Worth a Thousand Words

As lovers of photography, we’ve all spent countless hours contemplating exposure, composition, depth of field, f-stops, shutter speeds, ISO, focal length, resolution, qualities of light, megapixels….  the list of technical considerations that goes into each photograph is seemingly endless.

But it pays to remember that all of these technical considerations, and all of the time we spend mastering them, are not ends in themselves, but rather, exist to serve the story that a great photograph tells.

In a great photo, every technical element aligns to support the story of the image – the lighting, the point of focus, the composition, and of course, the key moment at which the shutter was released.

So, by all means, master those technical details.  Fill your head with them many hours a day, until manipulating them becomes second nature.  Because when your eye, and your brain, and your heart identify that moment, that event that is the story of the photograph, you’ve got fractions of a second to get it right.

For inspiration, treat yourself to a view of chief official White House photographer Pete Souza’s Portrait of a Presidency.  Many of these images are, technically speaking, pretty straightforward.  But in each one, an event or an emotion is palpable.  Each one tells a story:  worth a thousand words, told in about 1/125 of a second.  Enjoy.

How Do I Look with this Camera Permanently Stuck on my Face?

Ah, the glorious usefulness of a cliche.

I think we’re probably all guilty of some of these.  And no harm, no foul.  But, for what it’s worth, with the holidays coming right up, there’s something to be said for putting the camera down once in a while, and being in the moment.  Something to be said for appreciating something just as it is, without mentally fixing it in PhotoShop.

Hope you’re finding the right balance this year, of recording moments for posterity, and also just being there.

Enjoy:

http://notastarvingartist.com/post/12766897643/50-reasons-not-to-date-a-photographer

Same Sex? Same Check!

 

The new law allowing same sex marriage in Maryland was passed recently, and no matter how you feel about marriage equality personally, you should be diligently making plans and shouting “yippee!” professionally, if you are a wedding photographer anywhere near Maryland.

 

In January of 2013, the people of Maryland will have laid in your lap an explosion of new clients.  This demographic is affluent, and has been waiting a long time for this…meaning, it’s likely that there will be many high-end, celebratory marriages that YOU can capture, if you play your cards right.

 

Like anything new, there will be a big burst of weddings in the first year after approval.  But even after, imagine the couples from Virginia, Delaware, and West Virginia headed to Maryland to seal the deal.  It’s not just the estimated number of same-sex couples in Maryland you can steer toward your wedding business, it’s the entire mid-Atlantic! 

 

How do you expand your client base and offer your services to this new client base?  Look for same-sex wedding websites to pop up, specifically for Maryland couples seeking locations and services…they already have, and there will be more.  Look at “traditional” wedding websites, too.  Next, update your website to show you’d gladly meet with the couple to show your work, and get their business.  Finally, ask for referrals. 

 

It’s a wedding, no matter who is getting married….each one is unique, special, a lifetime event, and an important day for the couple.  It can become a big pay day for you, if you make the effort NOW!

 

This week’s post brought to you by WSP Director, Missy Loewe.