Can you make cash from your camera?

All of us who are photographers would love to make a regular income from the hobby or profession we love. None of us want to be told that it is difficult, it takes time and not many people make it. These dubious dealers give the impression that anyone can make money from their photos. Rubbish! If you take a look at the stock sites and see the quality of images for sale, you’ll realise that unless you are really talented you will never produce the quality that the buyers are looking for. Do yourself a favour. Do a search on the name of the ebook author who makes all of these claims using Google and then go to the major stock sites and do the same. Where are these authors making their money? From you! If it was so easy why don’t they have thousands of images on the stock sites? I rest my case.

Take a look at the guidelines for submission on the stock sites. Every last one of them requires a camera that takes a high resolution image. Some even state that they’ll only accept images taken on certain mid-range to high-end digital SLRs. Don’t even think that you will be able to compete with your compact camera. You stand no chance. Your images are just not big enough.

I have been on seminars given by successful stock photographers from the microstock sites and all them state that it is tough, demands long hours of work and takes a long time to make a reasonable income. Some never make it despite quality, dedication and a lot of effort. It is not a part-time money making machine as claimed by the ebook authors.

So what does it really take to make money from your camera, if it is at all possible for the amateur? You have to make a decision to dedicate yourself to your photography even if it is part-time. Carefully consider the following points:

1. Dedication to the art of photography

If you are not a dedicated photographer striving for excellence in your art there is no real money to be made. Sorry that’s the bottom line. There are so many talented artists producing high quality images that you do not stand a chance if you cannot compete in this field. You need to up your standards and create images that are very high quality.

2. Dedication to detail

Every detail in your image needs to be perfect. This is what the buyer is looking for. He doesn’t come along and say, “now which poor point-and-shooter can I help make money today”? When a buyer is planning to put a photo on a billboard every detail must be perfect. Examine your images and ask yourself, “Would I see this image in a magazine?”

3. Dedication to quality

99.9% of snapshots won’t make it past the stock site evaluators. Their standards are very high. Sharpness, great colours and perfect composition are just some of the factors you must take into consideration when planning to sell your images. You have to be a photographer, either a pro or dedicated amateur regularly looking at the quality of your images and pushing the limits. Look at the books and magazines and compare your photos. Do they compete? If the answer is yes then you are getting close. The ebooks say that there are millions of people looking for photos for the school and class assignments or projects who will buy your images. Get real! If they have the opportunity to buy an ordinary snapshot or a high quality image shot by a top photographer both selling for a dollar, which would they choose?

4. Dedication to discipline

Discipline is key to any hobby or vocation and especially so with photography. You need to be disciplined in your learning and improving your skills constantly. You need to be disciplined in your shooting and editing your images. And, you need to be disciplined in your submission of quality images to the stock libraries and photo sites. It’s a numbers game. The more quality content you have out in the market the more chance you have of buyers selecting your images. You cannot do it on a whim or when you feel motivated to do it. It is essential to have a commitment to the task and a disciplined overall process.

5. Dedicated to achieving results

If at first you don’t succeed try and try again. If at first you don’t get the results you desire don’t give up or try something else. Keep at it until you see results. It’s like the little green shoot popping its head above the soil or the tip of the iceberg. You are building the roots that will support the later growth of your business. If you don’t have a results driven motivation to see it to the end you will not achieve the success you set out to attain.

It’s a hard uphill road to success with photography. The photo world is competitive and saturated with good quality images. If you are to succeed you must break through the barrier from great to outstanding. You must stand head and shoulders above the rest in your quality and excellence.

Article by Wayne Turner
http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/

Stock Photos

10 Important Mistakes to Avoid When Submitting Photos to Stock Photo Sites

A quick and easy way to make money with your photos is by submitting them to stock photo sites online. You can start earning money with the photos that are already in your hard drive; you don’t even have to take new photos right away.

If you want a step-by-step guide to monetizing your digital photos through stock photo sites and other ways, check out Turn Your Photos Into Cash.

Meantime, you can get started right now. But do make sure you don’t make these 10 mistakes when you submit photos in stock photo sites:

1. Submitting low-quality photos. Don’t waste your time and energy. Nobody wants blurred, under-exposed and other types of low-quality photos.
2. Not doing keyword research. The right keyword list can make or break the profitability of your photos.
3. Submitting photos that you don’t own. You can get into real big trouble for doing this.
4. Submitting photos of people without a “model waiver.” Know when you need a model waiver and always get one when necessary.
5. Submitting photos of objects owned by other people without a “property waiver.” This is another legal requirement you should be aware of to avoid future headaches.
6. Submitting photos that don’t meet the stock photo site’s standards. You may think your photo is perfect but each site has its own standards, including minimum size, etc. Double check before submitting.
7. Submitting photos that have unwanted elements. Some items are simply unacceptable in photos. Find out which ones they are and either edit them out or avoid them altogether.
8. Submitting photos to stock photo sites which require exclusive contracts. Don’t submit to these sites.
9. Submitting photos of mundane objects. Why bother when demand is low and they’re all over the web already?
10. Submitting over-edited photos. Over-editing can drastically reduce the quality of your photos, causing them to be rejected.

If you want more detailed guidance on submitting to stock photo sites, I recommend Turn Your Photos Into Cash.

Aside from making money on stock photo sites, this fact-filled Ebook teaches a number of other ways you to turn digital photography from a hobby to a home business – a profitable one at that.

Click here to find out more about Turn Your Photos Into Cash.

Sunset

Digital photography could see the death of creativity in photography in general. Why such a harsh statement? Here’s why:

1. Lack of thought

As a film photographer the consumable costs of photography were much higher. This forced us to think and carefully consider each shot. There was a greater thought process. Using a motor drive for taking multiple shots was for the press photographers who could afford take thirty six images in a few seconds. For the rest of us we had to think more before pressing the button.

2. The Shakespeare effect

This is the evolutionary idea that if you give a roomful of monkeys a typewriter each and enough time, they will eventually produce a work equal in quality to Shakespeare. There is a similar mindset among digital photographers that if they shoot enough photos, somewhere amongst the thousands will be quality images. You have as much chance as that happening as a monkey.

3. Drive by shooting syndrome

This is similar to the lack of thought in taking a photo. Because of the multiple shot feature in digital cameras and the low cost of digital photography, it’s quick an easy to take an image. Just like a drive by shooting the camera is pointed in the general direction of the subject and a bunch of images is taken. Then you move on to the next target and fire away again.

So what’s the answer? Plain and simple slow down, right down and smell the roses as the saying goes. The creative process is methodical and well thought out. You need to be able to observe, think and then take action. Because digital photography is so quick, cheap and easy the principles and techniques of photography tend to get sidelined.

Here are a few steps to encourage your creative process.

1. Make or allocate time for your creative process

Creativity won’t be hurried. At times it may come to you quickly but this is the exception rather than the norm. So sit down and absorb the environment. Observe your surroundings, subjects and any activity. Let it become a part of you.

2. Be selective

Find something that turns you or rather your creativity on. If this is colour then focus on the rich hues and shades. If it’s an object or subject observe it carefully in relation to it’s surroundings. Now close your eyes and picture the final image.

3. Change your position or viewpoint

By looking at your subject from different angles, heights or positions the image will change as the subject changes in relation to its environment. All of a sudden you see things you never would have seen.

4. Try something different

Shoot a traditional tourist shot of your subject and then look for a shot that is completely different, one you’ve never seen before. Make it unrecognisable. Hire a boat and shoot from the the water. Go to the top of a nearby building or if you’re adventurous climb a tree or lie down on your back.

Creativity is often just doing something different. Something that hasn’t been done before. The key element that I have found to creativity is time. So take your time and smell the roses. Your photography will never be the same again. Put photography, creative photography back into digital photography.

Article by Wayne Turner
http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/

I know many people are looking for a good Photoshop courses or tutorials and that some people stay to far from major cities to attend a proper course.

I found Lynda.com's Photoshop courses and tutorials to be very good. I started using it for DreamWaver courses and then also tried some of the PhotoShop courses. There are hundreds of courses you can attend online.

Give Lynda a try, visit them at http://www.lynda.com

Prepare an equipment checklist – this will help make sure you don’t forget essentials like tripod, lenses, extension tubes, batteries, filters, memory cards, flash, Lenspen, camera manual etc.

Leopard

Be prepared – always have your camera and lenses ready, and make sure all your equipment is working. The night before your game drive check / reset your camera settings (White Balance, ISO, exposure compensation, file size, quality setting). Make sure your equipment is clean and that the batteries are fully charged. Always have spare memory cards and ideally even a storage device to download your images onto. You can never predict when something amazing might happen.

Be patient – it is very difficult to speed up or slow down nature, and without patience you will struggle to get good results. You often need to remain very still for an extended period of time before the animal starts behaving naturally. Very occasionally you’ll capture something unique at your first sighting of the animal, but most of the time you just have to be patient.

Research the area you’ll be visiting – check the sunrise and sunset times so you can decide on the optimum locations for each time of the day.

Photograph normal behaviour – wildlife photography does not always have to be of spectacular animal behaviour. Just seeing normal animal behaviour in a natural environment can make a great photograph.

Accurate focus is critical – if the animal is looking in your general direction, make sure that you focus on the eyes and try to keep them unobstructed by out of focus branches or leaves.

Camera positioning – when photographing smaller wildlife try to photograph from a lower camera angle to accentuate the animal’s size.

Anticipate – this can often make the difference between success and failure. Try to learn the habits of the animal you intend photographing by observing them.

Practice photographing animals on the move and learn to predict their movements by practicing at the zoo, or even on your own pets. By knowing your subject’s habits you have a much better chance of putting yourself in the right place at the right time.

An award winning shot can be taken of any animal – you don’t have to photograph only the big 5 for great results. Even the smallest animal photographed in beautiful light, and in an interesting way, can make a wonderful shot.

Timing – be there at the right time of the day. At sunrise and sunset the light is far softer and it has a beautiful warm colour.

To learn more on Wildlife, Nature, Landscape and Travel photography why not come do our Outdoor Photography course?

Be Patient

The aperture controls not only the amount of light moving through the lens but also the depth of field. The f-stop is the unit in which the opening of the lens is measured. The f-stop number is inversely proportional to the size of the lens opening. This means f22 is a very small lens opening, with a large depth of field, and f4.5 has a wide lens opening with a shallow depth of field. With a wide lens opening and shallow depth of field, more light will reach the film. Thus a large lens opening is more suitable for photography in bad lighting conditions, but unfortunately with a loss in depth of field. Also see illustrations below. The f-stop number is equivalent to the diameter of the opening of the lens relative to the diameter of the front lens unit. An f-stop of f16 will therefore be 1/16 (one sixteenth) of the diameter of the front lens unit.

Apperture size

Tip: If you have a SLR camera with removable lenses remove the lens from your camera. Hold it in a position to enable you to look through it from the back. Now turn the f-stop ring on the lens from side to side. You will see the opening of the lens changing as you turn the ring.

You will notice that the f-stop numbers are usually about twice the value of the previous number (f4, f8, f16, f32). These are called full-stop settings. When your lens has settings in between, these are called half-stop settings (f4.5, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22, f32). It may happen that the values of the half-stop settings are not indicated, but there may be a hitch for the values on the ring. These types of lenses are usually a lot more accurate than full-stop lenses and are therefore a better option when buying a lens. On older cameras the f-stop values will appear on the f-stop ring attached to the camera. More modern cameras will also have the f-stop value on the lens and displayed on the LCD screen. In this screen it will be shown as Av or A (“A” for aperture).

f-stop

Quality of image

The general quality of the image can also be controlled by the f-stop when a standard lens is used. Since the lens forms a minuscus, the image can appear distorted around the edges. A better quality of the image can be obtained by using a smaller aperture, forcing the image not to go through the edge of the lens. It is also not advisable to use the minimum aperture setting, since problems with too little light can be experienced. A good guideline is to use the f-stop in the middle of the lens. If the minimum aperture of the lens is f32, use f16 to ensure that you have a sharp image. More expensive lenses are cut more precisely and this problem may not be visible in pictures shot with these lenses.

Quality of your image

Depth of field

Another alien term, but a very handy aid. When a lens is focused at a certain point, details in front of and beyond that point of focus will also be acceptably sharp. This range of sharpness is called the depth of field. When a portrait of a person is shot, and only the eyes and nose are in focus, with the rest of the face being out of focus, we have a small depth of field. See the figure below:

Depth of field

What is depth of field used for?

As mentioned earlier, the aperture controls the amount of light which passes through the lens. The difference in depth of field can also be used creatively. Here are two extreme examples:

1. When you shoot a landscape, you wish to have everything in the frame in focus to show maximum detail. In this instance the f-stop will be set on the maximum number (the smallest aperture) and the camera should preferably be mounted on a tripod.

2. You want to photograph an object which you cannot move but a disturbing background prevents you from taking the picture. In this case you will set the aperture on a suitable setting. The f-stop depends on the type of lens used and the distance you are from the object and the background. It will help a lot if your camera has a depth of field preview function. If it does not have this function, you will have to shoot more than one picture. When you want to photograph a person with a standard 50mm lens at about 10 metres from the background, you will use f5.6. By using a very large aperture, you will blur the background to such an extent that it will not be a disturbance any more.

Depth of field small to focus on one object

Tip: Remember that the shutter speed has to be amended with the f-stop. When you have determined the correct reading for a specific image and you have set the f-stop number smaller (one stop more light), the shutter speed must be set one stop higher (faster). If you have an f8 and 1/250 setting and you change it to f5.6, then the shutter speed should be adjusted accordingly to 1/500.

Maximum depth of field

From the diagram on the left, it is clear that a larger part at the back of the object will be in focus than in front. This division is usually one third in front and two thirds behind the object. This means that when you photograph an object and want maximum depth of field, you should focus on a fictitious point. To determine this fictitious point, try the following:

Focus on the point closest to you and mark the position of the focus ring. Then focus on the point of the object furthest from you. Again mark the position of the focus ring. Now turn back the focus ring about two thirds of the distance. If your camera does not have a depth of field preview function, the object will usually appear out of focus at this stage. Select your maximum aperture (f22 or f32) and shoot the picture. Although the image may appear out of focus through the view finder, the image should in most instances be in focus. This problem escalates the closer you move to the object and when you use a macro lens.

Remember that the image seen through the view finder never represents the results. When you look through the view finder and focus, the diaphragm in your lens will always be on a maximum opening. When you change the f-stop, the diaphragm won’t change accordingly. The lens has a function which will change the diaphragm to the correct size as the picture is shot. The reason for this is that you need as much available light as possible to ease the focusing and composition process. The only time you can really see what the picture will look like, is if your camera has the depth of field preview function. Don’t get discouraged when your depth of field seems too shallow through the view finder.

All in focus

If you use a too slow shutter speed your photographs will be blurred. Some novice photographers think that their photographs are out of focus but sometimes they just used a too slow shutter speed and their photographs are blurred.

If you use an automatic camera it will normally either pops up the flash automatically or have a flashing indicator which warns you when the light is too low to take a photograph. If there is not enough light the camera will use a longer shutter speed in order to have enough light to record. This long shutter speed is what cause the blur effect since you cannot hold the camera still enough in your hands.

If you use a shutter speed of anything less than 1/60 of a second you must use a tripod or any other object to support your camera. The minimum hand held shutter speed also depends on the length of your lens. For up to 80mm you will get away with 1/60th of a second but if you use a longer lens you will need an even faster minimum shutter speed. Like when you use a 200mm lens it would be best to put your camera on a tripod for anything slower than 1/150th of a second.

You can also use a slow shutter speed to your advantage.

If you put your camera on a tripod and use a slow shutter speed to picture a waterfall or stream, you can create a soft effect of the water.

Soft Waterfall

With a fast shutter speed we can freeze the motion in a picture.

Freeze the motion

To freeze motion of a picture, the shutter speed must be fast enough. You will need a shutter speed of at least 1/250 to freeze the motion of a running person successfully.

Even if you are photographing flowers in the wind you need a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion and get a sharp picture.

We can also use  a slow shutter speed to enhance the feeling of motion in a picture. The picture on the left was taken at 1/60. The motion of the bike was followed as it moved pass. We call this “panning”.
At what shutter speed was this photograph taken?

Freeze the bullet

If the maximum shutter speed of your camera is not sufficient to freeze the motion, try this:

The photograph of the balloon was taken in a dark room. The camera was setup on a tripod and focused on the balloon. The shutter was held open using the bulb function. The moment the shot was fired, a flash was triggered. The light from the flash freeze the motion in this case and not shutter speed.

Tip 1: Simplify

One of the easiest and probably most effective ways of creating an eye-catching image is by ‘getting in closer’. By getting closer you eliminate a lot of unnecessary information making for a striking, simple yet powerful image.

Tip 2: See the light

Undoubtedly the most important ‘ingredient’ in any great photographic image is light and by better understanding and using light, you will find a marked improvement in your photography.

Consider that light has colour and start looking for it. Between about 10am and 3pm sunlight loses most of its colour becoming clean, white and boring. Natural light changes colour throughout the day, which is the reason why we prefer to make photos early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to capture the colour of the light. Early morning light has some wonderful pastels like peach, pink and sometimes a bit of magenta, whereas late afternoon light is rich in warm yellows and golden oranges. Often these colours can become the very reason for wanting to capture an image.

Tip 3: Make use of colour

We know that light has colour, but were also surrounded by colour. Think about how we use colour in our daily lives, how it is infused in our language to describe feelings. We have all heard about someone feeling blue or about seeing red when we get angry. Colours are very closely associated with moods and emotions. Try using colours that add emotion to your image. Some emotive colour associations :

Using colour and composition to create Impact

Blue – Feelings of melancholy, feeling blue, singing the blues and the ever popular ‘Blue Monday”

Red – Passion, stop signs and danger

Orange – The colour of fire and warmth

Green – Freshness, nature and fertility, often used in scenes with ‘zen like’ calmness

Yellow – The first colour we humans notice or see, very lively and almost grabs the eye

Brown – Earthy, nature and associated with wood and trees, very neutral

Grey – The most neutral colour, enhances colours used with it, feelings of dreariness or depression

Black – Traditionally associated with death but can convey feelings of chic elegance and distinction

Tip 4: Exciting camera angles

Shooting from shoulder height is boring. We see life from that height anyway and therefore we like seeing images captured from interesting angles. Think about shooting directly down on someone from a balcony, a ladder or any elevated surface when your angle is exaggerated. Now try the opposite, shooting up from very low angles. Have you ever taken photos while lying on your back? If you lie at the base of a tree, the corner of a building or even at a person’s feet while using a wide angle lens the distortion can become extreme and make for a very striking image with loads of impact. Seeing from these different angles is not that new to us, we did it as children. We were almost always looking up at things and when picked up by adults we were then looking down from what was to us, extreme and exciting angles.

Tip 5: Distort with intent

Using a wide angle lens causes distortion which makes anything closer to the lens appears bigger than it is in real life but also diminishes in size anything which is further away from the lens. This can be a great way of getting some fun into your images and works particularly well with children and animals. Try shooting from interesting angles when you do this, possibly getting onto a ladder and shooting down on a person would make their heads looks enormous with tiny feet.

Tip 6: Managing contrast

If you are faced with contrast in a scene where you want to bring detail into dark shadow areas, either use a flash to fill in some light or consider using a reflector. Anything that can reflect light into shadow areas will work relative to the size of the area. Macro photographers for example tend to work very close up in tiny scenes where something as simple as the back of a business card can become a small reflector. If you want to make your own little reflectors with tin foil just remember to crumple the tin foil up thoroughly before stretching it over any surface.

Tip 7: Shooting from the hip

Photography Clint Eastwood style? Have you ever tried capturing images without looking through the viewfinder? Probably not! This can be a fantastic way of capturing exciting and unusual images of people, buildings or just about any subject matter you can think of. Consider walking through a shopping mall or a busy office building with your camera hanging from your hand and shooting as you walk. Try not to raise the camera higher than your waist and ‘force’ yourself to keep shooting without being tempted to look at the LCD every few minutes. While doing this you could intentionally slow down your shutter speed to blur both the movement of your hand as you walk as well as the movement of anybody in the scene. Another way of doing this is by hanging your camera around your neck ‘ala tourist style’. You won’t be raising the camera to your face at any point however. Keep taking shots continuously. When you think you have a possible scene that might work just depress the shutter release button while the camera hangs from your neck, or you could get a cable release and stick it out of sight and shoot that way.

Using colour and strong composition

If you’re interested in doing the “Photographs with Impact” course at the College of Digital Photography click here.