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Mother’s Day is just around the corner. Are you struggling to find the perfect gift? It’s the duty of moms everywhere to love whatever their families gift them on Mother’s Day—whether it’s a drawing done in day care by the littlest member of the family, or breakfast in bed prepared by a grateful husband—but why not give the mother in your life something truly remarkable this Mother’s Day. A professionally printed photo book is a great gift idea.

The great thing about professionally printed photo books is that they are completely customizable, so you get to tell the story you want. They are a great place to include pictures of your family as it grew over the years, from happy newlyweds to even happier parents. You can also include some of your favorite shots of mom who, let’s be honest, is usually the one behind the camera.

Chances are there are plenty of family photos just sitting on your hard drive that no one ever bothered to print. This is a gold mine of inspiration for a Mother’s Day photo book. As she flips through her photo book, she’ll get to relive old memories and proudly display them as a coffee table book when she’s done.

You can further customize your professionally printed photo books by adding text, so each family member can leave a special message for mom. If your kids have all left the nest, why not let them leave a lasting message that mom can always read whenever she likes. If they can’t be there in person to celebrate Mother’s Day, a photo book is a great way to bring them along in spirit.

Photo books are easy to design, and you can trust a professional printing service to deliver a high quality product that is unlike any gift mom has ever gotten before.

Tags: Photo Book Gifts by Embassy Pro Books
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If you’re looking for a new way to attract a new clientele base to your photography studio, why not create different seasonal packages that correspond to events/holidays when families are more likely to hire a professional photographer? There is an adage about fishing where the fish are. You have a better chance of getting hired when someone is looking for a professional photographer than you do of convincing someone they want to hire a professional photographer. Seasonal events/holidays are a great time to bring in more clients.

Graduation
High school and college graduation portraits are really popular. Why not offer a graduation portrait package for students in the surrounding area?

Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is a great time to offer special on family portraits. For families looking for an extra special gift for the matriarch of their family, a portrait of the kids might be the perfect gift.

Family reunions
Family reunions are usually a once-a-year type of event. How often can you get all the cousins, aunt, uncles and grandparents under one roof? A family reunion is a great event for professional photographers. Why not include family reunions in your lists of event photography services?

Valentine’s Day
Boudoir photos are a very popular gift for Valentine’s Day. Capitalize on the romance and passion of Valentine’s Day by offering a special discount on boudoir photography in the preceding weeks.

Christmas
Lots of families love to take family portraits as their Christmas cards. Get the word out that your photography studio is offering a Christmas special!

Off-season engagements
It seems like everyone gets engage in the spring; buy plenty of men pop the big question all-year-round. Competition for great photographers in the spring is high, but why not attract newly engaged couples all year round. Offer special deals for couples who want to take their engagement photos in the winter.

Tags: Photo Book Marketing by Embassy Pro Books
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Taking a large group photo requires a unique balance of patience, organization, leadership and a good sense of humor. The larger the group, the more difficult it is to capture and hold everyone’s attention. And while having the first row sit, the second row kneel and the third row stand is great for sports team, it doesn’t go over so well with a bridal party. But at least the bridal party expects to be taking a lot of group photos. What do you do when you’re trying to organize a group photo and the subjects are less than willing to sit tight and smile?

Here are a few ways to keep your group under control long enough to get the shot:

Remember that you’re in charge
Everyone is looking to you for direction. Don’t be afraid to tell people to move around (you can always physically guide them if need be) in order to compose your shot. Build the best shot you can! Create a center point that everyone can work around. They’ll trust your judgment.

Enlist Aid
Grab a couple of your subjects and turn them into frame “body guards.” If you’re trying to corral everyone within a specific space, place your helpers on the ends and tell them not to let anyone past.

Subdivide the larger group
Straight rows can look boring and stuffy. Mix it up with creating little pockets of three or four people that connect to each other. Have some people angle away from the group, but turn their face to the camera.

Tell them what’s going on
Don’t let the group be surprised when you start shooting. Capture everyone’s attention and let them know. Give them a countdown so they know when not to blink. Remind them to look at the camera and keep smiling until you say stop! If you want to give everyone a break, don’t let them leave! Tell them to relax but stay where they are.

Tags: For The Photographer by Embassy Pro Books
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While the best advice anyone can give an aspiring photographer is “just keep shooting,” sometimes it helps to have a point of reference. Printed photo books are a great way to create your own photography “how to” guide and fill it with your best practice tips and favorite shooting, lighting and composition techniques. Having the support of a photo guide book can help make training an assistant or teaching a photography class a lot simpler.

Say you’re teaching a beginners’ photography class and are trying to explain how different aperture settings affect depth of field. It’s hard to explain without some sort of visual aid, right? You’re printed photo book is a great place to create that visual aid! Using one of your images, you can really impress on your students the difference each f-stop has on the same photograph.

If you recently hired a new photographer’s assistant, you’ll need to get them up to speed on how you like to handle lighting situations. A printed photo book is a great tool for them to study so they know what they are expected to do in any given situation. The fewer questions they have to ask and the more comfortable they are with their job, the more focused you can be on the shoot.

If you’re going to be teaching anyone the basics of photography, a printed photo book is a great investment. You’ll get to create the “how to” photography guide that you wish you had when you were first learning. You’ll be able to use your own images so you know exactly what the photographer “meant” to do! Professionally printed photo books also allow you to incorporate text, so you’ll be able to add descriptions, best practice tips and other notes to the images to help your students.

Tags: Photo Book Uses by Embassy Pro Books
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Photographers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from creating professionally printed photo books to market their business. Professionally printed photo books make great portfolios for anyone who can’t carry examples of their work around with them. This goes for other artists, especially sculptors or clothing designers, interior decorators, design build firms that specialize in home remodeling and more. Why not expand your photography business by extending your services to other companies that need a photographer to help them successfully market their business.

In photography, your portfolio is what is most likely going to book a client or earn you a spot in a gallery showing. The same can be said for a lot of other professions. Interior decorators can’t exactly bring prospective clients into someone’s living room to show off their work. Makeup artists can’t walk around with a dozen models when they go in for a job. They need a portfolio to show off their skills and past work just as much as you do as a photographer. Helping them create a professionally printed photo book is great add-on for your services as a photographer.

Real estate agents might be interested in having a professionally printed photo book created so they can give home owners a more complete overview of the homes they have to sell. A photo books means they don’t have to drive potential buyers to see a home they won’t be interested in. They can choose their favorites right out of the photo book and focus on those. Your photographs can help a real estate agent streamline their business.

There are only so many portrait shoots and weddings a photographer can do before they start looking for new clients. Becoming a business-to-business photography service, in addition to your work as a business-to-consumer photographer can help your business grow. Offering professionally printed photo books as marketing materials is one way to attract new clients.

Tags: Photo Book Marketing by Embassy Pro Books
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If you’ve taken the time to sort through thousands of photos, edit the select few and design a photo book to be used for your photography studio; whether as a portfolio, value add-on for clients or marketing tool, why wouldn’t you go with a professional printing service to make the most of it? Using a professional printing service for your photo book production is the best option for any photographer who is serious about their work.

A professionally printed photo book is made using the best printing procedures, techniques and supplies available. Commercial printing services keep their prices down by using lower-quality inks, paper, printers and binding options. While there is nothing wrong with using a commercial printing service, a professional photographer should be willing to invest in a professionally designed and printed photo book.

A professionally printed photo book is going to reprint your images with much greater attention to detail than a commercial printing service. The colors are going to be exact, the shadows the way you expect them to be. If you are using a photo book as your portfolio, it’s critical that the images be an accurate representation of your work and skill level.

Professionally printed photo book also have stitched binding, as opposed to the usual glued binding of a commercially printed photo book. This means that the professional photo book is going to stand up to use and time much better than a commercial photo book. There is no fear of pages falling out while a potential client is thumbing through a much used professionally printed photo book.

A professionally printed photo book speaks to your dedication to quality and photography in general. If you take the time to produce such quality work for yourself, imagine what you can do for a client!

Tags: Photo Book Creation by Embassy Pro Books
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When used appropriately, props can really enhance your photography. Things that provide the ability to level subjects like chairs, step stools and benches can create movement in the frame. Using toys while photographing babies and children gives them something to do, so they are engaged and personable in the photos. Little details like flowers and jewelry can add to overall mood of the shoot. But props can also take away from the subject of your shot when incorrectly used. Props have to stay props and not become the center of focus.

Here are a few ways to incorporate props into your photography:

Use props that contrast the setting
Doing a shoot on the beach? Why not bring out a dining room chair for your subject to sit it? The contrast between the chair and the casual beach setting gives people a reason to do a double-take when they see your image.
If you are shooting in the fall, use neutral tone props so they stand out against the vibrant reds, yellows and oranges of the backdrop. This helps keep you subject from being lost.

Add a burst of color
If you’re shooting a portrait and your client shows up in neutral clothes like black or white, incorporate a yellow flower or blue necklace to make the image pop.

People can be props too
Most often seen in images of children, the arms, legs, feet, etc of mom and dad make excellent props. For one thing, it can make the child more comfortable. It also adds another level of meaning to the shoot.

Less is more
Sometimes you have so many ideas it feels like the frame isn’t big enough to capture your true vision. Don’t let your photographs get so overwhelmed with props that you lose focus. It’s all about taking a step back and deciding what props really elevate the shot and which ones are just there.

Tags: Digital Photography by Embassy Pro Books
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One of the most valuable tools a photographer has is other photographers, someone else who understands both the business side and creative side of photography, who knows the technical aspects, the language and the unique challenges photographers face. Turning to another photographer, or group of photographers, for critique of your work is one of the best ways to grow as a professional photographer.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when asking for or giving a photography critique.

It’s called constructive criticism
Chances are someone will ask for your opinion regarding their photograph and you flat out won’t like it. Regardless of why—the composition, the subject matter, the editing, etc—you can’t just tear it apart without giving advice on how to build it back up. What could they have done better and what should they do next time? Was the image out of focus? Underexposed? Pinpoint exactly where they went wrong and suggest how to fix it.

Don’t take it personally
If someone doesn’t like your photographs, don’t get offended. You may think it’s the best work you’ve ever done, but not everyone is going to agree. Once you get defensive, you won’t listen to the good advice you may be getting.

Be honest
If you like something let the photographer know. If you don’t let them know anyway. The whole point of a photography critique is to get a second opinion. Don’t worrying about bruising egos or offending someone. As long as you have a reason for your opinion, then you have a right to express it.

Be prepared to answer questions
If it’s your work being critiqued, be ready to answer questions about the photos. Why did you compose it this way? What kind of lighting did you use? You should be able to answer both technical and artistic questions to give the viewers a better understanding of what you were trying to accomplish.

Tags: For The Photographer by Embassy Pro Books
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You don’t have to make your living as a professional wedding photographer to take great wedding photos for your friends and family when they get married. Even if they don’t hire you to shoot their wedding, why not create a professionally printed photo book as your gift to the newly married couple? It’s not a gift that many are able to give, plus your skill guarantees they’ll be impressed and grateful. If their wedding budget is tight, why not be the one who takes all the pre-wedding photography and turn it into their wedding gift?

When budgets are small, brides have to pick and choose what kind of photography services they want on their big day. Some full-service wedding photographer offer to shoot everything; from engagement photos, the bridal shower, the rehearsal dinner and on through the wedding and reception. Oftentimes these full-service packages are incredibly expensive, so brides just opt for the wedding and reception. Use your skills and talent as a professional photography and be the one who takes photos from all the pre-wedding activities that the bride and groom couldn’t afford. It’s an incredibly sentimental gift.

While there are plenty of people snapping away at pre-wedding events, it’s more than likely that you have the skill and equipment to compose and capture terrific images. As a photographer, you’ll notice little details that other guests might not. You’ve trained yourself to be ready to catch great moments, no matter how fleeting. It is these little details that make your photos truly exceptional. Your personal relationship with the bride and groom mean you won’t be looking at them as clients; you are looking at them as friends.

Since professional photo book printers understand the needs of professional photographers, you can be guaranteed of a quick turnaround and still get a quality product. Let your pre-wedding photo book rival anything that the wedding photographer can do.

Tags: Photo Books - Weddings by Embassy Pro Books
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Anyone who has gone snorkeling or scuba diving in really clear water knows that a whole universe exists beneath the surface of the ocean, a lake or even just your backyard pool. The lighting, colors, and depth perception don’t follow the same rules as they do on dry land. So photographing underwater requires a different technique and tool set (aside from a waterproof camera of course), to capture spectacular images.

Here are a few ways to get the most out of your underwater photography:

Get up close and personal
Providing your subject doesn’t have a particularly nasty set of teeth, the closer you can get to you underwater subject the better. Water can mess with the color, sharpness and contrast of your image. Getting close doesn’t just mean extending your zoom! Get within a few feet of your subject for the best possible outcome.

Shoot from below
If you have the gear or the lung capacity, shooting from beneath your subject can create a really dynamic image. Shooting from below allows the subject to stand out better from the background and can help prevent backscatter.

Open up the aperture
There is never as much light below the water as there is above. Even in shallow reefs, the amount of light is cut down dramatically. Keep your aperture wide open to allow the most light into the camera.

Shoot at high-noon
Unlike shooting on land, where dawn and dusk provide some of the best lighting conditions, you should aim to shoot during the middle of the day if you’re going under water. Your best bet is between 11 and 2, when the sun is at its highest.

Look around
One of the best things about shooting underwater is that you can position yourself however you need to get shot. You can be completely inverted if need be! Keep looking all around you, just because there is nothing in front of you worth shooting, that doesn’t mean that something isn’t going on right below, above or behind you.

Tags: Digital Photography by Embassy Pro Books
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