A Photographer’s Wardrobe: Things you may have never considered

I’m afraid this advice is mostly for fellow female photogs. There are quite a few things you may have never considered when dressing to shoot a wedding or a portrait session. Here are some of my fashion dos & donts:

  • Don’t wear a skirt/dress unless you charged extra for a peep show
  • Do wear jeans/trousers. Your knees will thank you.
  • I’m a skinny jeans girl. But tearing my jeans by crouching down a billion times in an hour isn’t favourable. Try to wear relaxed trousers, not tight ones.
  • Don’t wear bangles to shoot a wedding. Every time you move your arm, you’ll draw attention to yourself.
  • Don’t wear cheap shoes. Crouching down on the balls of your feet will totally split the sole wide open. Try for something from Clarks (in the UK) or Aerosoles (In America) with flexible soles.
  • Pockets are so valuable for a photographer. When I buy cardigans, I always make sure they have a pocket. This way, you can drop in your lens cap, spare battery, etc.
  • If you’re a makeup wearer, your makeup repertoire should be different for a long day of shooting.
  • You probably won’t find it easy wearing sunglasses while looking through a viewfinder. And even if it’s not your style, consider a hat for outdoors shooting in impossibly bright locations.
  • No matter the heat, cover up for sun protection and try to avoid sunscreen on areas of your body which will come in contact with your camera or it’s strap

That’s all I can think of for now. Anyone else have tips for a photographer’s wardrobe?

Copyright infringement – How to deal with stolen images

My least favourite topic of all time. Copyright. How do you protect your intellectual property? Keep it to yourself. Never share a single image online. I’ve splashed watermarks allover my photos. Didn’t make a difference. Clients will steal the previews from their gallery and post them to their Facebook. People will steal your photos from Flickr and print them on canvas and send them to shopping malls allover the UK. People are selfish and we don’t always think about the chain reaction that can be set in place by our selfishness. We’re all pirates from time to time.

This post started with a question from a reader: “How, without going to an expensive lawyer, do you protect your intellectual property, copywrite etc and ensure you have permission to publish the photographs from your clients.  I’ve been searching for what seems forever to find standard letters, contracts etc.”

The answer? Through your own hard work. There is literally no one out there to help you protect your work. There’s the Creative Commons group for creating licenses for your work. And there are laws regarding copyright. But in reality, there don’t seem to be any measures in place for upholding these laws, short of suing the thief in court. And thieves know this. I mean c’mon, short of our own morals or principles, who of us copies a CD for a friend and worries that they’re going to get arrested? It’s pretty much an honour system and when someone is dishonest and steals your stuff, it’s up to you the magnitude of the theft and it’s effect on you. And then you have to decide if it’s worth taking them to court. And if they’re stealing an image they couldn’t be bothered to buy the print for, they don’t likely have any money even if you DID win a lawsuit. The only scenario I can see this being worthwhile is if you caught your image in a prominent magazine or on a CD case or in a movie.

The second half of this question deals with to reverse scenario: Do WE have the right to publish THEIR face on our website? This is a grey area. Yes, the images are your property. But then, their face isn’t. Their kid isn’t. The easiest, most effortless way I deal with this is before a session, the client fills out a client info form with their name, address, phone and the date (the date is very important). Then at the bottom of the same sheet is one sentence: “I am happy for Elizabeth Halford, photographer to use the images resulting from this session online or in print.” If it’s a child session, they have to write the child(ren)s name next to their signature. I’ve never once had a client not sign this portion of the form and never once have I had a client unhappy with the images I have used.

For weddings, the release is on the contract they sign and hand in with their deposit.

I wish I had more to tell you. I wish I could say “call this number” when someone has stolen your work. The police will laugh you down on the phone if you call to report a stolen image (believe me. I’ve tried). Just stay on top of the petty crimes by making contact with clients who have used your images outside of the copyright agreement and don’t waste too much of your precious time chasing down stray images here and there. Time is money!

Reader Photo Friday – Melissa Culvers

So funny. I loved this shot I saw from Melissa recently (can’t remember if it was FB or Flickr or somewhere else). And then she emailed it to me for Reader Photo Friday! I was thrilled to get to work on it.

{Recipe}

First, I sharpened the edges with MCP’s ‘crackle’ action from The Quickie Collection. This set isn’t compatible with PS Elements.

Then, I used MCP’s ‘Eye Doctor’ which IS compatible with PSE (yayy!)

I then went into the MCP set called ‘Cover Model’ and ran the ‘Cover Model’ action (there’s also one called Urban Cover Model). I tweaked the resulting layers to customise it for this photo.

I then used the finger paint action from the Quickie Collection to make the yellow line more bold

Lastly, I ran an action from Totally Rad’s set called ‘The Revenge’ called ‘Select-o-Pop’ which I used to paint on pop on the road, his bike and his plaid shirt.

THANKS, MELISSA! EVERYONE KEEP THOSE SHOTS COMIN. SEND YOUR PHOTOS TO EH@ELIZABETHHALFORD.COM

If your photo has been featured on Reader Photo Friday and you would like to purchase digital copies for printing yourself, please get in touch. Digital files are only $25 each and 100% of these monies goes to Compassion International to help us edit out poverty for our little guy Victor.


Freebie Thursday – Brightening, fog lifting, edge burning action

Today’s freebie is a fun and simple little action from Catherine Halsey at the Halsey Happenings Blog. It’s not for PSE and just to be sure, I tested it and it didn’t work :( {CLICK HERE} for the action.

How I’ve Caught People Stealing My Images

Ever watch those ‘stupid criminal’ shows where they tell stories of bank robbers writing their demands on the back of their utility bill? Or how about the real life scenario of a friend spilling the beans that the client they sent your way has the photos framed allover her house? But you don’t remember getting an order from them? Yeah.

I don’t believe the clients who have stolen from me have done so maliciously. I don’t think they’re thinking of the hard work and thousands of pounds worth of equipment I’m still paying for which I used to produce their images. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need to be educated.

I’m going to write a more exhaustive post about protecting your intellectual property legally and how to deal with cases of copyright infringement. So this post is mainly about the things I’ve done in the past to educate others about their theft of my blood, sweat and tears.

  1. I received an invite to a baby shower which had images of the friends’ maternity session which hadn’t been requested from me. I think they’d been swiped off Facebook. I kindly emailed them and asked that the next time they would like to use my images, they ask first so I can send them better quality versions which have my logo on them. Easy peasy.
  2. Facebook – this one is a killer. Although I do sometimes provide web-ready images for clients to share (it’s great publicity) I’m NOT ok when they swipe the photos from their preview gallery, crop out the “do not copy” watermark and post them on FB and then never ever buy a single photo from their session. It’s so easy to catch them, too. These clients are easily traceable because most of my business comes by word of mouth. Just take a morning to troll through the friends lists of your friends who send you clients and the photos are often their profile pics. Or simply search for your most recent clients via their email address. Send them a message to let them know that they’re stealing and you would like them to (please) remove the photos and buy the web-ready disk from their order form. If they don’t remove them in a reasonable amount of time (and let’s face it, most of us check our FB multiple times a day so it’s not like they’ll need a week) then you can report them to FB for copyright infringement. I’ve done this before and the photos are removed and the person is notified of the issue. And then when you see them every day dropping the kids off at school, they can’t make eye contact with you. LOL
  3. I’ve actually been emailed by clients who (somehow) downloaded or copied one of their images and they need help because the canvas they tried to print at the local grocery store came out all ‘fuzzy’. Um…no thank you! I’ve got no problem telling friends and clients now in no uncertain terms (although nicely) that this is piracy and no different than burning a CD of my music if I were a musician. It’s not any different just because they’re photos.

Those are the only scenarios I can think of at the moment. Please leave your stories of piracy in the comments below!

Meet CMOS and CCD, An introduction to your sensor

Hello everyone! Today I thought you might want to know a little about your image sensor. I don’t know about you; but I find it humorous to find my electronics covered with stickers showing off the manufacturer’s technology in acronyms and quirky names. When you were shopping for a digital camera, did you read the sticker and say, “WOW, this has a CMOS in it”? Beyond that initial reaction did you ever wonder what CMOS meant? Did you also think, “Wow, I can’t believe I said ‘WOW, this has a CMOS in it’”? LOL.

In today’s consumer and professional level cameras, there are two types of sensor technologies. You have the oldie but a goodie CCD which stands for charge-coupled device. Then you have the new kid on the block, the CMOS chip, which is short for Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor.

Basically, they do the same thing, they convert light (the image) into an electrical signal, they just have a different method to get to the same destination. In fact, both image sensors are cousins to the solar cell.

On both of these sensors, you have millions of elements called photosites. For every pixel there is a photosite to collect and store incoming light into a “well”. So, for example, if you have a 6 megapixel camera, then there are at least 6 million photosites on your sensor.

CCD

A 6 megapixel CCD

The CCD chip was invented in the 1960′s, it has been well developed and used in videocameras, scanners, and fax machines for many years and for a time was the only type of sensor used in digital cameras.

How does it work?

When light is exposed to a photosite, each one builds up an electric charge in proportion to the intensity of the light. The charge from the photosites is collected one row at a time and eventually transferred to a device that converts the analog signal into a digital value.

CMOS

The CMOS sensor has been around since the 60′s too, but wasn’t developed until much later. The process to make one is very much like the manufacturing of microprocessors used in your home computer.

How does it works?

The collection of the light isn’t too different from the CCD chip. CMOS gets it’s name from the process used to convert the light energy to a voltage (electrical charge) and then eventually sent to an analog to digital converter.

What’s the difference?

CCD sensors images have less noise issues than CMOS sensors. Also, on a CMOS, each photosite has additional circuitry next to it, resulting lower light sensitivity. Instead of the light hitting the photo receptors it hits the transistors. To help counter this, CMOS sensors generally require additional chipsets to help optimize picture quality.

A big plus for the CMOS is that it consumes up to 100 times less power than a CCD sensor so you can get a greater amount of battery life; and because they are produced on the same production line as your computer’s silicon processing chips, they are cheaper to produce. CCD’s require special equipment and expensive processes to manufacture the chips.

As far as quality of the image, they both have great results. I couldn’t tell you which is a clear winner.

That’s all for today, thank you for reading and check back every Techie Tuesday. Please leave a comment or ask a questions.

Peter

Peter Pechacek is a photographer and filmmaker in Orlando, Florida. He is new to the blog and will be contributing weekly on Techie Tuesday

Reader Question Wednesday – Weddings & Flash Indoors

Q. “Do you have any suggestions for beginners on shooting indoors with low light (ie, wedding reception)?  I hate using a flash because it makes everything so “harsh” but there are times i know it is necessary?  what’s the best way to get that natural look back using Lightroom or Photoshop?”

A. As unappealing as it is, sometimes you’ve got to use a flash indoors. You don’t want to risk missing the shot altogether. Even with a very fast, wide open aperture lens, sometimes you have to use a flash. Here are a few things you can do:

  • If you’re in a smallish place like a home, the best thing you can do to spread the light naturally is use a LightScoop. They’re super cheap and super effective.
  • When using an external flash attached to your hot shoe, you can aim it at a nearby wall to bounce the light. You can also get extension cords where one end is attached to your camera and the other end to your flash and you can hold it out away from your camera at any angle you want. The cord is a coiled one and only stretches a foot or two. You can even get soft boxes to attach to your flash. They’re big, but the light is much more flattering.
  • You can use your flash off-camera if your camera has the capability to wirelessly trigger the flash. Then you can have an assistant hold it somewhere else or use a tripod. Or even plant it on a table or something.
  • For a wedding, just think quick. The first dance takes a few mins so take a couple shots with the flash facing them and a few pointing the flash in all different directions. This will help you learn how the light behaves for the most natural results. And remember that although not all the shots will be worthy of your website, your clients probably won’t be scrutinising your work the way you do. They’ll just be happy you caught the moments.

As for editing a flash photo to look like a non-flash photo, it can’t be done. Flash completely alters the atmosphere of a photo. Although I’ve found that making a photo B&W can cause the flash effect to be lessened.

Thanks for your questions everyone and keep ‘em coming to eh@elizabethhalford.com.

Hampshire Wedding Photographer – Tim & Ellen

*Sigh* I’m still basking in the glow of yesterday’s wedding. Beautiful day, beautiful couple, beautiful location(s). Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Tim & Ellen had a low-key English style wedding with their friends & family, no fluff involved. No big white dress, no first dance. Nothing but sunshine, good friends, good food and a sublime golden hour to top it all off.

Edited with MCP Actions, Florabella Actions and One Willow B&W Presets. For skin retouching, I used Totally Rad’s retouching brush

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