Save Money on Photography.

My Money Saving Tips For Photographers!

First, beware of photographers and photography influencers selling to you. You must remember that they often have a different perspective than that of a working photographer. Furthermore, because gear review channels in part earn their income from affiliate links, they have an incentive for you to buy gear. To me, this seems like a conflict of interest. When they have an affiliate link in the description to buy the piece of equipment they are reviewing, their video is essentially a commercial.

I know that some influencers feel they can check themselves and that they can be honest, even with an inherent conflict of interest. But no one can really check themselves fully. Would you trust wall street to police themselves? Furthermore, a lot of games are played to get views and to feel more ethical about what they're doing. One example is not technically claiming a camera is the best camera at - whatever - by posing it as a question. Silly. Another technique I've seen is finding just one great feature of a camera and only discussing it whilst ignoring other aspects.

Next, be cautious of photography workshops. Yes, you can of course learn at a workshop, but there are a few issues worth exploring:

First, lots of celebrity photographers - and by that I mean photographers that are celebrities among photographers, not photographing celebrities - are simply great marketers, not always great photographers. But even if they are a great photographer, that does not mean they are a great teacher. Furthermore, if you're just starting out, you may not be able to absorb or effectively execute what they are teaching at this time. Lastly, great photographers do not always make great teachers or communicators.

Next, when purchasing peripheral gear, look to save money by buying the same exact product, not marketed toward photographers. I find deals all the time this way from LED lights, to sandbags, to clamps, to using a sous vide to heat my color chemicals.

With purchasing gear, I recommend buying the essentials first, and expanding from there. You do not want to buy anything you do not need- something you're likely to do when starting out.

Buy lenses first. They hold their value and you can always sell them without a major loss. Buying refurbished is a great and safe way to save money. Personally, though, I would avoid the risk involved with buying on Ebay, etc.

When it comes to camera bodies, I recommend a few things: Buy last gens model to save money. Ask yourself if you've done everything you can to improve your skill prior to buying a camera to improve the quality of your work. Learn skills to compensate for missing tech, like eye detect auto focus.

For amateur photographers, don't over purchase a camera. Buy something you can grow into. If you buy too much camera, by the time you are able to use it to its fullest potential, its not longer so cutting edge.

Lastly, if you're an amateur, consider shooting film. Depending on how often you shoot, and if you're willing to develop your own film, it can actually be significantly cheaper than buying new digital equipment.

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I have been a professional event photographer and photography teacher for 10 years. Follow the links below to see more of my work or to support my efforts to help other photographers.

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Do These Things Before, During, and After an Event (Event Photography Checklist)

I made this checklist to clearly define everything you should do as an event photographer, before, during, and after an event. If you’re a new event photographer, this will clearly define your objectives as an event photographer and clearly define what needs to be done. I also hope it will ease any anxiety you may have over shooting your first event. If you’re a more advanced event photographer, having a checklist can ensure you simply don’t miss anything- we all make mistakes or forget things time to time.

View a printable checklist by clicking here or view it below.

The Day Before

Research

• Check out company website

• Get a copy of the program

Prep Gear 

• Select Camera Body(s)

• Select Lenses

  • Wide

  • Medium

  • Telephoto

• Primary flash

• Backup flash

• Inspect and clean gear

• Charge or replace batteries

  • Camera(s)

  • Flash(s)

  • Other

• Select memory Cards

  • Insert and format 

• Something fun

Other

• Check commute and double the time necessary to arrive on time

Day of Event

Venue

• Identify safe location to stow gear 

• Scout 

• Ask about site specific rules

• Identify escape routes

Client

• Get agenda / schedule of events

• Get specific requests 

  • VIPs

  • Necessary Shots

Shot Types

• Establishing Shots

• Candid interactions

• Close Candids (emotional moments)

• Group Shots and formals

• Posed and creative portraits

• Detail Shots

Post Event

Lightroom

• Add metadata

  • Job type i.e. corporate event, private event

  • Location / venue

  • Client name

  • VIP names

• Select favorites

  • Blog

  • Portfolio

  • Social media

• Export files to full resolution folder

• Export files sized for social media

• Export favorites to separate folder (google drive recommended) 

• Deliver images

Marketing

• Add client to mailchimp list

• Follow up with client 1 week after delivery of images

Los Angeles Red Carpet Photographer

The above video goes into great detail on how to photograph a step and repeat or red carpet, but you can see a transcript below! Thanks for watching.

Event Photographers,

Today I am going to talk about how to photograph a step and repeat. As an event photographer, unless you’re sticking to small, family type events, inevitably you will be asked to cover one. This may be as a dedicated photographer stationed at one throughout the night or part of a much larger event like the one we are currently watching

When I started out as an event photographer,I didn't really have a template available to me- I had to figure it out on my own, so today I am going to give you as much information as possible. Now, there is no “correct” way to photograph one and there are many ways to do it, but there are some pitfalls to be aware of and some things you actually can do wrong.

The first thing I recommend is arriving early so that you can fire a few test shots off. At the event we are currently watching, I was able to catch the guy setting lights up and was able to work with him to better position the lights. He initially had them aimed toward the top of the backdrop which would have led to uneven light on my subjects, shadows, and no catch light. 

Of course I could have worked with this, but if you always want to work with the best possible situation. I would have preferred we got the lights a bit more spread out, but as you can see, there is a designated area taped off that I wanted to respect. 

Next it was time to fire off a few test shots. What I recommend is using a flash as your key light, or main light, and use the continuous lights as fill. I usually start out doing my test shots without a flash and dial in a proper exposure for my fill lights at about F4 which is what most of my shots will be made at. I keep my ISO reasonably high so that my flash isn’t working too hard and once that’s dialed in, I dial in the proper exposure compensation on my flash unit. You have to remember that like your camera, when using TTL, your flash is exposing for middle grey. So you need to properly compensate for that. In this particular situation, my backdrop is black and I knew most people would be wearing darker than middle grey clothing. I don’t remember exactly where I ended up, but I know it was somewhere between minus 1 and minus 3/4 stops. 

Whether you bounce your light or use a modifier to diffuse your light doesn’t significantly matter. At this particular event the rear corner of the room is pretty far from me, so I chose to use a diffuser. 

Now it is important to acknowledge that for larger groups, I increase my F stop, but because my strobe is actually my key light, it doesn't affect the overall look of my images and they stay consistent. The only thing that would significantly change that is if a large group of people all wearing white filled my frame. In that situation, I would simply adjust my exposure compensation.

I hate editing and I worry about recycling time on my flash, so I try to make every shot count. I usually shoot no more than 3-4 images of groups unless they are VIPs. I mitigate blinking eyes by being mindful while I shoot, monitoring for blinks and by giving my subjects a countdown before I press the shutter.

There are a few different traditional crops I use depending on the backdrop. If the backdrop has branding on the top, like the title of the event, I am mindful to get a shot that includes that. 

I typically do not do full body shots unless it's called for, such as at a Hollywood premiere. Non profit events are typically not about what people are wearing. 

I shoot with a neutral perspective. I find that I’m a good height that's not too short for taller groups and not too tall that I'm not able to hunch over to shoot head on with a shorter group.

For horizontal shots, I line up my subjects eye line 1/3 of the way down from the frame and I'm always careful not to crop at the hands. 

It’s also important you give proper breathing room on the sides of the frame. You do not want claustrophobic compositions and one thing you might not have considered is that if someone prints an 8x10 of a tightly framed group, you risk cropping off people at the shoulder, further cramping your composition.

The lens and focal length I use depends on where I’m stationed, but 99 percent of the time I am shooting with a 24-70. I try to keep my focal lengths as high as possible to avoid distortion on the wide ends and only rarely have to switch to my 17-40 to get everyone in the shot. 

After a get my necessary shots, I always give a big smile, make eye contact and thank everyone. This keeps people moving along so that my line doesn’t build up. Luckily at the event we are watching, I also have helpers that guide traffic and keep things running smoothly. 

Typically there are some moments in which I’m just standing around as well as a crazy rush, but usually I’m kept too busy to shoot anything else. If, however I do attempt to cover both a step and repeat as well as roam around, if lighting conditions are different enough, I take advantage of saved custom settings. 

How to Go Unnoticed as an Event Photographer in Los Angeles

When photographing events in Los Angeles, outside of shooting photos like group shots and formals, my goal as a photographer is to never be noticed when making an image. I want to make honest images. I want to photograph people’s true self, not the version they want to present. I do this by not letting them know I am photographing them in the first place.

As a professional event photographer, I take a full body approach to my craft. Rather than limit my growth to the accumulation of technical knowledge, I take a holistic approach to how I constantly work at improving my skills as a photographer. This article will touch on some of these techniques I use as an event photographer in Los Angeles to go unnoticed by my subjects and capture emotion filled candids.

Avoid Eye Contact, Use Your Peripheral Vision

As a kid I used to love sneaking around like a ninja. My friends and I used to play capture the flag at night. But instead of flags we tagged each other by throwing oranges at one another like crazy people. This usually resulted in drawn out brawls of throwing oranges back and forth. But my approach was always different. Rather than engaging in a back and forth fight, I would stalk my friends or wait in hiding until I could sneak up behind them with an orange in my hand and tag them. They never saw me coming. One of the ways I achieved this was by never actually looking directly at them. You know that feeling of being watched? In my experience when gazing at my target they could sense my presence. Rather, I tracked my subject using my peripheral vision.

When on the job this is something I employ. I want truthful images. When someone knows they are being photographed they tend to perform. But through the use of some deceptive tactics, I am able to prevent someone from knowing they are being photographed. In addition to using my peripheral vision, often I will point my camera just slightly in someone else's direction. I do this while concurrently monitoring my true subject with my peripheral vision. 

I minimize my ability to quickly capture something like a big smile by pre focussing before I point my camera away from the subject. Back button focusing tremendously helps with this.

Pre Visualize Your Shots

Knowing the image you’re trying to make prior to raising your camera to your eye saves time. This will allow you to go unnoticed by not raising your camera until you take the shot (if at all).

A large part of your ability to pre visualize your image is by knowing your focal lengths- or in other words: your field of view. This mostly works with primes as they have a set field of view. If you know it, you are able to quickly move into position to get the framing you want, without actually looking through your lens. This is a skill gained through repetition. If you work as a photographer, I believe it is something you will develop intuitively. But if you are just starting out, I recommend practicing. Do this by bringing your camera wherever you go and try to guess your field of view prior to raising the camera to your eye. You can even do this without a camera at all. Just start training yourself to see in focal lengths in your day to day life.

How I Hold My Camera to React Quickly

I never grip my camera. I hold it as gently as possible so that I am relaxed and not tense. If your muscles are tense, your breathing and mindset will be tense and vice versa. Often I shoot long days without a break. Just this week I shot for 10 hours straight without a real break. If I were to have been firmly gripping my camera for that amount of time, my hands would have cramped. 

In addition to avoiding fatigue, the way I hold my camera directly affects how nimble I am and therefore how quickly I am able to respond to things. Rather than grip my lens, I use two to three fingers to create a pivot with my left hand. This allows me to swing my lens (especially my long telephoto) agily into position. 

How I Move as a Photographer

How I move is probably the most important factor in me going unnoticed. I move intentionally: every move I make, from the steps I take, to how I navigate crowds, is done deliberately. To be clear, moving deliberately is not the same as moving robotically. Everything should flow. Don’t be a rhino. Rarely is athleticism discussed in regards to a photographers skill, but it is in fact essential to anyone looking to take their craft to the next level. 

Do Photographers Need to Wear Black?

The short answer is no but it depends on the job. In my opinion, rules are for people with a boss. If you take your craft seriously, you will understand the game. You will know when not wearing black is acceptable. 

It is my opinion that the methods discussed go much further in allowing you to go unnoticed as a photographer than what you are wearing will. On the job, you’ll likely be in a sea of people, all wearing different colors, many of them wearing black or grey. Do you really think this is going to be the pivotal thing that allows you to effectively blend in? Of course there are some exceptions to this rule. If I know I am going to be on stage or blocking people’s field of view to get my shots of, say a guest speaker or award recipient, I prefer black. It goes without saying that you should not wear anything flashy. I personally stick with black and grey suits, but this is more out of a preference than a rigid rule.

How to Dress as a Photographer. Can You Look Too Good?

No. You can never look too good as a photographer. I’m not a very material person, but one thing I like are well fitted suits. In fact, when on the job, I often get complimented on them.This is a good thing. It leaves a strong impression and can lead to more work from attendees. Remember, most people will never see your images at an event, but they will see how you conduct yourself. 

Although you can not dress too well, you can overdress. Until you just kind of get a feel for how you should dress, my advice is to simply ask your client. 

Conclusion on How to Go Unnoticed and Capture Candid Moments

There's a lot more to going unnoticed as a photographer than what you wear from how you move, where you look, and even how you hold your camera. In fact, there are probably many things I employ to be ninja-like that I’m not consciously aware of. I’ll keep thinking on this to come up with more ways I go unnoticed. That way I can work on them further and share them with you. In the meanwhile, what are some of the ways you go unnoticed as a photographer?

17 Event Photography Tips You Need to Know to Get Started from an Experienced Event Photographer in Los Angeles

Photograph Events in Your Life to Build a Portfolio.

This can be birthday parties, music festivals, concerts, corporate parties, private events, or pretty much anything you’re attending as a guest. You do not need to wait to be a working event photographer to practice your craft and build a portfolio. Many of your life activities can be considered an event. And if nothing else, shooting something as if it were one can be a great way to practice.

Personally, I love street photography as a way for me to work on something for myself, practice new techniques and methods, and yes: I’ve been shooting professionally for over 12 years now but I still add some personal work into my portfolio.

Volunteer Your Time to the Right Organization.

As a principle, you should avoid working for free for people that can and should pay for a professional photographer. Just because something is also good for you does not mean you should do it for free. But unfortunately there are people that are looking to take advantage of the fact that you can be manipulated into doing something free that you should be paid for.

Rather than work for free by someone that can and should pay you, my advice is for you to shoot for something like a non profit organization you believe in as it can be a great way to build your portfolio and support a good cause.

Learn From a Pro.

Start by assisting or second shooting for a seasoned professional. There are so many benefits to learning from someone rather than going it alone. Even if you are pretty familiar with the technical side of photography, you can learn go to settings, all about the gear you need, and other aspects of what its like to cover an event and run a business. By shadowing someone with experience, you can develop a template to follow or make your own when it comes to building your own business.

Leverage Your Connections.

Don’t be afraid to put it out there that you are building a portfolio or that you have already begun a professional photography business. Post your photos on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Post your website, your blog, anything you can to signal to people you know that you’re a photographer. If you’re lucky, you already happen to know event planners and such that you can network with- you just need to let them know that you’re shooting or plan on shooting professionally. Also, you don’t need to start with big corporate events. I didn’t. I started small. Most of my early work as an event photographer was shooting kids birthday parties. Odds are that you know plenty of people with kids that are having birthday parties.

Buy Lenses First.

Camera bodies depreciate in value and by the time you are able to get the most out of one, something better will be released. Lenses, however, hold their value and are much more responsible for the quality of your images than a camera body. Typically you will not need to upgrade your lenses, either. The lenses you buy will likely be a part of your kit for the length of your career as a professional photographer.

Buy the Lenses You Will Use Most First.

Don’t be tempted by niche lenses like a 135mm f2. If you check out my review on that lens, you’ll see I love it and make a lot of use of it, but it by far gets less use than my 24-70mm or 70-200mm lens. I think it’s really important you get all the lenses you need first. You want to both make sure that all your bases are covered and that you are making smart business decisions. Getting a lens with a lot of bang for the buck is a smart business decision.

Buy Fast Memory Cards.

Trust me, its worth it. Not only will a fast card help with shooting speed and recording in certain video modes, but it will also just make the process of uploading your work faster. Imagine shooting a 12 hour wedding day, coming home, and it taking 6 hours to upload all the files. Today, I would probably be ok with putting off my upload, but back then, shooting with a 5d classic which only had one memory card, I needed to make sure I had two copies of my files before getting some sleep. Even though that’s no longer an issue for me, it’s still important that I shoot on fast cards: my corporate clients tend to need very fast turnaround times. Some events I even offer live edits; fast memory cards are especially important for this.

Setting Rates

Start low and incrementally raise them until you see a drop off in how much work you’re getting.

Always Show Up to a Job Early

Not only will this give you peace of mind, but it will also give you time to photograph static detail shots so that you are able to focus on what's happening once the event starts. .

Always Dress Appropriately.

If you’re not sure how to dress, don’t be afraid to ask your client. You should always over dress over under dressing.

Smile to Get People to Smile Back

Most people can not resist smiling back when you smile at them. It’s human nature. If you want people to smile, simply give them a big smile and they will reciprocate!

Make Meaningful Images! Never Take a photo to Take a Photo. Shoot with Intention.

I go into great detail in the full version of these tips. But the short version of it is that you should always be striving to make images that are actually about something. Never raise the camera to your eye just to make an image. Know what it is you are trying to capture. Shoot with intention.

Mix Your Shots up to Tell a Story

Watch the whole video where I cover shot types. Here they are:

Establishing shots

Detail Shots:

Close Candids

Candid Interactions

Posed

Under Promise / Over Deliver

Give realistic turn around times but always give yourself a buffer. If you think the edit will take 3 days, tell them it will take a week.

Cull Your Images.

Meticulously edit down your work. Do not put the burden of this on your client. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to find your best work, especially when your images will be used for social media or marketing.

Rate Your Photos!

Use my 5 star system or make up your own, but rate your photos now rather than later. You do not want to go through the laborious task of doing this a year from now when you decide to update your portfolio.

Maintain Your Clients

Be sure to stay in touch with your client after the job and develop a relationship. One way to do this is by using a mailing service like mail chimp.

SEE MY ENTIRE GUIDE

The most complete event photography guide to date

Understanding Light in Photography

Understanding how light work is essential to any photographer. After all, photography is at its base, capturing light, whether on film or a digital camera sensor.

I have written quite often how important it is for an event photographer to be technical. A deep technical understanding of photography as well as experience allows everything to just get out of the way of your creative vision. But I have to admit, in watching other professional photographers work, I have been surprised by their lack of understanding the basics.

There are three things to consider when talking about light:

• Quality of light

• direction of light

• Amount

Quality of Light

Light can be either hard, soft, but there are varying degrees of hard and soft light.

Characteristics of a hard light source:

Hard light will have heavy shadows: more accurately, hard light sources create very crisp lines of shadow with very little gradation. Because of this, images shot with a hard light source gives the subject the appearance of having more detail or texture.

Synonyms and / or descriptors used when talking about hard light:

• Harsh light - because of the extra detail it creates

• Direct light - because hard light comes from a direct single spot opposed to soft light which is indirect

Examples sources of hard light:

• The sun

• Flash

• Unshaded light bulbs

Characteristics of soft light

A soft light source is best thought of as indirect or spread out light. Think of how light enters inside of your home through the window. That light is bouncing around and spreading out before it ever reaches the glass. Soft light can be identified by elongated shadows (more gradation).

Synonyms and/or descriptors used when talking about soft light:

• Indirect

• Diffused

Examples of soft light

• Window light

• Shade

• Light bouncing off of a white or lightly colored wall

• Cloudy or overcast days

Direction of light

The direction of light plays a huge role in the look of your photograph.

As an experiment photograph the same person or object from the front of, the side of, and behind  your light source to see what happens. You will end up with three very different looking images. Notice where the light begins to fall off. Which image looks like it has the most depth? Which looks flattest?

Amount

The amount of light is self explanatory but should not be confused with the quality of the light. You can have both an abundance of soft light as well as hard light.

Picture a scene in heaven in a tv show or movie. It is always depicted with lots of bright light, but that light is soft!

Amount 

Amount is simple. It's how intense your light source is. Thats it. Both hard and soft light sources can be very bright or very dim.

How to Open a Film Canister Without a Bottle Opener

How do you open a film canister without a bottle opener or any other tools? Easy. In this video, I show you how to open a film canister with just your hands.