Advertisement photography is by far one of the most competitive forms of photography. This is mainly due to the fact that you can earn far more money than in any other aspect of photographic industry.
Every day companies pay millions of dollars on advertisement; with one goal - to sell their product. Companies want to tell the reader that their product is best - so you must be able to match this.
The photographers work must be to the highest technical quality and he/she must have the ability to create a masterpiece from something simple. Close enough is just not good enough. Close enough will not sell a product.
To become an advertisement photographer one must first understand the market and understand what the client is looking for. The best way of understanding this is pick up a magazine and look at the ads. Study each image. Study the images you see on billboards or images that are used to advertise movies.
Most parts of advertisement photography can be classed as still life photography. So if you are interested in taking images for the advertisement market your first job is to set up your own home studio. This can be a great place to practice.
Every thing in your home can be photographed. Start off with a few glasses. But remember you are not trying to make the glasses look nice - you are trying to sell them.
The second thing you need is a large format camera. Buy a range of the best lenses. Slide film is your best choice for advertisement photography. The client may want to blow up the images to a billboard size.
The most important thing when starting off is creating a portfolio of your work. This can be sent to advertising agencies or can be shown directly to a company. Always have a few copies on standby. Also set up a web page. On-line advertising is growing at a spectacular rate. Your portfolio should also consist of a different range of images.
If you are thinking of using an advertisement agency, get their guidelines from them. These should be very helpful to you in understanding the market. Dealing with a well established agency should be very profitable for you if your photography is to par.
Advertisement can be seen everywhere - and about eighty percent of all ads use photography. Most advertisement these days consists of a few words and a stunning picture that should attract the viewer’s attention.
Showing posts with label pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pictures. Show all posts
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Baby Photography.
Babies can be the most challenging and rewarding portraits to take, but can also be the most frustrating.
Babies tend to sleep, eat and cry a lot and won’t pose in front of the camera but don’t let that put you off photographing them. Creating the perfect baby portrait, when done right, will certainly be rewarding.
One of the most important factors in photographing babies is patience and the way you apply child psychology when relating to the baby. Babies over six months may be shy and won’t react well to a complete stranger. This is where child psychology comes in - you must try to play with the baby, or even become a child yourself while taking the photograph. The keys of your car can be very effective. But remember, your job is to take a baby portrait; you must be able to react quickly when the infant responds to your entertainment.
Shooting a portrait of a newborn baby can be difficult. At this age the baby will not be active, so it’s better to focus on close-up headshots. Try using natural light from a bedroom window to add mood to the portrait.
Babies over a few months of age will be more alert and will have a lot more movement in them. Shooting fast is a necessity, the infant will tire quickly.
Babies seven months or older can be very tricky to shoot. The baby will bore quickly and will not want to stay in the same position.
If you are serious about baby photography and you tend to shoot from your own studio make sure you have a lot of toys to amuse the infants. A light colour background will work best and shoot the portraits in colour and black and white.
Parents may be worried about the affect of studio lights on their baby. Point out that strobe lights have no effect on kids. Try to point this out before the parent asks.
Don’t ever handle a baby without the parents consent. Most parents will be very protective and won’t react well to a stranger lifting the infant.
Watch out for the fingers - fingers in the mouth can be attractive but on most occasions they will obscure the face.
If you plan to resell the baby photograph to an agency make sure you get a release form signed from the parents. There is a large market out there for baby pictures but agencies or magazines won’t touch them without the parents consent. For baby portraits to be sellable they must be technically perfect, but the picture must illustrate the baby being active or some form of child care.
Babies tend to sleep, eat and cry a lot and won’t pose in front of the camera but don’t let that put you off photographing them. Creating the perfect baby portrait, when done right, will certainly be rewarding.
One of the most important factors in photographing babies is patience and the way you apply child psychology when relating to the baby. Babies over six months may be shy and won’t react well to a complete stranger. This is where child psychology comes in - you must try to play with the baby, or even become a child yourself while taking the photograph. The keys of your car can be very effective. But remember, your job is to take a baby portrait; you must be able to react quickly when the infant responds to your entertainment.
Shooting a portrait of a newborn baby can be difficult. At this age the baby will not be active, so it’s better to focus on close-up headshots. Try using natural light from a bedroom window to add mood to the portrait.
Babies over a few months of age will be more alert and will have a lot more movement in them. Shooting fast is a necessity, the infant will tire quickly.
Babies seven months or older can be very tricky to shoot. The baby will bore quickly and will not want to stay in the same position.
If you are serious about baby photography and you tend to shoot from your own studio make sure you have a lot of toys to amuse the infants. A light colour background will work best and shoot the portraits in colour and black and white.
Parents may be worried about the affect of studio lights on their baby. Point out that strobe lights have no effect on kids. Try to point this out before the parent asks.
Don’t ever handle a baby without the parents consent. Most parents will be very protective and won’t react well to a stranger lifting the infant.
Watch out for the fingers - fingers in the mouth can be attractive but on most occasions they will obscure the face.
If you plan to resell the baby photograph to an agency make sure you get a release form signed from the parents. There is a large market out there for baby pictures but agencies or magazines won’t touch them without the parents consent. For baby portraits to be sellable they must be technically perfect, but the picture must illustrate the baby being active or some form of child care.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
5 Tips For Shooting Winter Landscapes.
Winter brings out the toughest elements in our climate, with many people putting away their camera bags ‘till early spring. But, if you do put away your camera you are missing out on the raw beauty that this magical season brings.
Here are a few tips to make the trip more enjoyable.
1. Wear the right clothes: It’s very important to wrap up warm when out shooting winter images. The winter season brings the toughest elements, so if you are planning to spend a few days out and about always be well prepared.
2. Watch the weather: It’s very important to know what the weather is going to be like. You don’t want to travel for a couple of hours and then hear a weather report that tells you that: the weather is wet for the next few days. During the winter months the weather can dramatically change in a matter of hours.
It’s always advisable to let someone know where you are going and which route you’re planning to take. If you do get injured or ever caught in a storm someone may be able to help.
3. Carry only what you need: Carry only the essentials. You don’t need to upload your camera bag with every piece of equipment you own. If you are going to be out taking pictures all day you are much better off going as light as possible. Carrying a light load will also help preserve energy. You could be climbing icy rocks or crossing snow filled hills; a warm flask would serve you a lot better than a third camera.
4. Look for detail: Snow, ice and frost bring out texture and atmosphere in most subjects. The early frosty morning is an ideal time for close-up photography. The frosty morning also brings out patterns in our landscapes.
Take care where you place your camera: if you are taking pictures early in the morning try placing it at oblique angles to the sun - this will give your images strong shadows. This will also add mood to your landscape images. Once you have found the perfect spot pay extra attention to foreground interest as this will add depth to your image.
5. Expose carefully: Snow and ice are extremely difficult to expose properly. Snow usually confuses your cameras metering system or your hand held light meter. When you take a light reading from snow you will automatically get an underexposed image. The meter will record the snow as grey.
Now is the time to start bracketing your shots. If you bracket your shots add 1 - 2 stops of light to compensate for your light meter reading. Using an 18% grey card, which I described in a previous article, should also give you a perfect light reading.
Here are a few tips to make the trip more enjoyable.
1. Wear the right clothes: It’s very important to wrap up warm when out shooting winter images. The winter season brings the toughest elements, so if you are planning to spend a few days out and about always be well prepared.
2. Watch the weather: It’s very important to know what the weather is going to be like. You don’t want to travel for a couple of hours and then hear a weather report that tells you that: the weather is wet for the next few days. During the winter months the weather can dramatically change in a matter of hours.
It’s always advisable to let someone know where you are going and which route you’re planning to take. If you do get injured or ever caught in a storm someone may be able to help.
3. Carry only what you need: Carry only the essentials. You don’t need to upload your camera bag with every piece of equipment you own. If you are going to be out taking pictures all day you are much better off going as light as possible. Carrying a light load will also help preserve energy. You could be climbing icy rocks or crossing snow filled hills; a warm flask would serve you a lot better than a third camera.
4. Look for detail: Snow, ice and frost bring out texture and atmosphere in most subjects. The early frosty morning is an ideal time for close-up photography. The frosty morning also brings out patterns in our landscapes.
Take care where you place your camera: if you are taking pictures early in the morning try placing it at oblique angles to the sun - this will give your images strong shadows. This will also add mood to your landscape images. Once you have found the perfect spot pay extra attention to foreground interest as this will add depth to your image.
5. Expose carefully: Snow and ice are extremely difficult to expose properly. Snow usually confuses your cameras metering system or your hand held light meter. When you take a light reading from snow you will automatically get an underexposed image. The meter will record the snow as grey.
Now is the time to start bracketing your shots. If you bracket your shots add 1 - 2 stops of light to compensate for your light meter reading. Using an 18% grey card, which I described in a previous article, should also give you a perfect light reading.
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