Q&A April

While I was in the hospital and not at home shooting away, I figured this would be a great time to answer some of YOUR questions from my Facebook page!

I read through the questions and just picked some that seemed easy to answer today!

 Since I need photos in each post I am sharing one of Edie baby loving on her baby doll. 🙂

 

Q: More of a photog business question… What do you use your assistant for and what parts of your business are solely in your control?

I have two assistants and they share some responsibilities, while also focusing on their own. One of the hardest AND smartest things I did was let go of control over a lot of this stuff. 🙂 Natalie is more of a scheduled weekly asst. 3 days a week, 3 hours a day. She focuses on culling, LR editing, exporting with droplets, retouching in PS, helping with client emails and contracts. Shareen will come the other two days a week when I am busy and assist on some shoots. She mainly focuses on the culling/LR/PS work, but will also help me on session and I will NOT do a newborn session with out my Shareen, period. 🙂 She is more hands on with my shoots and protects me from falling off my ladder or will help with kiddos and reflector.

 

Q:  I have a Canon SLR type camera. It has a 50X zoom on it. Why when I zoom in the photos always are blurry? In poor lighting especially, but even if I want to get a boat out on the ocean.

So when you zoom in, it’s quite tight? When I use my 70-200mm ZOOM lens I will notice the tiniest movement from me will make a drastic movement through the camera, because you have magnified things so far away.  Just think of binoculars – the slight swivel of your head will make whatever you are looking at drastically disappear and it’s difficult to find again. This is why I purchase zoom lenes with IS or IMAGE STABILIZATION. This allows the lens to be more accurate/stabilized if there is slight movement. If you are on a moving object while photographing something, especially in zoom, things may appear blurry. Think of when you shoot a photo from a car window, everything is moving. Another reason things may be blurred could be your shutter speed. If it is not fast enough, you will get movement because the shutter is too slow to capture a super still image, from a moving object or shaky hands. 🙂 Hope this makes sense? 🙂

 

Q: I am trying to switch over to prime lenses but not sure which lens to start with first and why. I keep hearing mixed opinons between the canon 85 1.2 and 50 1.2. Do you have any thoughts? I shoot portraits and weddings 

I have realized this is something that you have to find out about your work and your style. I could tell you exactly what to buy, but you may not be happy with it! I love the 50mm 1.2 AND the 85mm 1.2 for different reasons.  The 50mm is a great focal length because it is not too wide or too zoomed in. The 35mm can be a tad wide for some people, while others think the 85mm is too close. You definitely have to stand back further for the 85mm, but the bokeh is deeeelish! I hear the 135mm 2.0 is amazing, but I have yet to try it… again you would have to be even FURTHER back to catch some decent portraits where it’s not just a face. You may see if there is a shop or friends who will lend you theirs so you can try before you buy!

 

Q: Another family photo question. What is your favorite lens for 3 or more people in a shot? I have a canon 7d, love my 50L lens, but havent found a lens I like for group shots.

A super safe lens for group shots is the 24-70mm 2.8 lens. This is a fantastic all around lens where you can get super wide along with pretty tight! This is great if you want to knock formals out fast, because you never have to swap lenses AND most of the time in photos like this you will not want the aperture to be too wide, so that everyone can be in focus.  Some people LOVE the 24-70mm, while others do not. It’s up to you. 🙂 It’s also a tack sharp lens. 

 

Q: How did you muster the courage to quit your teaching job so that you could pursue photography?

Well, I wouldn’t say it was courage… I just knew. I was newly married and pregnant. I was not happy at my teaching job and wanted to be able to be at home with my daughter and take my son to school; he was entering kindergarten that fall. My husband and I decided this together and I was doing well with my business. I have been very fortunate to always have pretty full books! In fact, this winter was my first TRUE lull in my entire photographer-life. Even as my prices grew, I still gained more clients. It’s been a huge blessing. I will have another lull since all of this news about baby, which makes me sad and worried, but my devotion belongs to her. We will have to make some sacrifices, for sure. Which we had not had to do yet. 

 

Q:  How long did it take you to get comfortable posing people? What were some of the tricks you learned along the way?

I think once I felt comfortable my camera settings (years ago), is when I was able to mentally move onto posing. I am sure watching my mentor work prepped me, but I also love women’s bodies and connections. I was a dancer for most of my adolescent life, so I have a foundation of graceful hands, feet, fingers, body and limb placement. I will often times use those expressions with my girls, “When you use your hands think of a ballerina.” etc. I think allowing my clients to connect will ALWAYS make a photo better. I stress that in the beginning, “ALWAYS make a connection with her/him.” Otherwise it looks too formal and posed. I want my clients to look natural, in love and FUN! Flip through magazines or if you see an image that you love, focus on what about it makes your happy. LIttle things like bends in the arm or thumbs in can really make an image look more comfortable.

Q: Do you use a grey/white card for custom white balance at each session? Do you have a light meter?

I typically use auto WB, unless I am in certain lighting scenarios. Sometimes the flash WB is necessary when using flash or if I am in a tungsten light setting I will often times change it to the tungsten setting. I have also used Kelvin, but am not good at adjusting it throughout the session, so I stick to auto. If I need to correct it in LR, I can easily do that! 🙂

 

Q:  Many times you can’t control the time of day of a shoot and the sun is blaring. How do you avoid harsh shadows on the faces of your clients assuming shade is not an option?

I schedule my clients at VERY specific times. 1.5 hour before sunset  (0r at sunrise) and if it’s overcast that afternoon we’ll meet a little earlier. I keep in good communication with them, so that we can meet earlier if need be and they are not unaware of this. If I am shooting at a place without open shade, I will turn their back to the sun the majority of the session. I also keep that in mind when I am planning for a shoot. If the beauty of the location is in the opposite location, I may ask for a morning shoot… where it will be prettier, because the backlighting would allow for that pretty landscape. It’s very important to know where your light will be and how it will effect your shooting and your clients!

 

If you guys have any questions about MY GEAR or MY PROGRAMS/VENDORS click on those links to help you. 🙂