This week bookends with two articles about the business of portrait photography. We lead off with a guest post by James Maher on corporate portraits followed by Michèle Grenier on prime lenses. Then Scott Wyden Kivowitz shows how to sort for smiling photos with Excire Search 2. Mykii Lui has thoughts on Fujifilm’s X-T3 and I ask “where have photo magazines gone?” The Wrap-Up wraps with Nate Torres sharing how to start a portrait photography business. With portraits and lenses, smiling faces and more here’s hoping you enjoy these posts!
Six keys to running a successful corporate portrait business - (Editor’s Note: We welcome this guest post from James Maher. James is a New York corporate portrait and headshot photographer.) For any photography business that specializes in portraits and headshots, working with businesses can be an extremely important part of your business, whether it’s large law firms or small restaurants. However, corporate portraits are much different from family and creative portrait sessions and there are a variety of aspects to consider to make sure you are as successful as possible. 1. Make business people comfortable I remember my first few big jobs. Walking into a law firm and having to photograph 15 busy lawyers in the middle of their busy days. You are the last person they want to see. You have 15 minutes to get the perfect photo of them, but they would prefer to be out of there in 10. What do you do? Did I scare you? The first thing is to not panic! It’s your job to be the happy and comfortable one, so fake it till you make it. Over time you will get used to these moments and they won’t phase you, but it’s tough. In the course a 15-person day, you will have some people who are super friendly until they freeze up in front of the camera, busy people who give you the perfect smile and then leave quickly, as well as people who are somewhere in between those two extremes (which is most people). The first key is to explain upfront what you are doing and what they need to do. The last thing they want to do is to sit in front of a camera and lights with no direction. Show them the body position you want them in or ask them to collaborate on a position that feels comfortable for them. How much of a smile do you want? Do you want them to move a little and try a few different expressions and poses in between shots or would you prefer them to hold a pose until you ask them to switch? The next and main key is to get them talking a little. Ask them a question or two to interact with you. This will let their guard down a little and help them to forget they are being photographed. There are some people who you’ll meet and decide that they’re all business and do not want to have much of a conversation, but for most, this will be welcomed and help out your cause significantly. Over time, you’ll gain some canned comments and jokes that will work well and you will be able to read people better to get them to open up. For instance, if I ask someone to smile more and they give me a deer in headlights look, I might joke something like, ‘Oh, no, definitely don’t smile like that!’ That usually works for a lot of people (but I don’t use that on everyone). 2. Be as professional as possible Here are my keys to being as professional as possible: Have a contract When working with businesses you need one. You can purchase one from TheLawTog or hire a local lawyer to write one up and you can use it over and over again. Provide an official invoice If someone asks you for a price, email it to them as a branded quote. This is a nice touch that they can show to their bosses if needed. Dress the part It’s better to overdress than underdress in business environments. Learn all of the details and explain exactly what you will provide You need to know what you are getting into before the shoot starts and you need to explain to the client what they will be getting from you, from the photography to the retouching. Price yourself well Good portraits will help a business relate to their customers and improve their bottom line. Price for your expenses, travel time, photography and the retouching time needed. And an important question that you can always ask for tricky pricing situations is, ‘What is your budget?’ Explain to them that you can provide different levels of services for different price points and figure out what they can pay. 3. Work on-location with a portable studio Businesses will love it when you come to them, so create a portable studio to take on location. As ISOs have improved in cameras, I now mostly use Canon flashes with softboxes and umbrellas, which is much more portable than the more powerful strobes that I used to use. Instead of shooting at ISO 100 or 200, I now shoot at ISO 800 or 1600 and nobody knows the difference. 4. Use the office as a backdrop Many businesses will want seamless backdrops for their portraits, but I love the look of using a good looking office as a background. It shows personality and feels more intimate to potential clients and customers, and you can get creative with it! Seamless backdrops are easier to work with for big groups and thus you can offer a better price and make your life easier, so they are preferable for certain situations. But office backdrops with one light are not very difficult, they can help you stand out from the crowd and they are very fun to work with! 5. To smile or not? Each person has a level of smile that they are comfortable with and it’s important to figure this out and to have them feeling natural as possible (although this is unfortunately not always possible with some people). I personally find business portraits without any smile to be a little stuffy and old-fashioned, but for a few people, it’s the right way to go. You can even work to get a very slight but not too perceptible smile — for example, the friendly business look. But basically, try to bring as much relatability as possible to your portraits. 6. Impress the person who hires you Work hard to charm the person
Culling for smiling faces in Excire Search 2 Pro - Today I would like to show how fast it is to cull a collection of photos from a session in Excire Search 2 Pro, to find smiling people. In the Lightroom Classic plugin, you can use Excire’s facial recognition feature to find smiles. It can be done for individual people, or groups of people. You can even pick the gender and ages of the people you’re looking for. Search for people using the Search by Face option is an amazing feature inside of Excire Search 2 Pro. Take a look.
My simple thoughts on the Fujifilm X-T3 - Fujifilm has been busy releasing all sorts of cameras in the past two years, and it seems like they aren’t slowing down. While the X-T4 is set to be revealed later this month, one shouldn’t skip over the X-T3 when considering an upgrade to an existing Fujifilm kit or getting introduced to the company’s offerings. It’s pretty dang easy to use, looks super good and is more than capable of helping you take great pictures of whatever you want. I switched over from a Canon 5D Mark III to the X-T1 in 2014 when it launched and then fate moved me into the X-T2 in 2016. I’ve been more than satisfied with the X-T2 and hadn’t been planning to upgrade as of yet. I definitely followed the announcement of the X-T3 in 2018, however, and I’ve done my fair share of reading of the specs and features. Having clocked a lot of hours with the cameras preceding the X-T3, this camera looked mighty fine to upgrade to or at least play with if I could. I got lucky a couple months ago. Fujifilm let me get my grubby hands on the X-T3 in exchange for a couple thoughts. So I unboxed it, slid a battery and card in, and slapped a lens on it. It’s familiar — in the best way. To me, that’s where this camera really shines. I was able to grab this camera, replace my X-T2 without having to read the user manuals and documentation, recall a few features that I had read before but then forget to turn them on, and jump into shooting. I feel like anyone who picks up this camera could definitely turn it on, adjust settings and get a great image without jumping heavily in to the settings. I was able to fit in two photo clients in my busy life, but I didn’t make enough time to sit down and read over some of the features that I had wanted to try before getting to the two shoots. But the lack of all the exploring of features and specs didn’t keep me from appreciating and enjoying this camera at all! The ease of access to the camera’s main functions and dials makes this, along with the cameras preceding the X-T3 in this series, super simple for someone who has a basic understanding of the relationship of aperture, shutter speed and ISO to jump in and take photos. Even if someone didn’t have that knowledge, the programmed modes can’t get any simpler than point and click. And I’d contest that that’s enjoyable. At a glance, I didn’t consciously notice anything different to the X-T2. The layout is so similar to the X-T2 which again, is super familiar, so I didn’t think much more about it — which is extremely enjoyable. I recall that the knobs on the top of the X-T2 were a bit thinner, and I think it also had one less setting on the ISO wheel. The body feels just a tad bit thicker and a little bit heavier, but it seems about the same width. So basically, it felt like shooting with the X-T2 — it felt good and felt right for me. But of course, if everything was just like the X-T2, it wouldn’t have been as popular as it has been. Many simple improvements! Fujifilm made improvements to the simple and useful areas — the viewfinder, autofocus and low light performance. From the moment I had first put the camera to my eye, I knew that the electronic viewfinder had been much improved on. The X-T1 to the X-T2 had a similar differentiating experience and I felt like my X-T2 had been thrown back a decade. OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the X-T3’s screen is super nice. It is really sharp and doesn’t have much lag at all. That screen led me to the next important improvement — autofocus — which I dare say was delightful! It’s fast, quick and has so many points to choose from using the little joystick or even just tapping the back of the screen. It seemed like eye focus was acting a lot better on the X-T3 compared to what I’m used to on the X-T2, and the detection across the whole frame was much better than just the center of the X-T2’s frame. The low light performance was wonderful too! I shot indoor with natural light and the amount of noise that came out of an ISO 10,000 image was similar to a ISO 3200 image from my X-T2. And an ISO 3200 image was much like the ISO 800 image. This can be seen from these ISO 3200 snapshots from Christmas. With all this though, I wish that there could be more life from the battery. I am glad that the NP-W126 batteries that are used in the previous models also work with this camera, although there’s a message that pops up letting you know that performance could be affected. I didn’t notice much of a difference though. I still got roughly 350 RAW photos out of a battery — more than I typically need, but I’m lazy and want to be able to forget about a battery that’s left in the camera. Do I need it? I really love my X-T2, and for what I like to shoot it still does it well. Since my camera is still in great condition, I plan on keeping it until the camera dies or shows signs of being extremely out of date. The improvements of the X-T3 are quite welcomed and if one happens to end up being available for an affordable price, I’d definitely pick one up. Seeing that firmware updates have slowed down for the X-T2 and have increased for the X-T3, it’d be nice to have something that is still being supported. If you have a camera that is technologically aging, like the X-T1, I’d recommend getting picking up the X-T3 without hesitation. If
Where have all the photo magazines gone? - The obvious answer is; “They are online.” Sadly this is more often than I care to think, not the case. They are gone. Simply gone. R.I.P. PDN This week saw the demise of Photo District New aka PDN at the hands of its owner, Emerald Expositions. The closing of an influential publication that served the professional photographic community is a loss that is hard to imagine. It’s like a favorite friend who has left us. No longer will we learn about the “30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch.” No longer will we read about “Objects of Desire” or look “Behind the Lens.” R.I.P. many more In the 20-teens photography lost stalwart publications — American Photo and Popular Photography stopped altogether. As I write this, Emerald also announced that the venerable “Rangefinder” magazine will no longer be printed but will appear only online and as a blog not in the magazine format. While back issues can be found for sale or online, there are no more new issues coming. No more articles about photography. No more great, well-curated photography. None of a lot of the things that were found in magazines. I understand that content online is much easier to distribute than printed magazines. If the magazines were published as magazines online that would be great. Blogs are more random. The depth and detail that magazine feature articles offer are missing in small plate tapas-style posts. Blogs often leave out important information that makes an article work because the writers believe that the basics are already understood by readers. Dummies When I was writing my “Dummies” book, my editor made me explain everything that pertained to the point of each chapter. I protested until she explained that the reader views a chapter in a “Dummies” series book complete in itself. This structure is important for blogs as well. I learned photography from magazines As a young photographer struggling to learn the craft, I poured over all of the photo magazines every month. “Popular Photography,” “Modern Photography,” “Petersen’s PHOTOgraphic” and “American Photo” were staples of my education. A favorite was “Camera 35.” It featured a column by professional photographer Jim Elder who wrote about jobs he was shooting. The stories inspired me. I wanted to be like Jim. I desperately wanted to be a professional photographer. I wanted to write a column in a photo magazine. My dreams have been realized. I have made my living with my camera my entire adult life. I also wrote the “Digital Photographer’s Notebook” that ran in every issue of “Photoshop User” for 11-1/2 years and four books. Editorial standards I counted on the info I got in those magazines to be accurate. I taught myself photography from them. I would study articles then go on a self-assignment to understand the technique. Can photography be learned online? I am concerned about the accuracy of the content in photography blogs and videos on the Internet and the effect they have on beginning photographers. This brings up a whole lot of questions … Is the information accurate? Is it complete with all the info needed? Does it teach the underlying principles of photography and not just show a technique? Are camera methods (yes that was a magazine title) explained so a photo can be complete as it comes from the camera? Or is the camera just a capture device used to feed Lightroom or/and Photoshop (or Luminar or Capture One or On One or PhotoLab?) Are we photographers that finish our work digitally to express our vision as we did chemically in the days of film and printing? Or do we count on software to make up for lack of skill behind the camera? Lead photo illustration by Kevin Ames
How to start a portrait photography business: A 2020 guide - Today, it’s becoming more and more common for the average person to strike out on their own as a self-starter. We’ve never had so much technology at our fingertips, and with that, it’s never been easier to launch a successful business with very little investment other than your time and energy. Portrait photography isn’t easy — after all, it’s an art form. It takes plenty of skill but, beyond that, it takes a knack for the process. However, if you have the creative eye to capture people at their best, then your professional photography career can start with some online learning and a few thousand dollars spent at B&H Photo. After that, you’re free to build your empire as big or as small as you’d like. How much money does it take to start a photography business? It’s never easy to try and write down what you can expect to spend on starting a business. However, the tools of the trade of a photographer are fairly straightforward so it’s a little easier to try and forecast your initial investment. Business News Daily recommends an initial investment of $10,000, spread across the following purchases: Two cameras: $1,500 to $2,000 each Multiple lenses: $1,000+ each Two flashes: $700 Multiple memory cards: $50+ each Two external drives: $120 each (keep one backup off-site) Computer or laptop with sufficient memory: $2,000 Website (Wix, PhotoShelter, SmugMug and/or Squarespace): $60+ Lightroom and Photoshop subscription: $120 per year Business licenses: $150 (varies) Insurance: $600 per year (varies) Accounting: $300+ per year (varies) Contracts: Free to $1,000+ (varies) Online proof gallery, such as ShootProof: $120 per year Business cards: $20+ Yet, it’s important to remember that the amount of money you spend is entirely up to you. If you think you have the skill to get by on one camera and one lens, then, by all means, test the boundaries of that setup. You’ll be surprised what a little innate talent and a lot of gumption can do in place of money. How does a portrait photography business make money? Portrait photography, like any artistic profession, makes money by providing a service to individuals who require your product but cannot produce it themselves. For you, that product is professional portrait photography. Your job as a photographer is to sell your service and sell it well. However, profits are a numbers game, no matter how much fun you’re having. To turn a profit as a portrait photographer, you need to set for yourself an annual salary goal. Let’s say you want to make $40,000 in a single year. With that knowledge, you’re then meant to forecast the number of clients you expect to have in that year. With a basic knowledge of your overhead and recurring expenses, you can then set a session price that will, assuming you have the clientele, get you to that salary goal. How to start a portrait photography business, step by step Understanding how to start a portrait photography business with no experience and answering the question, “what do I need to start a photography business” is both easier than ever to accomplish thanks to the expansive online resources available. But some of us just want a step-by-step guide to easily breakdown how to start a portrait photography business. Create a business plan Any successful business starts with a thoughtful business and marketing plan. At this stage, you should see both the big picture and the fine details of your business model. It’s at this point that you want to set your salary, budget for your equipment investment, and have a detailed understanding of your forecast costs so you can end the year in the green. If you’re too shortsighted or don’t do the work to create a business plan, then you’re leaving your success to hunches, assumptions, and sheer luck. Invest in equipment Once you have a great understanding of your business model and your budget it’s time to invest in the equipment that will start making you some money. I’d suggest you consult the list I posted earlier to figure out exactly what you need. Just remember to start slow and invest slow. You don’t need to have everything at once. In fact, on your first day on the job, you might be surprised to find yourself getting by just fine with a camera and a lens. As you expand your reach and deepen your scope you’ll find natural opportunities to broaden your tool kit. File for the correct permits As a portrait photographer, you may find yourself in a studio much of the time. However, outdoor portrait photography is just as compelling if not more so. However, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb taking photos of your model out in the public with your expensive camera and zoom lens. Furthermore, you may attract the police who will ask you if you have the appropriate permissions to shoot in certain areas. Rather than face embarrassment or even a fine, get permits for the most popular places you shoot in. Cultivate a brand You’ll be nothing, no matter how talented, without some kind of cohesive “brand” that you can call your own. While the term is thrown around a lot, it really just boils down to understanding your personality and style and building an intentional veneer around it. Any professional will tell you that looking professional is the first step toward being a professional. Get your name out You’ve done the work of creating a business plan, investing in the right equipment, filing the proper paperwork to be able to take your models to some of the more compelling spots in the region, and have even created a cohesive and thematic style around your photography that can be easily represented to potential clients. Now’s the time to actually get clients. A hybrid of advertising yourself locally and online can work wonders — sites like Craigslist and Facebook can be hyperlocal hubs that will easily spread your message. Or even think about
Why I only use prime lenses - Why would I choose to only use prime lenses while there are many other great options out there? This sounds like a legitimate question, doesn’t it? Here’s how I became obsessed with primes! The one that started it all When I started doing photography, I had no money … that’s the plain truth. The advantage? The gear I chose to buy had to be carefully picked as I couldn’t afford much. It had to correspond exactly to what I needed while being as affordable as possible. Sports photography required a fast shutter speed and I learned very quickly how fast lenses were needed. Fast meaning with the widest aperture available. While f/2.8 was good, f/1.8 was better. By doing some research, I found out about a wildly popular, versatile and affordable lens that a lot of photographers had in their kit. You got it. The nifty fifty: A 50mm f/1.8. And then $200 later — just like that — I’ve just got myself the first of my prime lenses. Prime #1: Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 This lens turned out to be the best investment I could make of my young career. For two years straight, I made 80% of all my sports shots with it and it’s been repaid a hundredfold. I actually did some pretty nice pictures with this lens — some of them are still in my favorites of all time to this day. This pic has been taken at the beginning of my career in 2016 with an APS-C camera. I often had contracts in gyms and/or dark environments — like this yoga class. Conditions were challenging and I was grateful for having a wide aperture lens to help me. In the summer of 2017, I bought my first full-frame DSLR camera. I paired it with my beloved (and only) 50mm prime. Although the lens and f/1.8 aperture were the same, the depth of field in my images was now more shallow, thanks to the full-frame sensor. I fell in love for the second time with this creamier bokeh. Prime #2: Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 In the fall of 2017, I absolutely needed a telephoto. I still didn’t have the budget to afford a 24-70mm f/2.8. I did some new research and found the perfect match: A used Nikkor 180mm f/2.8. I now owned two prime lenses. I used it, along with my 50mm, for every single photoshoot for the following 18 months. Prime #3: Nikkor 20mm f/1.8 I didn’t pick this one because it was the cheapest solution (that was a first). My budget was slowly beginning to expand as I was getting more contracts and I really needed a wide-angle. Once again, after research, I found out the 20mm was being the best pick for me. I still bought it used, which lowered the price by a couple hundred bucks. At this point, I became used to work with these three prime lenses. My eye was used to the focal lengths. I knew exactly where to stand even before looking in my viewfinder to get the composition I wanted. The “lack” of zoom was not a problem because I’ve never really used it. It wasn’t even thinking that something was missing. I’d naturally walk to or from my subject to “zoom with my feet.” That’s how my passion for primes started and that’s how I’ve built my career for the first three years. I’ve never felt the need for more lenses (or other primes). Until one day in early 2019 … I switched to mirrorless By that time of my career, primes had a hold on me. That’s all I wanted to work with! When I’ve decided to make the switch to mirrorless (and camera brand), it was crystal clear to me: I’d buy only primes. Same story, different brand! I completely changed the camera company so, to get the best performance, I bought three new native prime lenses. My wide-angle (20mm) became 28mm. My normal lens (50mm) became 55mm. My telephoto (180mm) became 135mm. A more traditional combo A lot of sports photographers like to use three lenses as well based on the wide-angle + normal + telephoto approach. Most of them choose to go with professional zooms: 16-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm. It’s a very versatile choice that offers a wide aperture solution (f/2.8). They can basically cover every single focal length between 16mm to 200mm in a lowlight situation without having to move. So why do I only use prime lenses? Most primes are smaller and lighter than their zoom counterparts. That’s a detail to consider when you are covering 12 hourlong events. Wide apertures (f/1.8) and very shallow depth of field are also very addicting to me. Throughout the years, the unique look and exceptional image quality of prime lenses have become part of my photographic style. Last but not least, f/1.8 is almost a stop faster than f/2.8 which helps tremendously when photographing indoors — as I often do. What started as a disadvantage (my lack of money) became, in reality, an opportunity to develop my very own style. Sometimes, what seems like a challenge becomes our most beautiful gift once we grow our way through it. That forced me to be different and … I’m loving it!
