money by protecting your camera from harm but keeps you from looking foolish in front of your friends.

Using a strap not only makes carrying your camera easier, it increases your readiness to shoot. No fumbling around, just grab the camera and shoot. Even changing lenses is easier and safer if the camera is securely hanging around your neck. There is no right and wrong in strap lengths. The length of the strap should match your body (not the camera’s) and attaching a strap is not all that hard. Make it part of your standard unboxing procedure when purchasing any new camera. I’ll use the camera brand strap if I have to and while they’re generally better than nothing I prefer using straps such as Lowepro’s Transporter. It costs less than twenty bucks and the strap may be adjusted to a variety of lengths and has a detachable wallet for quick access to memory cards while shooting. It has two side release buckles provide quick interchangeability with another camera body while double ladder-locks ensure camera security.

I never liked hanging two cameras around my neck during a shoot because something always seems to go awry. The cameras end up banging into one another and in one infamous incident I set an SLR down on a table while photographing a beautiful model on a movie set and later bumped backwards into that same piece of furniture only to be greeted by the sound of crashing, busted metal and broken glass accompanied by the destruction of my EF 135 f/2.8 SF lens. Who needs that? CameraSlingers offers a camera strap that hangs two SLRs around your shoulders and whose clever design protects both you and your gear. In the above photo a heavier version of myself is trying one on at a previous PMA show. You can use whatever kind of camera strap suits your fashion sense, just remember to use one.

Many photographers are intrigued at the prospect of creating glamour photographs but may feel that not having the “proper” equipment makes this goal unattainable. Nothing is farther from the truth. My No Frills approach to glamour photography doesn’t require a studio and, as Wilford Brimley might have said, “You don’t even need any fancy studio lighting equipment.” All that’s really necessary to produce professional quality glamour images is a camera with interchangeable lenses, a few simple photographic accessories, such as reflector and speedlight, and models that are willing to pose for you.

Before

Here’s a few simple tips that will help make your first glamour photographs a little bit better. For the before and after examples shown here, the lighting, camera, lens and background are exactly the same. In the after example, with make-up and some retouching, many of the above tips were applied.

1. Avoid flashy jewelry. Make your model’s face, especially her eyes, the focus of the photograph.

2. Have her wear solid colors. Nothing detracts more than clothes covered with busy patterns and prints.

3. Make sure her clothing fits. If a model’s clothes don’t fit, use clips or the old stand-by spring-loaded clothespins (out of camera range) to snug them up. And this happens more often than you might think.

After

4. Change Hairstyles. Ask the model to style their hair differently for each change of clothing to add variety to the session and the photos that she can have in her portfolio.

5. Expression. Some models look great with a smile, others look better without one. Shoot a few test shots each way and make a determination what looks best for her. It will be obvious, right there on your camera’s LCD screen.

6. Make-up. When changing hairstyles or outfits, ask the model to changes her make up style and color too. It doesn’t have to be drastic, maybe a different lipstick color or darker eye shadow. Red lipstick rocks. Ask her to try it.

7. The Right Footwear. For a more a statuesque posture, ask the model to wear her highest heels. No high heels? Ask her to stand on her toes for s few shots.

8. Just Relax. A glamour shoot is a team effort. Model and photographer must work together to achieve the best possible images.

Joe is the author of  “Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography” thats available on Amazon and your favorite book or camera store.

When I was younger, I attended a photographic workshop on portrait posing and it went something like this: The speaker, a well-respected gentleman who was well known for his classic portraits, demonstrated how to pose a subject. It was basically pose A, then pose B, then Pose C. After a few minutes he asked me to show the group how to pose the model we had been working with and I didn’t remember a darn thing. It was too much detail for my brain to handle, so I won’t burden you with too much detail either.

If few portrait subjects are perfect, no pose if perfect either! That means compromises are inevitable and any “rules” you here from me or anybody should only be considered suggestions to get you started in the art of posing. And it really is an art because it combines reality with what you and your subject can accomplish on any given day. As you get more experience, you won’t even think about posing, you’ll just shoot. In the meantime here are a few simple guidelines that have worked for me over the years to get you started.

1. Don’t pose heavier subjects square to the camera. Besides lacking dynamics, it just makes a person look bigger. And speaking as someone who just lost 50 pounds, this is a big consideration for your subjects.
2. When they are standing in a three-quarter view (to the camera) have then put all their weight on the foot/leg that’s farthest away from the camera. This should put them in a relaxed position but it doesn’t always because they may not relax in the formal surroundings of studio portrait.
3. Posing is  easier in an outdoor setting because they are in more familiar environment, even if they may not be familiar with the specific location. It’s the sky, clouds, and all that stuff that help a subject relax. Plus it solves one of the perennial posing problems: What to do with a subject’s hands.

Exposure was 1/200 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 200.

(Above left) Is there a bigger cliché than an attractive woman on a motorcycle? I don’t think so. Even though this subject is fit, her shoulder and waist are square to the camera making her look larger than she really is. No portrait subject will like this pose, so I kept shooting. (At right) Now her shoulders are still square to the camera but the tilt creates a diagonal line and her waist is twisted in a different direction than her shoulder. Her face is also slightly pointed away from the direction her shoulders are pointed. Looser cropping also helps place her body within a large context in the frame. Canon 5D with 135mm f/2.8 SF lens was used for both shots, with a Canon EX550 speedlite was used for fill.

Joe is the author of the new book “Studio Lighting Anywhere”and “Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography.”

“The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life they’re free”— B.G. DeSylva and Lew Brown,1925

I received an e-mail from a friend this morning telling me about a former newspaper photographer who has his own year long pro bono photo partnership. My friends comment s was that he hoped the person in question “picks some small non-profit in southeast Colorado, otherwise many photographers will lose more money should he partner with one of the larger non-profits.” His take was not only would this photographer be hurting himself but his fellow pros as well.

A TFP session with a Model is not free; it's a trade.

There is no more powerful word in the English language than free but while everyone knows free stuff is good, photographers have to realize there’s really no free lunch or any other kind of freebie. If you get something for free, somebody somewhere has to pay for it. One question I often hear from photographers competing against studios using freebies as inducements to new sales is “how can I compete with this?” You only have two choices and I prefer the second one. First, you can cave in and offer similar or better freebies to potential clients. This is a bad, bad idea because it starts a freebie arms race with your competition that can only end after one of you goes broke. Second, you can emphasize that your rates are lower because you don’t offer “free gifts,” an oxymoron as incongruous as “congressional ethics.”

It’s a business fact of life that clients like to feel appreciated and it doesn’t cost a lot of money to say “thanks” to them from time to time so don’t confuse freebies with expressions of appreciation to existing, supportive clients during the holidays. Around Halloween, Mary and I used to distribute small black boxes containing truffles from See’s Candies to our favorite business clients. The boxes had gold stickers bearing the studio name and phone number. By doing it in person, we also gave the clients an opportunity to discuss future projects under low-stress conditions.

Part of competing is knowing the costs of doing business and making that an element of your business plan. When I hear photographers moaning about profitability, I’m reminded of an encounter between noted photographer, Charles Lewis and someone attending one of his seminars. The gentleman asks Mr. Lewis, “I’m loosing $50 for every wedding I photograph.” Mr. Lewis looks him in the eye and replies, “You know what you need to do, don’t you?” Excitedly, the man replies, “Yes, I need to do more of them.”

Most of the time, “free” doesn’t work as part of a business plan, and using freebies to get new customers breaks one of Farace’s most unshakeable Laws: It’s hard to make money when you give stuff away.

When traveling, just in case your momma didn’t already tell you, be sure to also pack comfy shoes, a hat, and depending on the climate, some sunscreen. Comfortable clothing and underwear is important. I’m unable recommend anything for female photographers but Ex Officio’s Give-N-Go men’s underwear can’t be beat for comfort during a long airline trip and the company has many items for women as well.

To keep dry, be sure to pack a small umbrella that’s big enough to fit in your camera bag but it’s a good idea as is to have a rain cover for your camera. These are available free in most hotels and for some reason they are labeled “shower cap” but nevertheless they provide extra protection for your camera when the going gets wet. (That photo at the top of the blog —with the umbrellas—was made with an EOS Digital Rebel wrapped in a shower cap from a Tokyo hotel.) Some hotels even supply the caps in nice little boxes, so I usually put an extra one in my camera bag to “be prepared” for those soggy days.

The other side of image capture of travel photography is on-the-go storage. Here you have some alternatives: You can always copy images to your laptop computer’s hard drive then back them up to CD or DVD for safety. One of the problems with most laptops is they usually have relatively small hard drives, so I usually travel with one of Western Digital’s My Passport portable drives that easily handles all the knocking around that usually accompanies my trips. To minimize the whole “lost memory card” syndrome I download each day’s take onto it instead of the laptop’s drive.

When I get back home, I plug the My Passport drive into my Mac Pro’s front panel and copy the files onto one of its hard drives. Because I am a “belt and suspenders kind of guy”—I learned that from my Dad—I’ll also burn a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc of all the images from the trip to be kept in cold storage. Just in case…