Professional Photo Books.com

Trying to capture people on film (or an SD card) can always provide a photographer with inspiration, unique challenges and unexpected results, both good and bad. Catching people in their element can provide a photographer with a lot of opportunities to show off your creativity. If you are looking to photograph people outside of your studio, here are a couple things to keep in mind so you make the most of your time and subject.

Capture your subject doing something
Yes, stoic portrait shots look great in a high school yearbook or for a corporate bio, but viewers are really drawn to images of people doing things. That’s why candid photos are often more beloved than strategically posed shots. There is no denying that people act differently when they know they are being photographed, so catching them in the act helps reveal their personality. If you are taking pictures of people you and your audience don’t know, capturing them while they move about their daily life gives the viewer much more information about the subject.

Use a silhouette to highlight your subject
If you’re trying to capture your subject in front of an impressive landscape or cityscape, it’s easy for the person to get lost in everything that is going on behind them. The small, darkened shape contrasts strongly with the bright background, making them easier to find and helps gives a sense of size to the photo. A mountain looks a lot bigger when a tiny human is trekking to the top.

Shoot your subject from a new angle
Instead of shooting from your eye level or straight at your subject, why not change it up with some playful angles? Get low to the ground and shoot up at your subject. This can produce some exceptional images if you are shooting in water, having your subject framed by the light from above. If you’re trying to take pictures of kids, get down on their level and see the world from their point of view. Or try the complete opposite approach and find higher ground like a rooftop or high staircase and shoot from down on your subject.

Tags: Digital Photography // Add Comment »

With school photos from kindergarten through senior year, birthday parties, high school dances, family vacations, holiday memories and more, families can have hundreds (if not thousands!) of images documenting the years. Most are left to gather dust in photo albums or photo boxes, stored in the basement and or the bottom shelf of the bookcase. Oftentimes we lose these photos due to time and damage caused by water or heat. Why not create a professionally printed photo book to preserve some of the most special images of you and your family?

Professionally printed photo books are great for showing off your family through the years. Kids grow up so fast and it’s wonderful to see their first baby picture proudly displayed next to a photo of them accepting their college diploma. A photo book lays out each year (regardless of embarrassing the hairstyles!) side-by-side, showing years in just a few page turns.

Why not gather up those old family photos that have several generations all in one and show them off in a beautifully customized photo book? This can be a wonderful way of honoring those family members no longer around.

Maybe you have old photos from a grandparent’s wedding that are fading with time. Why not digitally enhance them and reprint the pictures? Now you don’t have to lose precious family mementos to time and decay.

Family photo books make great gifts for grandparents and relatives who live far away, chronicling the lives of grandchildren or cousins they don’t get to see as often as they like. Send them a professionally printed photo book full of all the moments they missed!

Professionally printed photo books are also great gifts for high school or college grads, creating a photo narrative of their years as a student. You can include photos from sports games, dances, awards ceremonies and more! Photo books are completely customizable so you get to craft the story you want to share.

Don’t leave your family photos to be forgotten in old albums. Professionally printed photo books make excellent coffee table books so your memories can always be prominently displayed and shared.

Tags: Photo Book Uses // Add Comment »

One of the most important (and expensive) pieces of the camera is its lens. This complex system of glass and mirrors can cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars. As a professional photographer, you probably have a bevy of camera lenses that you like to use depending on what and where you are shooting. A photographer who shoots sports games isn’t going to use the same lens as a portrait photographer because the needs of the situation are different.

Here’s a quick overview of the types of lenses available:

Fixed
Fixed focal length lenses usually produce high quality images because they have been built to optimally shoot at their given length. Most fixed lenses also have a relatively small aperture which helps increase the depth of field. These lenses are good for shooting people and stationary objects.

Zoom
The counterpart to the fixed lens, zoom lenses give you a choice of focal length, making it useful when you want to carry one lens but not be limited. Zoom lenses are great to use when you aren’t certain how close you’ll be able to get to your subject.

Wide-angle
Wide-angles are the best for taking landscape photos, panoramas and large group shots. They are great because they allow you to capture the whole scene without being forced to crop the frame. Wide-angle lenses allow for a greater depth of field so more of the image stays in focus.

Telephoto
You are sure to find long telephoto lenses at any football game, or anywhere else where the action is far away from the photographer. Medium telephoto lenses are great for portrait photography or candid action shots.

Fisheye
Fisheye lenses are wide-angles lenses that circularly distort the image to create a 180 degree look. Some landscape photographers use them to mimic the curvature of the Earth.

Macro
Macro lenses are specifically designed for close-up work like when taking photos of flowers or insects. Each lens will focus continuously from infinity to 1:1.

Not all of these lenses may be applicable to the work you do. Most call for very specific circumstances, lighting situations and subject matter. But it is good to have a variety of lenses on hand so you are prepared to handle any kind of circumstance.

Tags: Cameras // Add Comment »

Ansel Adams is certainly one of the most famous landscape photographers. His stunning images of Yosemite National Park are often considered pinnacles of technical skill, black and white photography techniques and are widely regarded as some of the best landscape pictures ever taken. While not every photographer can be the next Ansel Adams, there is something to be said for trying.

Nature is an excellent source of inspiration for amateur and professional photographers alike. If you find that most of your time is being spent shooting and editing client work, why not take a day trip to the great outdoors for a little fresh air and some inspiration. A professionally printed photo book is a great way to preserve those images and remind you of the world outside your studio.

Professionally printed photo books allow you to edit and print your landscape images to your specifications and will live up to your expectations. They are printed on high quality paper and use higher quality inks and printing techniques than most consumer printing services, so the image you took is the image that gets printed. Tones (whether color or black and white) are very important when it comes to landscape photography, and chances are you spent some time waiting for and working towards the right moment when everything feel in to place. A professional service is going to guarantee that the tones you captured are reproduced on the page.

You can choose the size of each picture to mimic your goals of the shot. Do you want to spread the image out over two full pages? Do you want to give your images a border? Put two contrasting shots side-by-side? The beauty of a professionally printed photo book is that you are the designer. You control every step of the process so you vision can be fully achieved.

Printing and framing several favorite landscape images can be incredibly expensive, so why not have a photo book created to hold all of your favorites? You can keep the photo book at home, in your studio for potential clients to browse, or use as an addendum to your standard portfolio.

Tags: Photo Book Uses // Add Comment »

Most professional photographers rely on weddings as a staple of their annual income. Depending on the size and extravagance of the wedding (which may have something to do with the father of the bride’s checkbook) hiring the photographer can be one of the most expensive costs of a wedding. As a professional photographer, you and you alone (or maybe you and your assistant) are responsible for perfectly capturing every important moment. There is little room for error and brides can be very unforgiving.

Here are a few tips to help make sure you’re on your A game for your client’s big day:

Visit the location beforehand
Every location is going to have a different lighting situation. Are you shooting in a dark church? Is the wedding taking place outside? At night? Visiting the venue beforehand will give you time to take a few practice shots so are you don’t have any surprises the day of the wedding. Scouting the location beforehand might also give you some ideas for the best places to pose and shoot the wedding party.

Don’t ignore the little things
Of course you can’t miss the bride coming down the aisle or the first kiss, but what about the table displays at the reception? Taking pictures of the little things like shoes, flowers and dress details are great ways to capture the mood and feel of the wedding. They are also things you client might not think about, so you can surprise them with moments they never noticed.

Make a shot list
This goes along with both tips mentioned above. Talk to your clients before the wedding and find out what they want their photos to look like- do they want more posed or candid photos? A lot of photos with the family or just the bride and groom? Then combine their requests with your ideas from when you visited the venue. Add a few notes for the little things you want to keep an eye out for. This will help you stay focused the day of the wedding and make sure you get exactly what the client wanted.

Tags: Digital Photography // Add Comment »

Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Hopefully you and your significant other had a wonderful evening, complete with candy hearts and candlelight dinners. But in case the roses were a little wilted, the card was a little cheesy and the night wasn’t as special as you wanted it to be, why not make it up with a professional printed photo book that celebrates the best of your relationship.

A professionally printed photo book is sure to impress and melt the heart strings of even the most unsentimental partner. You can include photos from past trips, favorite candid shots of each other and add customized messages of love. It’s a big step up from the 4 x 6 frame and is something they will treasure for a long time. A photo book celebrating your relationship is the perfect gift for a birthday, anniversary or just a wonderful surprise for your partner. And it most certainly will make up for forgetting to book the Valentine’s Day dinner reservation.

Professionally printed photo books are made using the best printing equipment and techniques. They are much more durable and elegant when compared to more commercial printing services. If you’re relationship has lasted more than a few years, so should the photo book celebrating that.

They are completely customizable, so you get to tell the story of your relationship the way you want it. You pick the photos, the layout, the order and the overall design elements like background, text color and borders.

Pick your favorite photos from the last few years of your relationship (maybe you’re lucky enough to have more than a few years of memories to sort through) and preserve them in a beautiful photo book so they will be around for a many more years.

Professionally printed photo books are also a great way to celebrate the relationships of your friends and family. Why not create one for your parent’s 50th wedding anniversary or put one together for a friend’s bridal shower gift?

Tags: Photo Book Gifts // Add Comment »

Everyone takes pictures when they go on vacation and it is a safe bet that, as a professional photographer, your travel photos are better quality than most. It always helps when you go somewhere exotic, with new places, people and colors to inspire you, but even a trip to the nearby beach can create beautiful images and lasting memories. As a professional photographer, you probably have the better equipment, the skill set and the passion that makes your work stand out among the other tourists’ attempts. A professionally printed photo books lets you showoff you talent as a photographer while simultaneously preserving your vacation memories.

Photo albums can be so static and flat, and your images deserve to be presented in a manner that matches their quality level. Photo books let you print your images at different sizes—do you want one image on the page or six? They let you customize the layout- are you looking for a two-page spread or more of a collage? And photo books let you add text to each photo, so you can remember where you took each image and describe what it is. The little details like that are often lost overtime, so that is really something special!

Your travel photo book can also be used to promote your skills as a photographer. You can use them as a supplement to your standard portfolio, or keep them in your studio for clients to browse. They speak to your ability to handle situations that you have no control over, which is essential for when you shoot events like wedding receptions. You are there to observe and preserve. A photo book of your travels can help show how well you catch unexpected moments.

A travel photo book is also a great thing to keep around your own house. You went on (hopefully) a fantastic trip to a new and exciting place. It’s important to remember what made that trip special and fun. Photo books are a lot more interesting than albums, so your friends and family will be happy to listen as you share your vacation memories.

Tags: Photo Book Uses // Add Comment »

It happens to every creative personality now and again. And while it is usually referred to as “writer’s block,” photographers are just as susceptible to a creative slump as writers or painters or musicians. It can be incredibly frustrating to feel like you are at a loss for ideas and lack inspiration. When all your photography skills are being used for clients, but you can find nothing to do on your own, it’s easy to lose sight of why you love photography.

But there is no need to panic should you find yourself in this situation. Here are a few ways to get back in the mood and back to shooting (for you!):

Check out movies that have won awards for cinematography
Movies really are just moving pictures. Every year different films are recognized for their cinematographic achievements. Take the afternoon to watch a few of these films and see how the masters of moving cameras handle their shots.

Find an outdoor event
Things like parades, demonstrations and outdoor concerts are sure to draw a lot of people, which means a lot of characters for you to capture. It’s always fun to people watch and it’s great to see how they act when they don’t know a lens is on them.

Shoot at different times of the day
Dawn and dusk are photographer favorites because the lighting is the most dynamic. But if you find yourself always shooting as these times, they begin to lose their “special” feeling. Try night photography to see how the same place looks totally different when the sun goes down.

Shoot in black and white
It’s interesting to see how different the world looks, and what you need to do as photographer to correctly capture it, when your shoot in black and white. We see in color, but to capture and manipulate a BW image can give you a whole new perspective on what makes a dynamic shot.

Check out the local zoo
Animals always make for an interesting photo session. Since you have no control over what they will do (if anything) you just have to sit tight and wait. They can be just as expressive as humans but their bodies are so different that it’s easy to get inspired by their color and texture.

Tags: For The Photographer // Add Comment »

Clients come to professional photographers because you have the talent, knowledge and equipment they don’t. Anyone can buy a digital point-and-shoot camera for $100 and have their images printed out at CVS, or even just directly upload them to their home computer. But professional photographers are going to create something much more beautiful and memorable than your average snapshot. Professional photographers get brought in for the special occasions where a snapshot by your mom just won’t do.

Why not make the wedding/birthday/anniversary party that much more memorable with a professionally printed photo book? Clients may have dozens of photos that they love, but don’t necessarily want 8x10s of every single one. Some may not be able to afford the printing and framing of every image they want to keep. A photo book is great place to display all their favorite images side-by-side, or maybe even collage style. Now your client gets to remember every moment and your studio can offer a unique package add-on.

A professionally printed photo book is a great addition to your session packages. They are much more memorable (and less easy to lose or break!) than a disc with all the images. They are also an easy way to set yourself apart from other photographers. Companies that print professional looking photo books offer photographers a low-work, high-yield service that can encourage your business! If you could offer a personalized photo book, in addition to your other services and skills as a photographer, what bride wouldn’t be thrilled to see photos from the rehearsal dinner, ceremony and reception laid out in a completely customized coffee table-like book? Your services just became that much more valuable to your clients.

Professionally printed photo books let you add designs, text and edit the layout of all the photos, so that each one can be tailored to fit the needs and expectations of your clients. The quality of paper, inks and printing machines used by professional printing companies guarantees the highest quality product.

Tags: Photo Book Uses // Add Comment »

While most people dread the idea of traipsing their way through ankle-deep puddles and sideways flying droplets, there is a reward for those photographers will to risk getting a little wet and trying to take photos in the rain. Depending on heavy it is raining—a light mist or a summer storm—and the natural effects that rain produces—heavy clouds, lightning, fog, etc—photos taken in the rain can produce an entirely different look and feel than photos taken of the same thing on a sunny day. The hard part is producing a quality image without letting your camera get destroyed by the inclement weather.

Here are few things photographers can do to make the most of a rainy day shoot:

Bring camera rain gear
Maybe you don’t need the type of weather protection fisherman wear, but you should do your best to keep the camera as dry as possible. There are plenty of camera raincoats available depending on your needs. If you find carrying a rain cover to be cumbersome, or are caught in a surprise shower, a finagled plastic grocery bag can do well in a tight spot. Whatever you do, don’t try to change the lens without some serious protection. Moisture can get inside the camera body or on the lens and ruin your equipment.

Backlighting
One of the hardest things to do may be capturing the rain itself. Sometimes rain just looks grey and flat. Adding a harsh flash would only reflect off the water falling closest to the camera, never reaching very far past the end of your lens. To compensate, find a light source in the background and shoot towards it. This could be a streetlight, window, car headlights, etc. Maybe you’ll luck out and the sun will have a few chances to peek through the clouds, producing a dramatic effect. Just make sure you’re ready to catch the light when it comes! Moving cars and fickle clouds can take your lighting away just as fast as it showed up.

Include visual clues
Windows, mirrors, shallow puddles and the like are all reflective, which can help indicate that it is raining. Again, since rain can come out looking flat and grey, it is hard to see the drops unless it’s during a heavy downpour. But since water has a certain effect on reflective surfaces, including them in your photos is a great way to help you tell your audience that it was indeed raining that day.

Tags: Digital Photography // Add Comment »