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Catalog Photography Its role in improving your business

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What is the first and foremost thing that you would do if you are planning to showcase your products to a wider audience? The obvious answer is to make a catalog. A catalog is nothing but a platform for you to showcase your products. Customers have the advantage to view the products very easily and quickly. A good catalog inadvertently leads to a spike in sales.

Which brings us to the question, what are the most important components of a good catalog? The Product is obviously the most important aspect of any good catalog. Your product has to be highlighted in the best possible manner and a good photograph will help you achieve this aim. It is only the image of the product that helps a person to either pause and take a longer glance at a product or just flip through the pages uninterestingly. There are a few things that are to be given attention to when taking a good photograph. First and foremost, a good photograph starts with good equipment. Ensure to spend in a good seamless background, adequate studio lighting and a solid camera tripod for camera stability.

Then comes the product; never forget that the product is the hero. The best catalog product photographs feature the product with stunning clarity and neutral back drop. Thus, when you do so, the product jumps from the page, appears larger and seems to be more versatile.

It is best if group photos are avoided. Its found that individual photos produce more sales than group photos.

Try and use the suppliers art sparingly, the main reason behind this is that a supplier does not sell directly to the consumer but sells to you. He need not produce high quality design. Using the suppliers art could have negative effect on the catalog design.

The lighting is also of utmost importance. The typical aim is to give a three dimensional feel to a two dimensional product image, something that would make the viewer want to pick up with his hands. Typical lighting would include powerful strobe lights, special soft lights, reflectors and macro lenses.

What is also important is the mood of the photograph. A good photographer always brings an atmosphere with the products that are showcased. Sometimes, some products need to carry brand image along with the catalog. If that is the case, then ensure that focus is never shifted from this. The atmosphere also plays a crucial part in this kind of photography. The props that are used bring out the environment in a very subtle way.

A catalog is any retailers sales document .He should invest proper time and money on a good photographer, a good photography is many a times the only difference between average sales and path breaking sales. A good photographer always needs to have a keen sense of marketing. He also spends time in understanding the product, understanding the target audience and even the competition in your market.

Catalog photographs are the only way to convince the customer about a products quality and every retailer ought to exploit this aspect of marketing.

On Photography with Young Subjects

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If there were one most exciting but stressful kinds of photo shoots there is-that would be child photography. Started out as a hobby of parents who are into photos and photography, the craft has evolved into something more commercialized and a viable source of income through the years.

But for parents who would want to capture the best moments of their children, professional photography lessons wouldn’t be that necessary, all they have to do is to learn about certain photography technicalities and observe the attitude and mood swings of their children.

Parents should bear in mind that when trying to photograph their children, they should be ready for occasional tantrums and crying. When this happens, let the child calm down by giving them something that would catch their attention like a toy.

Younger children like those tots under 5 years old are not very conscious or aware of the camera but this doesn’t mean that they are very interested in the ‘photo shoot’. To get their attention, make sure that you have something that will get their attention.

OTHER CHILD PHOTOGRAPHY STRATEGIES

Portraits-especially of children-never fail to evoke feelings to anyone. If you’re a budding professional child photographer, it would be better if you’ll have a brief background in child psychology and you better to create your own strategies by now.

Here are some strategies you can work on and try to reinvent over time:

Strategy no. 1: Prepare for the best and the worst.

Before the actual day of the shoot, make sure that you pay a visit to the house of the family to give you an idea what kind of child/ren you are going to deal with. It is also advisable to meet them personally and memorize their names to create familiarity.

You can also have a sort of ocular inspection around the area so you can picture the ideal background and set up mentally. Before leaving for the actual photo shoot, double check all the necessities and equipment you will need.

Strategy no. 2: Practice the power of smile.

Being friendly or possessing a friendly aura will draw children nearer to you. Smiling will also make them more comfortable dealing with you throughout the shoot.

Strategy no. 3: Impress them your “gears.”

Get children’s attention by impressing them with stuff they don’t know yet. Since they are generally inquisitive, you can get their attention by letting them touch and “play” with some of your simple photography equipment.

Strategy no. 4: Set the background.

Although a photo studio would give you all the comforts you need in doing your job, this wouldn’t ensure a good result for children photography. It would be best if you set a backdrop or location where children can roam around and express themselves freely.

Strategy no. 5: Back to basics with the natural approach.

Do not force a setting or set up where the child is not comfortable. It is best to photograph children in their best elements like riding their own bike or doing some art stuff. These natural settings would be more vivid in the coming years compared to those taken in a stiff and formal environment.

Strategy no. 6: Know the clothing basics.

Days before the shoot, tell the parents to show their kids what they will be wearing. This would ensure the comfort of the child during the shoot.

Strategy no. 7: Bring your best and the most appropriate photography equipment.

Make sure that you bring the best equipment to produce best results. Basics include digital or film SLR camera, variety of lenses, studio lights, flashgun, spare batteries, and compact flash or rolls of film.

Strategy no. 8: It’s all in the light.

Aside from having a good subject, make sure that you set up a good lighting because it will greatly affect the overall outcome of the photo.

Strategy no. 9: Be an “image capturer.”

Always be on guard to capture the best moments throughout the shoot. Always have your finger on the shutter button while your eyes are near the camera.

Strategy no. 10: Always focus on the “window of the soul.”

Needless to say, photographs where the eyes of subjects are tuned into camera produce the best photographs ever.

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How To Organise Your Photography Business

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Juggling the day to day running of a photography business can take time & efforts on your part. This is the work which no one likes, paperwork, invoices, etc. Important thing is not to replicate and duplicate things, this takes up more time than we realise and lost time equals losing money. Every business (photography or not) needs to have a system in place. Keeping track of your contacts, equipment, jobs, sales, purchases, marketing, diary & products and a lot more.

Many photographers use a spreadsheet to run their business. Spreadsheets are fine if you want to crunch numbers and perform automatic calculations, create charts, ‘what if’ scenarios or keep track of simple list of data. However, you will end up entering the same values of information into multiple spreadsheets. This is not time efficient and you need to update different files if you are tracking related information in several spreadsheets. When you use a spreadsheet, viewing the set of data is not easy and quite often requires lots of scrolling to view it!!

Alternative to spreadsheets is a database management system which will simplify your work and allow you more time to do whatever you want, whether being behind the camera or with your family! A database will help you manage all your day to day business tasks with ease, answer questions and solve problems, link related data, view data in different ways and a lot lot more…

Here is what you need to do simplify your day to day tasks:

1. Keeping track of your contacts i.e leads, customers, suppliers,

2. Sending quotations and confirmations of bookings in a professionally laid out PDF format

3. Manage your work flow tasks / reminders for things to do on specific dates

4. Raising sales invoices / inputting purchase invoices

5. Linking expenses / purchases to jobs for precise cost analysis

6. Sending / creating delivery notes to clients

7. Sending remittance notes to suppliers for payment

8. Email marketing to get your message across

9. Keeping track of all your camera / lenses / software serial numbers

10. Mail merging and sending letters to clients & prospects

11. Creating reports to see your sales, purchases, expenses

12. Forecasting figures v actual figures

13. Keeping track of appointments with a diary

14. and a lot more…..

Can you imagine trying to do all the above with spreadsheets, you cannot. It is possible but you will end up replicating and duplicating things and is very time consuming. What you need is to get or create your own database which will speed up your administrative tasks. If you are good with programming, you can create simple databases, but this will be time-consuming for you or you can buy an off-the-shelf program which is made for photographers.

So if you are starting a new photography business or in need of getting organised. I recommend you get a database and see how it will transform your business.

Victorian Glamour Photography

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In the 19th centuries the classical arts were very much admired; sculptures and paintings showing the naked body were the major part of art gallery and museum exhibitions. However the Victorians were very strict on morality, and in the family home a portrait of the Queen, a framed religious tract or a landscape print would be the normal pictures to grace their sitting room. No nudes here!

Soon after the invention of the photographic process by Daguerre in the 1830’s the first nude photographs were created. These early photographs were intended to provide good reference material for painters and sculptors. Many of the early nude photographs were posed in the manner of classic oil paintings to make them more acceptable to critics of this art form.

This new technology of photography was quickly taken up by artists eager for new ways to illustrate the undraped feminine form – and to make a lot of money! In the moral climate of the 19th century the only officially sanctioned photography of the body was for the production of artist’s studies. However many were produced as erotic images for the ‘discerning gentleman.’

The reality of the photographic image was considered quite ugly at this time, so the closer the photographer could make the photograph resemble a classical painting the less likely he was to be accused of creating something obscene. The model who was willing to pose unclothed was considered immoral, and ‘respectable’ women rarely posed in the nude during the early days of photography.

The technical process in the early years required extremely long exposures, so the nude model often had to stay extremely still for up to ten minutes while the shutter remained open. The pose of the model was often contrived. Theatrical settings were used – the chaise-longue covered in heavy brocade, floral drapes, large classical urns and other paraphernalia were used to set the scene.

One picture could cost a week’s salary, so the audience for nudes mostly consisted of artists and the upper echelon of society. The French pioneered erotic photography, producing nude postcards, so named because of their size, although they were never meant to be postally sent as this was illegal. Nude photographs were marketed in a monthly magazine called the “La Beaute” that targeted artists looking for poses. Each issue contained 75 nude images which could be ordered by mail, in the form of postcards, hand-tinted or sepia toned. Street dealers, tobacco shops, and a variety of other vendors bought the photographs for resale to American tourists and servicemen.

The emergence of the glamorous pin-up photograph came about because not only was the female form revealed in all its splendour, but it also allowed the model a chance to put her own personality into the picture. Often, burlesque actresses were hired as models and semi-nude photographs appeared on the cover of publications and throughout; while these would now be termed softcore, they were quite shocking for the time. Later on publications masquerading as “art magazines” or publications celebrated the new cult of naturism, with titles such as Photo Bits, Body in Art, Figure Photography, Nude Living and Modern Art for Men. Health and Efficiency, started in 1900, was a typical naturist magazine in Britain.

In this way the nude photograph caused a sexual response from the viewer as well as an appreciation of the artistry of the picture. Erotic postcards enjoyed considerable popularity at the turn of the 20th century. They could always be obtained, by those in the know, from suppliers in every walk of life who were out to make money from a profitable trade.

The majority of the pin-up cards were mild by today’s standards. They were created to show a pleasing image which would entertain and stimulate the viewer. These images have innocence about them. Although often saucy, they were not the blatant images seen in the top-shelf magazines around today.

In spite of the contrived coy poses of the models these vintage photographs have great charm. The use of a primitive lens, slow film and daylight studios created a luminous quality which any glamour photographers would be happy to achieve in their work today.

Photography Studying The Fundamentals With Your Digital Camera And Pictures

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All of us in America is bound to have a photograph or artwork of some kind in their household. Pictures that had been altered with the help of digital imaging software are all all around us. From the pics in your Time or Cosmopolitan journal to the local community newsletters to the flyers that your local Chinese and pizza restaurants hang on your doorway knob, all of those images have been made with digital application. Have you ever needed to create the photographs you see in these magazines and brochures? Do you have an interest in photography?

Initially thing’s very first. You require a digital digital camera. You could use a conventional camera that uses movie, but then you will also need a scanner to scan the pictures onto your tough generate, and that will tremendously alter the excellent of the picture, until you are heading for a far more grainy, genuine look to your images. Now go out and come across some exciting items to take pictures of.of.

Soon after you have taken as a lot of pictures as you wished, then it’s time to upload them onto your computer system. There are numerous digital imaging software package accessible currently, but the far more well-known ones you have almost certainly heard of are Adobe Photoshop, Picasa, Corel Paint Shop, and Painter. There are other applications as properly for all those who are much more superior in digital imaging.

Possibly the most basic and a single of the most common instruments discovered in digital imaging software is the crop element. Crop enables you to adjust how the photograph is framed. You want the particular person who will be seeking at your photograph to see the position in it. If there is as well considerably stuff going on all around your key subject, then your viewer’s eyes will stray on concentrate on the other things and not so considerably on the picture’s focal point.

Like pointed out previously mentioned, one particular of the far more common software programs is Adobe Photoshop. It is employed for basic photograph imaging and for major production jobs as well. What you see in films that have been enhanced with digital attributes could incredibly well be the perform of Photoshop. What if the folks in your photos all have red eyes? No problem. Photoshop, along with other photograph editing software package, is your solution to that. In addition, Photoshop has a filter gallery, which permits you to apply diverse textures to your images to generate a total new seem.

To understand a lot more innovative features on digital artwork computer software, you could need to have to get courses at your local local community college or “teach” yourself at property with the several tutorials that are readily available on the net. With time, apply, and plenty of experimentation, you will be well on your way to producing people pictures that inspire and awe.