How To Easily Start A Nature Photography Business From Home

By Roy Barker

Nature photography is the photography of animals, birds, fish and other wildlife. We will be discussing marine photography in a future article, because it involves specialist, expensive equipment and assorted diving skills. Here are some important things that you'll need to know...

Nature photography offers special challenges to the photographer. Not least of which is the developing process of film itself. When single reflex print film is developed it goes through two processes, development and printing. The development produces a true color; however automatic printers do printing processes these days. In most cases these are set automatically to reproduce flesh tones, the color of skin. As a tonal color this is not very much represented in nature so that when your film is printed, the colours shown, are not necessarily the colors that were shot. This can be frustrating when you are trying to improve your technique. One way to see an instant improvement is to use slide film, this only goes through the first process of development, and the distortions that occur in printing are eliminated.

The medium to top of the range, digital cameras also improves tonal quality as well as having improved highlight and shadow features. The disadvantage to the use of SLR digital in nature photography is that the consumption of battery power is higher, and you may not be in a position to re charge them in remote places. Also the delicate sensors in digital cameras can be damaged when dust gets in the mirror chambers.

Another challenge for the nature photographer is to understand how a light meter works. Light meters reflect light off a surface, but they cannot measure tone, which is a shade of color. As it cannot register a shade of color. It makes a basic assumption that the surface measured will reflect 18% of the incident light, that means the amount of light falling on a subject. In practise that means that regardless of the color of the object it will provide a reading that assumes you want to produce a shade at 18% mid gray. If you then set your aperture opening at the suggested setting it will produce 18% of grey in the finished image. Unfortunately there is not that much grey in nature, but there is plenty of pure white, for example snow, and clouds.

Once you have obtained your light reading you have to manually adjust the aperture setting so that the final tonal colour will be white and not gray. To reproduce a pure white image you may have to open your f/stop settings by 2 full points. Conversely if you want to reproduce pure black then you have to close down the aperture, by 2 ½ to 3 f/stops. An f/stop is only a numerical number that represents how far the aperture is open.

In changing light conditions for both sand and snow, bracketing is a useful technique. It means that you take or three extra exposures at different settings, so that you can almost guarantee the “perfect” exposure. If you have determined the best exposure is to be taken at 1second at f/16, then to bracket using slide film, you would also shoot additional exposures at 1/2 f-stop settings above and below the "best" exposure setting. This means 1 second at an f-stop between f/16 and f/22; and 1 second at an f-stop between f/11 and f/16. This is 1/2 stop above and 1/2 stop below your meter reading.

For the beginner it is useful to record your exposure information in a notebook. It will help to better your techniques when the film is developed.

Record the f/stop, the shutter speed and whether the exposure was as a result of the light meter reading or whether it was adjusted for some other reason. You can also write this information directly on to your slide mounts, because you may think you will remember, but chances are you won’t! Whilst on the surface bracketing seems expensive, it does not have to done all the time, after a while you will have a feel for a how your own camera reacts, but it is a good technique to use when a shot is really important.

If you would like to explore exposure in an interactive way, this is a simcam simulator and you change your exposure and shoot and see instantly the effects.

All nature photography is improved by the use of slow film; never use more than ISO100, and ISO50 is better still. When you use slower film it increases the danger of camera shake. To minimise this a solid tripod is a good investment. Virtually everyone buys one that is too light at first. It may have to support the weight of your camera over rough terrain. Nature photographs are amongst the most saleable of pictures and the sharper they are the more saleable they become. A tripod helps here because it stabilizes the camera. Make sure that your tripod legs are independently adjustable to take full advantage of low shots. These low shots are used often in natural photography for instance in shooting flowers. A tripod is usually in two parts the head and legs, the head needs to be able to moved up and down as well as to tilt.

Every nature photographer initially balks at the tripod because it is heavy and unwieldy, but it is an essential piece of equipment that makes sure your images are razor sharp. The start up costs of being a nature photographer are high, you need good optical equipment and excellent tripod. Can you take good photographs without a tripod? O course you can, but are they marketable in a highly competitive field, can you make more money by investing in the best equipment money can buy.

The quality of the light is also crucial in nature photographyand it is always better early in the morning or late afternoon, or when the sky is slightly overcast. Harsh midday glare does no favors to the nature photographer as the resultant images lack depth.

There is also a specialist magazine available online for the nature photographer. Their resource links are excellent and they have free issues available for you to read.

Publisher & Author: Roy Barker. Roy specializes in profitable photography solutions for budding and keen photographers. A whole world awaits keen eyes, imagination and some get up and go. Find out you can easily expand your passion and skills in photography into a profitable career at http://www.profitable-photography-resources.com

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How to Use and Select Stock Photography Services

By Roy Barker

There are two main types of photography to sell, that is assignment photography and Stock Photography. Assignment photography is taking photographs of a predetermined event, and stock Photography is taking photographs in the hope that you will be able to find a future buyer. Most professional photographers take both types, the weddings and portraits take care of immediate bills, as they command a higher price, because they are generally only of interest to a limited number of people. There are exceptions like being hired for a specific assignment to photograph an Olympic Event, and then being able to sell that photograph Internationally. In general, stock photographs command a lower price, but they are more saleable to a wider base.

Stock photographs’ are generally sold on the Internet through what is known as “Stock Libraries”. They generally all work on a very similar system, you take photographs and submit them to a stock library and they sell them to interested parties such as travel brochure companies, advertising agents, book publishers. This way of marketing photographs has distinct advantages, if you are a part time freelancer, or have just started your own business. Either way you are probably too busy making portfolios, and taking pictures to market them. Another factor, which makes this method of marketing advantageous, is that when you are starting you do not have the network of contacts to market your photographs. Added to that there are some people who won’t or can’t perfect their marketing skills.

A downside of this marketing method is that there is a little more to it than taking photographs and waiting for the Royalty cheques to come in. Most stock libraries, will want to re-caption your pictures to fit in with their image, this can be a time consuming process and it can take months to get them online. Like many aspects of selling it is a “numbers game”, the more photographs you have available to sell the more you are likely to sell. This is a fairly general aspect of marketing, but it is more specific in this instance, as prospective buyers may look at other images, if they like one particular one. Because of the time factor of getting your work to the buyers or the public, many stock libraries, have insisted on a minimum contract, which means that they typically ask to retain your work for a minimum of two years.

Some of the stock libraries are general and some are more specific. Marine Themes obviously specialise in underwater photography, and they scan and correct all their images before sale. They are then color corrected to ensure that any prints will be the best quality. All this takes time, to get the images actually for sale on the Internet. The benefit is that marine photography is highly specialised, and this process does increase your chances to merchandise your work.

In the past the market was limited to buyers who were sent colour brochures and made their selection from them, now the market is expanding, as many libraries have widened their sales base by allowing customer’s to make their purchases directly on line. This factor alone has increased the numbers game the more people who have access, the more who are likely to buy. Some stock libraries are general and some are highly specific such as South African images. Some cover specialist areas such as marine photography, or nature.

So how do you choose the stock library that will be the most beneficial to you? There are independent reports covering the various strengths and weaknesses. The annual Freelance Photographer's Market Handbook in the UK features a section on stock libraries and is an excellent reference guide. Some of the stock libraries have been established for ten years. They have hundreds of photographer’s and hundreds of thousands of images. As a result of this they may be reluctant to take on new clients. However if you have a large portfolio available immediately it may be worth trying one of the older companies. However you will be competing with established photographers who have built up a client base. Many of the new companies have less than a hundred photographers and you will start by being a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

At the end of the day, the choice has to be your personal decision, and there is nothing to stop you from registering with more than one library. Whilst the market is growing and will continue to grow to encompass on line sales, remember to consider that sales from a printed catalogue will be important for a while, and it may be advantageous for you to choose a library with a well referenced catalogue.

Every stock library has different terms and conditions. In general most give you a straight 50% of the earnings. However some do let the images go into the hands of “sub agents”, and they will expect an additional cut from any sales. Read your contract well before you sign and beware of copyright issues. Normally when the photograph is sold the buyer is issued with a license number, which only allows them to use the image the once. You minimise your royalties if you allow a buyer to pay once and then get multiple uses out of it.

All in all if you are prepared to look at your market strategy over a long period of time, stock libraries offer you an option. There are forums for professional photographers that do address the issue, and it may be worth you looking into othe peoples style and work. Here are some I recommend you look into and consider selling your stock through:- PhotoStockPlus and Photo.com

There are also available a huge number of royalty free sites. You may question why buyer’s would consider paying for an image whilst they can obtain other’s free? The answer here is that royalty free photographs don’t make them free, you do purchase them, but you have the rights to re-use the stock photos and CDs for as many different projects and clients as you wish without paying further licensing fees.

Publisher & Author: Roy Barker. Roy specializes in profitable photography solutions for passionate and keen photographers. A whole world awaits keen eyes, imagination and some get up and go. Find out how you can easily expand your passion and skills in photography into a profitable career at http://www.photo-photography-resource.com/

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How to Start a Fine Art Photography Business

By Roy Barker

The definition of fine art, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “art concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects”. With such a “wide” definition of “beautiful objects”, the beauty is in the eyes of the photographer. Virtually anything can be fine art, a simple household item such as a fork, a nude body, travel, landscape, wildlife, a landscape. Not everyone will agree on what constitutes fine art, many years ago I was awed by the sight of the Sydney Opera House, and thought it was the most beautiful building In Australia. However I remember thinking that it perfectly complemented Australia, it would look pretty silly in the centre of Madrid. However if you don’t like the Sydney Opera House, then it does not matter how great the photo you are not going to like it. So whatever constitutes Fine Art photography is a pretty subjective decision.
School of Photography give you a good idea of what will constitute in their view Fine Art photography.

For many photographers this is an ideal line of work, because it allows you to represent a part of your personality, through your work. It is possible to make a political statement by being a fine arts photographer. A clear analogy here would be the emergence of the acceptance of the gay male in photography, over the last thirty years. In it’s wide ranging definition it is possible to be more creative, and in this creativity be more personal.

There are a lot of resources on the Web regarding fine art. One of the better ones concerning resources and links is http://art-support.com/links.htm There are excellent links to photographers’ web sites, as well as grants available to the photographer. Because the definition of Fine Art photography is so wide, it has perhaps a more specific marketing need. Fortunately there are more ways to market them than just stock photographic galleries It may be advantageous for you to think about engaging the services of a full time sales representative. A sales representative will work with clients in the advertisement industry, the travel industry, and also graphic design firms. The advantage of employing a sales rep is that it leaves you free to create without the hassle of “cold selling”. If you are not a natural salesperson, it may be better for you to consider someone else doing the selling. That person should also be able to evaluate the true value of your work, be experienced enough to know where to get the prices, as well as having a proven track record in negotiating the best prices.

There are other advantages as well. Companies using a wide and diverse range of photographs, such as advertisement agencies, will have more time for a sales rep, who has a large portfolio of work, from different clients, than from one single photographer. By the nature of their work sales reps are normally found in larger cities and towns, they will have a large client base of their own, and will probably promote your work in specialised areas, such as food photographer, or portrait photographer. So how does the relationship work? Normally the sales rep will already have their own business, and they will work for you on a commission only basis. You will pay them approximately 30 percent of the assignment fee, that is the net fee, not the final figure with expenses added on.

How to work out if this relationship will be advantageous to you, balances many factors. If you have developed a highly personalised style as a photographer, then you need to target specific areas to sell the photographs. Perhaps you do not live in a large city and have the right contacts. You have already made a portfolio of work that you would like to specialise in. It may not be cheaper for you to hire a rep, because you may still have to advertise locally to maintain your own business that you have developed, but you are paying a rep on extra sales that you did not have before. It will certainly increase the profitability of your business if you have no time to devote to increasing the number of your clients.
You have decided that this path is for you, - how do you go about it.
One idea is to investigate the names of the best advertisement agencies nearest to you, your local reference library can be of assistance here, as can yellow pages. You can phone them direct and ask them the names and the contact numbers of their reps. The Writer’s Digest publish an annual “Photographer’s Market Book”, this book now lists photographic reps, and it will also help you market your work with lists of fine art reps, as well as galleries and stock agencies.

However you choose to market your business, the essence of what you need to do is to widen your client base. There is certainly more work in the marketing of certain photographs. However in today’s market place communication is as much as an art as creating the photographs. Not only is it important that you keep abreast with market trends, but you have to be in constant communication with your clients. Certain photographers’ enjoy the “Cut and Thrust” of aggressive marketing. If you don’t, then consider paying someone else to do it for you. Never underestimate the power of marketing, it is a very potent tool to help get your work shown to the people who are most likely to purchase it.

Do you really know as a photographer what you have to sell and it’s value. As a freelancer you can learn a great deal from advertising clients, They determine a niche for the product and then work on it’s development to promote it. A product is always promoted with a very specific client in mind. You must know your strengths as well as your weaknesses. For instance if you have a passion for taking seascapes, then it is pointless to advertise yourself as a portrait photographer. You need to find a way of getting your unique photographs to where they are going to maximise your profit.

Publisher & Author: Roy Barker. Roy specializes in profitable photography solutions for passionate and keen photographers. A whole world awaits keen eyes, imagination and some get up and go. Find out how you can easily expand your passion and skills in photography into a profitable career at http://www.art-photography-resource.com/

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