Are you ready to sign up new clients....?

Hello everyone.

I say this not because I am curious about what you have done in the past or what you have already prepared for your clients, but it is more of a question for myself?

Tonight I went to a showcase for a company that I work for. It was a showcase for wedding couples looking for photographer's, DJ's and videographers. I have to admit I was not sure what to expect because I had never attended one before. So let me prepare you so that you do not make the same mistakes that I made.

Firstly, they always say that you should have a website or a portfolio ready to show prospective clients. Well, I got all of these. I have Behance it has some of my work but it did not have any of my wedding portfolios or any of my engagement sessions. I just realized that you have to make sure that your portfolio is up-to-date with the latest work that you have recently done.

I also have my own website which showcases more recent work. However the point that I am trying to make here is that you have to be prepared to show your clients all of your work no matter where you are. Tonight I had a number of different options available to me.

I used my IPad to link my Lightroom collections to my LR Mobile app. This helped me ensure that prospective clients can see some of my best work on a screen and they are able to make a decision on whether my work is suitable for their particular event. If you have not used this option before then all you have to do is download the LR Mobile app from the Apple or Android store and then when you go into your Lightroom collections you click on the little square box next to the collection name and this will sync that collection to your mobile app.

Here is a short video to see how it works.

Now you don't need a collection with hundreds of images. Just make sure it is a collection with your best edited images.

Next, make sure that you make a few prints. Whether they are canvas wraps or even large prints in a frame they are good selling points for your clients. They can see what it looks like when they have their photographs printed. It is also an investment in you and your company. Do not think of it as an expense that is wasted. It is a portfolio that you can take with you wherever you go. 

Finally, make sure that you have your business cards with you. Let the client leave knowing who they have spoken to and whether they would like to come back to you. You need to make an impression. This is your career that you are talking about and you always want them thinking and talking about you.

One additional item that I have added is a slideshow of some of my work. If you are a wedding photographer then have a great wedding slideshow of some of your best work. Here is a sample slideshow that you could have running in the background when you are speaking to potential clients.

So be prepared for any and all eventualities. I wish you all the best and success in your careers.

Kind regards.

Denzil

Video and PH350

Good Morning Everyone and welcome to another Terrific Tuesday!

If you are wondering what I am doing talking about video when this is supposed to be a blog about photography, then you are not the only one.  Down the road if you continue your studies in the BS program for photography you will take a class called Time Based Media where you will be using video editing software from Adobe.  Remember a few blogs back I talked about the need to have a camera that is able to record movies?  Well, this is the class that meets that requirement!

 Adobe Premier Pro CC video screen

The video editing program you will be using is called Adobe Premiere Pro CC.  You can access this program through the Adobe Creative Cloud umbrella or you can download the trial version straight to your computer and use it for 30 days.  Things you might want to take into consideration is that the program only works on Windows 7 or higher, it will not work on XP or Vista (trust me I know!).  There are tutorials in Lynda.com that will guide you through everything you need to know about the program, the combined time necessary to watch all the tutorials is about 29 hours!

When you open the program for the first time, it might look similar to Lightroom, don’t be fool, it is not the same process.  In this program you will be dealing with videos, audio, still images (photos), adding music, titles, motion graphics for both videos and still images.  To complete the assignments you will be dealing with WB for video and images, recording interviews and audio with different equipment and also dealing with continuous light in the form of a hot shoe mount LED light.  Of course you might be using your tungsten light set when doing the interviews because you will not be using your flash or strobes unless is for still images.

 

Adobe Premier Pro CC audio + video screen

So, my point is simple: be prepared before you get to the class!  I was not, and I struggled getting all the necessary equipment, learning how to use it while at the same time trying to get the homework posted on time.  The final project is to be about 60-90 seconds long, but you will have hours of work to get to that small amount of time!

I know that this is a different post than usual, but I felt I needed to post the warning out there.

Check out Adobe Premier Pro, if you have never used it, it is going to be an eye opener.

If you have any questions about it, the class, or what equipment you will need, drop me a line, I will guide you to where you can get all the information.

Until then, this is your Tuesday Ambassador wishing a great and wonderful, fun-filled, picture-taking day for all of you!

 Tuesday Ambassador

Increasing your portfolio without breaking the bank or paying out of pocket.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I wanted to talk about a great experience that I had last weekend. I recently joined a group called the Philadelphia Glamour Photography Group on Meetup.com. I joined at a time when they were just about to have their huge meet up that they have every year at Riddley Creek State Park, in Media, PA. The meet up was on a Sunday, close to 160 Models, Photographer's and MUA's showed up.  This whole thing was new to me, I was a bit overwhelmed as I didn't know any of the member's yet, but I did go with a friend, her boyfriend and her kids. That made it a bit easier when they arrived. Other than being overwhelmed, I was really taken back, by how inviting, accepting and friendly everyone was. They had a small ceremony for one of the members that  had recently passed and had planted a tree in his honor. This was very moving, being able to be a part of this was truly amazing.

Now on to my point... Many of us want to increase our portfolio, but you don't want to have to pay a model or you may not have the money. This meet up was free to everyone involved. The MUA's were paid for their work, understandable as they need to replace their makeup. Models brought many different outfits and then it was like a feeding frenzy. Models changing outfits, changing locations several times during the day. All with over a 60 or so different photographers asking them to do different things. Every model will get copies of their photographs, usually in digital form. (I'm assuming), but this was an opportunity to really expand your portfolio with several different models with different looks and not breaking your bank or paying out of pocket. There are many other groups that do similar meetups, some charge depending on the event, but I suggest that you take a look at this option and find  a group in your area or even start one of your own. So get out of your comfort zone and start taking a chance!  I did and I will never regret it.

Below are some of the photos I took during this meet up.

  Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

  

                                                      

   Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

                                                              

Photos taken by Wayne Salat of Flash Mob Photography Network

Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!

Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Time to Contact your Sheets!

          Hello everyone and welcome to another Tuesday here in cyberspace!  Hope that you all are doing great things with your classes and that photography is still the passion in your lives and that your studies are just opportunities to hone your skills in the art!

So, this image should give you a clue of what I am going to talk about today.  

                                                                www.duncanfawkes.com

          I remember when I started the first photography classes and the professor asked for contact sheets, sometimes referred to as ‘proofs’.  The process is easy (well now it is!) and I am here to review the process and give you maybe a pointer or two about contact sheets.  Just remember that it could be worse, back in my younger days (a galaxy far, far away) we used roll of films and after developing the negatives, we put them on photographic paper in strips of 6 or 7, put a flat glass over them and expose the paper to light for a set period of time.  Later we developed the paper in stinking chemicals know as developer, stop bath and fixer to get the contact sheet (you probably read about it in one of your photographic history classes!).

So, what is the easiest way to do contact sheets?  See if the following steps help you:

1.       Import images from your camera into the Lightroom library.

2.       Select images you want to use to create a contact sheet.  You can do this in different ways, put them in folder, highlight them and select them, select them by key words (remember last week blog).

3.       Click on the ‘Print” module of Lightroom, it should default to contact sheet mode.

4.       Look for the ‘Layout’, go into the page grid on the right column of the layout style, select and play in how you want your layout to be.

5.       If you want to use the templates provided by Lightroom, go to the template browser (on the left side of the page) where you have several different templates to assist you in the creation of the sheet.

6.       The photo information part will let you post the necessary information for the images, however this sometimes depends on the requirements of the class or your professor.  You can customize your selection and use it time after time.

7.       When ready, print to file in jpg mode and then convert to pdf if required.

There you got it an easy and simple way to create contact sheets for your classes.  My best recommendation at this time is to practice and play with all the commands in each module of Lightroom in order to get acquainted and comfortable with everything.  Trust me, no matter how long is your degree, you will be doing contact sheets for a long period of time!

You want to see how others do contact sheets?  Click here for an example from the web!

Well, there you have it, hope that this helps a little when creating contact sheets.

And of course here is something to ponder, it is late but I  think that it goes well with last week celebrations!

So go ahead and drop me a line and let me know that everything is going ok in your classes, until then, see you around!

Tuesday Ambassador