Archive for portrait photography

Registration for WPPI 2012 is Now Open

By Trevor Current
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

November 3, 2011 – PRESS SUMMARY – Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) announced that registration is now open for WPPI 2012 via its convention and trade show website: http://www.wppionline.com/show/register.shtml

All WPPI 2012 classes, events and trade show will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, from February 16-23, 2012. WPPI is the biggest show in the world for wedding and portrait photographers. Last year, more than 16,000 professional photographers gathered in Las Vegas, NV, to learn from the best and see the latest and greatest products from the hundreds of exhibitors that participate in the trade show.

“After breaking attendance records in 2011, WPPI 2012 is poised to be the biggest and best event in our history,” said George Varanakis, Show Director of WPPI and Publisher of Rangefinder.  “Featuring an all-star speaker lineup and a diverse and unparalleled menu of special events, WPPI 2012 is primed for another banner year.”

Popular programs like WPPI Plus, Photographers Ignite! and the Awards Night extravaganza, as well as helpful features like Pre-Board, will make WPPI 2012 the most exciting ever.

Full registration for WPPI 2012 and all workshops and events, are open now. The early bird registration rate for access to the WPPI 2012 Convention and Trade Show is $199 for members and $379 for non-members through December 14, 2011. After December 15th, WPPI 2011 registration will be $259 for members and $399 for non-members. These rates include a free guest, all Platform classes, special events and three days of the biggest trade show in professional photography.

For more information about WPPI 2012 and all of its workshops and events, please visit: www.wppionline.com.

–

Categories : News and Reviews
Tags : , , , , , ,

Customers or Competition?

By John Pyle
Friday, June 3rd, 2011

As a professional are you more knowledgable of your “perceived” competition than you are of your customers and your own business? If that is the case then why are you shocked when your “perceived” customers go to your competition?

The photography business and senior business has gotten extremely competitive. I am grateful for being in a competitive business in the past. My wife and I spent ten years in pharmaceutical sales before becoming a full time photography studio. There is no doubt that you need to know your competitors (the real ones) and what you can offer that they don’t. But use your limited resources (e.g. time) to explore creativity, learn business, and promote yourself instead of obsessing over any competition.

As an entrepreneur and a small business owner there is nothing more important than the success and happiness of your customers. Everything else plays a role but nothing else is more important to the lifeline of your business than the exchange of a customers’ hard earned money for your services. That is how your business keeps it’s door open. If that fails then so do you.

Focus your efforts where they need to be focused. Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business
Tags : , , , ,

Tying The Knot: The Wax On, Wax Off of Wedding Photography

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

If you want to shoot weddings the best way to start is to become a second shooter, right? But is that really all it takes? You bring your camera to a wedding, stay out of the way of the pro, take  a few nice candid shots of the guests and voila, you’re a wedding photographer! Nah, that’s not the best way.

Ok, I’m not saying it can’t happen like that, but those few shots you take would have to be pretty special for someone to entrust you with their most special day and lots of their hard earned cash. Second shooting is definitely invaluable for building experience; all I’m saying is don’t rely solely on being a dictionary-definition second shooter. Instead you should first aim to be as good as the pro and then second shoot like a pro to make your images much more marketable. So how do you do this with no wedding experience?

Let’s travel back to 1984 and take a look at one of my favourite movies: The Karate Kid. Apart from having one of the best soundtracks of the 80s, it also teaches a simple but important lesson: hard work and preparation pays off.

When Daniel-san spends hour after hour, day after day waxing cars, painting fences and sanding floors he doesn’t see how it’s supposed to prepare him for the impending All Valley Karate Championship. Instead he wants to learn the glamorous rapid punches and spin kicks he sees in the dojo and thinks that copying the routines in his karate text books will turn him into a black belt.

We know, of course, that all those seemingly unrelated tasks actually disciplined Daniel-san in exactly the skills he needed; he just didn’t realise it at the time. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , , , , ,

What’s Appropriate for Senior Pictures?

By John Pyle
Thursday, February 10th, 2011

I’m a husband, a father to an 18 month old daughter, and a high school senior photographer who makes a living by bringing a camera around 17 year old girls. I am also sensitive (maybe hypersensitive) to the appropriateness of the images I create AND the images we release online.

A few months ago a woman in passing (not a customer but a regular viewer of our website) made a statement to me and my wife that she would NEVER let her daughter take senior pictures in a swimsuit. Now that is fine with us. We don’t ask senior customers to take pictures in their swimsuits nor do we advertise swimsuit sessions for seniors. But she repeated this opinion several times throughout the conversation, and it felt more like an “insult” directed at us. And, yes, having a Masters in Psychology allows me to deduce that from the conversation.

It so happened to that the image she was looking at was from a professional modeling portfolio of a college freshman we had posted last summer. The model  needed swimsuit images for her modeling portfolio that we created for her on location. The customer and her parents were thrilled with the images and released the images themselves on Facebook with our approval. Now I did explain this to the woman who brought up the swimsuit image and obvisouly didn’t read the blog post…but I doubt she cared to understand it.

Anyway living down in the South, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, a lot of our seniors have grown up on the backwaters every weekend since they were little…skiing, tubing, jet skiing, riding boats and wave runners, grilling out, and laying out in the sun with their friends and families . They also live driving distance to the beach and the Gulf Coast of Florida. This was and is an important part of their summers, their childhood, their lives, and of course their last summer in high school. And some of our seniors AND their parents ask if their child can incorporate this into their senior experience sessions. Some have beautiful homes, pools, and boats up on the backwaters and in Florida where these are shot on location. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Portrait Photography, Senior Portrait Photography
Tags : , , , ,

5 Easy Tips to Improve Your Portraits (and they don’t cost a dime)

By Guest
Friday, October 15th, 2010

Often times a portrait photographer does everything right; perfect lighting, great location, correct exposure and flawless composition. However, the photo still comes out flat. Something isn’t right. Smiles are forced, people are uncomfortable and the emotion is just not there. The fact is, if you’re photographing people don’t forget about the most important part – the people. When was the last time you were in front of the camera? Do you remember how that felt? If not, please ask someone to take your photo and come back to this post after you’re done. The bottom line is that being in front of the camera can be rather difficult and stressful for some people and it’s our job as photographers to make them feel at ease so that they in turn will look better in the image. Here are five tips to improve your attitude (and in turn your portraits):

  1. Don’t put the blame on the subject – remember that your attitude is everything and it’s only your attitude that you can control. Consciously or not, people will sense if you are angry, annoyed or uneasy in any way so check the grump factor at the door. If you’re photographing children or pets your attitude is even more important because both of these will immediately sense your frustration and then you might as well pack up and go home.
  2. Take the time to talk to (and listen to) your subject (yes, even works with pets). Show an honest interest in them. If you have serious disdain for whatever you are photographing please consider another line of work before you take on something that will only lead to disappointment. Read More→
Categories : Guest Bloggers, Make Better Photographs, Portrait Photography
Tags : , ,

Branding Portraiture Photography

By Joseph Cristina
Monday, July 19th, 2010

Over the years I have had the good fortune to work with actors, actresses, celebrities as well as up and coming models, corporate executives and alike. At first, many state they only want a “good looking” representation of themselves in the best light possible … and of course … I can do that! 🙂

On the other hand, some require Professional Branding Portraiture Photography which is slightly different.

Before continuing I would like to say: This short article was inspired by a call I received by a potential client yesterday. A very nice lady rang to say that she was searching the web, stumbled across our website and was intrigued by the “Simple Design”, “Color”, “Banner Image” and most importantly the” branding portrait” of myself. In short, the potential client raved about the content but stated she would not have stayed to view it if for not the intriguing,  professional portrait which was displayed.

Branding Portraiture in a nutshell requires the client to know who they are or whom or what they wish to be “portrayed” as.  Many times I send new client’s away with the task of determining this and ask them to schedule a session once they know and have the ability to articulate it too me.  Some call back within a day, some a week and others not at all. This task is not an easy one and requires some sole searching, to say the least. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Portrait Photography
Tags : , , ,