A pricing education

On several occasions I've been asked why professional photography is so expensive.  With services like Shutterfly or printing through Target etc. it is easy to see why there are questions about why prints are more expensive.  The question of sitting fee, event fee, wedding fee has also come up.  I've heard comments  like "Why is it that expensive you are only working for 3 hours?".  It is comments like that make me want to help people understand what goes into consideration when photographers create their pricing.

While every photographer has their own circumstances that contribute to how they price their products and services there are some universal considerations.  First let's talk about equipment.  Most professionals have a wide variety of gear including; cameras, lenses, flashes, memory cards, radio triggers, camera bags, tripods, lighting equipment, and a myriad of other accessories.  To start equipment causes high start up cost.  As with any technology, photographic equipment is constantly evolving.  This along with the occasional repair bill makes the equipment side of photography expensive.  In my gear I have two camera bodies (just in case one fails), five lenses, a flash, two radio triggers, CF cards, a bag, two tripods, and some lighting equipment.  This means that on any given shoot I'm bringing close to $15,000 in gear (it could easily be much more if I were using the new D4 which retails at about $6,000 for body only).  Depending on the camera and other gear you are carrying it is very easy to carry the equivalent of a nice vehicle in camera gear.

Adding to equipment is insurance.  Unfortunately today's society is very litigious.  With that in mind many photographers carry liability insurance.  Unlike many larger companies, getting sued could very easily put a photographer out of business.  The equipment we use must also be insured in case of damage or theft.

Time is another huge consideration that must be included in pricing.  For any shoot there is a certain amount of time spent in preparation.  The preparation time includes cleaning equipment, charging batteries and formatting memory cards.  In addition to that is time spent planning the shoot itself.  Another factor of time is travel to and from the location.  The last component of time is post production.  Depending on the length of the shoot there can be anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks worth of hours spent prepping pictures for viewing.

Most photographers are continuously spending time in books, classes, online programs to help make them better at what they do.  It takes many years of work to develop a personal artistic style.  There are many college programs, seminars and workshops focuses on different aspects of photography.  For the most part all of the education and continuing education is all out of pocket.

Depending on the individual photographer there are other items for consideration.  If there is a studio then there is overhead for operating that space.  Most photographers have a website which also has fees associated with it.  Any advertising also plays a part.  Aside from the actual camera gear is computer and software.  To be able to use powerful professional editing software you have to have a top of the line computer.  Keeping the computer and software up to date is expensive as well.  Take Photoshop for example.  Currently if you buy CS5 it will cost you $700.00.  When they update the software it usually runs between $200-300. 

All of these components together along with the photographer's individual family circumstances determine what they have to charge to be able to pay the bills and still bring home money for the family.  I hope that this helps create a better understanding as to why hiring a professional costs the amount it does.  We don't just pick a number out of the air hoping that people will pay it.  We don't set out to take as much money from clients as possible.  Instead our pricing is carefully thought out and designed to cover the cost of being self employed as well as providing money for our family. 

Now something fun to look at.  This is the ceiling of the Temple of Heaven in Epcot.  To get this shot had to lie on the ground in the middle of the room.  Thankfully Rach was the only one there to make fun of me.

Up close and personal

Macro images have always fascinated me.  There is something about being able to see the minute detail in everyday objects that captures my imagination.  Thankfully I have an awesome wife who supports my career.  Last Christmas she bought the 105mm macro lens that I've been drooling over for months.  Now my interest is full blown obsession and I can often be found photographing all kinds of mundane things. 

There are some things that beg to be photographed close up.  Insects are always good although they can be tricky as the don't tend to stay still for long.  Flowers are also great.  A quick change in settings can affect the overall image dramatically.  The best example of this is the razor thin depth of field (DoF) you get with wide open apertures.  For flowers this allows you to totally isolate even the smallest details and blur everything else.

The challenge that a DoF that shallow creates is holding still enough to get that tack sharp image.  A tripod greatly helps as well as a cable release.  If you don't have a cable release but you do have a tripod don't worry.  Most cameras have a built in timer.  Just set that and the camera should settle down before the shutter is activated.  If you don't have either of those finding something to brace yourself or working in a very bright location (or use of flash) are your best bets for getting that sharp image.

Reflections

There is something truly magical about reflections.  We encounter them every day and yet when I see one in a landscape it still captures me.  I'm not sure if it is the symmetry or added depth that I like.  Add a sunset plus a reflection and you end up with something striking. 

Getting the perfect reflection in water can be very difficult as the water has to be ridiculously smooth.  The slightest disturbance can distort the image and take away from the effect.  Now this isn't always the case.  Some reflections look perfectly good even with some distortion. 

Our last trip to Gull Lake afforded me with an excellent chance to get a nice reflection with sunset.  After a few days of sitting on the dock only to have the clouds disappear or drop to the horizon I finally got a night where everything lined up just right.  The image below is a three panel stitched panoramic.  In reality since each panel was a nine frame HDR the image is composed of 27 different exposures.  I decided to use HDR for this because I really wanted to get some of the detail in the shore across the bay.  You can get a perfectly good sunset by underexposing the image slightly.  That gives you the rich colors in the sky while the foreground elements are usually in deeper shadow.   For this particular scene I wanted to try to preserve the image as I saw it while sitting on the dock with Mom.

I should add a big thanks to Mom for being a constant source of support and a frequent shooting companion.

As always prints are available here as well as the image in full resolution where  you can see much more detail.

Night HDR

HDR has quickly become one of my favorite ways to capture difficult dynamic light situations.  On our last trip to Walt Disney World one of my main goals was to work on my HDR technique at night.  One of the more challenging locations was Cinderella's Castle.  At the time it was decorated with hanging lights that, from a distance, made it look as if the castle was frozen.  Adding to the difficulty was the castle changes colors in somewhat short intervals.

In the first couple nights I was out shooting and processing I found that the skies were coming out looking rather terrible.  They were very noisy and filled with strange color artifacts.  There were a couple ways I found that helped with the situation.  On some later shots of Spaceship Earth I added some positive exposure compensation to try and expose the sky better.  The other way was to mask in a sky that looked better and fit the over all scene. 

In the picture below I did mask in a different sky because the rest of the image worked pretty well after running it through Photomatix.  I did have to fix some of the highlights that were a little blown out and remove a couple people that decided to linger in frame during the shot.  Now that it is done I think the final image works pretty well.  The dark sky keeps the attention on the castle.  The pathway that leads up to the castle makes a nice leading line to draw your attention from the bottom of the image right up to the castle.

Mainstreet Electrical Parade

The lighted parades at Disney have always been a favorite of mine.  On our last trip I was happy to see they had brought back the Mainstreet Electrical Parade.  This parade really brings me back to the trips we took as children and the wonder we felt at seeing out favorite characters.  On this night I had waited patiently for a few hours as I wanted to get a prime spot to shoot the Wishes Fireworks show.  The nice part was I could take care of two events from this location. 

Some people wonder why they request that you refrain from using your flash during events like the MEP and on some rides.  For the MEP it is mainly so the people that have to navigate the floats and other smaller vehicles aren't blinded by hundreds of flashes going off.  Another reason is to preserve the atmosphere.  Using your flash illuminates parts of the parade vehicles that they don't want you to see.  Yes we know that it isn't actually Pete's Dragon or a train traveling down Mainstreet, but that is the illusion they are trying to create.  The same goes for the dark rides.  Using your flash can/will ruin the effect that the imagineers worked so hard to create. 

Now capturing the dark rides as well as the parade can be difficult without using a flash to stop the motion.  For those of you that have point and shoot cameras it can be very difficult.  With a little practice and good technique you can come away with some really nice results.  While equipment does play a part in your final image, technique and vision are essential.

Here is how I go about capturing events like the Mainstreet Electrical Parade.  My camera was set in manual mode because I knew that the relative brightness of the lights on the vehicles and the darkness of the surroundings would make it difficult for the camera to determine the correct settings.  Since I'm shooting with a Nikon D700 noise is not as much of a factor.  With that in mind I set my ISO to 1600 so I could get a fast enough shutter to stop most of the vehicles without motion blur.  The combination of high ISO and a large aperture put me in the 1/40th of a second range for the shutter.  While this is a speed that is easy to hand hold I was mounted on my tripod for that little bit of extra stability.

If you don't have a tripod or don't want to crank your ISO up find a trash can or light pole to lean on to help steady yourself.  You can also use panning to get sharp images of moving objects even with slower shutter speeds.  Controlling your breathing helps too.  Below are a few of the examples from that night.  I liked how the lights from the vehicles put a soft glow on the crowds.  This is one instance where large crowds actually help make the scene

Emotions in Photographs

Sometimes an image captures our attention because of emotion.  The emotion may be from what was captured.  It may be caused by circumstances in which the picture was taken.  Depending on the situation the emotion may be local or global.  By that I mean that it may only have appeal and emotion for the individual or it may have the appeal and emotion for the masses. 

My favorite picture is not one that I took.  This particular picture wasn't taken by a famous photographer.  In fact I'm not sure who captured the moment.  On a trip in 2004, just two short years before my Grandfather's death, my Dad and Grandfather went on a trip to Normandy with the WWII History Round table.  During this trip my Dad and Grandfather  had the opportunity to visit the landing beach where Grandpa's unit came ashore.  The picture itself is of the two of them standing in the causeway that Grandpa used to move inland from the beach. 

This picture isn't my favorite because of the technical skill used to capture it (there is even a part of some one's hat in the left of the frame).  It isn't my favorite because has some new element that I've never seen.  It is my favorite because it evokes emotion.  As far as I know it was the first time that Grandpa had been back to the actual spot where he landed during the famed Normandy invasion.  Dad devoted a large portion of his life to collecting militaria, educating, and participating in WWII events.  Part of his drive was because of his Dad's time spent in the service.  For me the emotion comes from the image itself and the people associated with it.  You can see the emotion on both of their faces as they stood and faced the sea.  It was also the culmination of a dream for Dad.  Knowing how much this moment meant to them and what the two of them mean to me brings the external emotion to the image.

While I'm sure this image won't stir everyone who looks at it.  It will always hold a special place in my life.  Now as we approach three years since Dad lost his battle with cancer, it serves as a reminder of his love of family and his passion for history.  Even though Grandpa and Dad are no longer with us they continue to be examples of what I hope to become as a husband and father.

It's all in the details

One of the things that Disney does really well in all their parks is set the scene.  While most people spend their time gazing in wonderment at the buildings and landscaping of different areas; I think what really finishes the effects are the little things.  There are so many things that our eyes see and our brains process every day that we don't even think about.  These things all contribute to our environment even if we aren't aware of them.  Disney goes the extra step and adds those types of details into their environments so your brain really accepts that you are in those locations. 

Below are two examples of these details.  While they are both geared towards attractions that Disney created, they are made to look like advertisements that were put up by some local businessman.  Next time you are at Disney or similar theme park, look for these little pieces to the puzzle.  For larger views to see more detail check them out full size here.