My name is Trevor Warren and I am a gadget addict. Chances are if you love photography you’re one too. The two traits just seem to go hand-in-hand and like any other addiction there are certain triggers that set us off. For myself and many others I know, the most likely thing to send us on a budget busting crazy rampage are photography magazines and blogs.

So What

So what’s the harm right? Assuming you’re not pawning your wedding ring to buy a new lens and it’s just a hobby, what’s the big deal? Well, maybe it’s not really a big deal and I’m just being preachy (always a possibility). On the other hand, I do feel I’ve many times seen people’s affinity for equipment keep them in a rut regardless of how many times they upgrade their equipment.

A big part of the reason we think this way is because we hear it so often. So many trade magazines are little more than extensions of the marketing departments of major camera makers. Camera companies pay for the advertising and provide the access to new equipment magazines need in order to survive. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the conflict there yet we still tend to see them as educational resources where today’s lesson is always, "this new camera will give a huge advantage to anyone who owns it."

Where to Look Instead

The best way to get perspective on how to improve your photography is by learning more about photography and photographers throughout history. Doing this can be a very valuable reality check.

You probably recognize the image to the right commonly known simply as "Afghan Girl" taken in 1984 by photographer Steve McCurry. It’s one of those images that photographers dream of capturing some day and it was shot with a camera and lens that together would cost you less than $300 today. If you’re tempted to give the credit to the type of film used, Kodachrome, have a look at the Kodachrome Group on Flickr and see how many pictures come nowhere near to the quality of this.

So if it wasn’t a state-of-the-art high tech camera that made this image what did?

It was these things the photographer possessed rather than the equipment:

• A command of manual controls
• A command of lighting and composition
• Knowledge of how to get people to pose
• A lot of practice with all of the above

Knowing these things might eventually make you a better photographer but it probably won’t make you feel any better in the short term. The message that the magazines and manufacturers are pushing, "you’ll be a lot better once you get a new camera" is a lot more appealing than, "you’ve got a lot to learn about light." And because it benefits both the industry and our egos to say so, you can bet you’ll be seeing more ads like this in the future:

Written by Trevor Warren

In the digital age of photography we mostly see pictures via our computers. Even in the profession I have more and more customers telling me all they want is a CD of images. Printing is becoming a lost art form among modern digital photographers and if that’s what a certain segment of customers want that’s okay.

Still, you should be ready to create a high quality print if the need arises and aside from that, it really is still the best way to view photography.

Advantages of Prints vs. Computer Monitors

One thing a lot of people take for granted is how bad computer monitors are for viewing pictures. Generally colors are all over the place from one monitor to the next. They also tend to be quite low contrast compared to prints so you never really get true blacks in your shadows or whites in your highlights. Computer monitors also have about 1/4 the resolution of a printed image — 72 dots per inch on a monitor vs. 300+ dots per inch on a print. That’s roughly the difference between HDTV and an Magnavox made in the 70′s.

How to Make Prints

Many of the home office printers you can buy in stores boast the ability to print photographs. As of today, printing your own photos at home doesn’t make much sense. The ink is tremendously expensive and the results are mediocre. Photo labs actually make prints from digital pictures much the same way we made prints from film before – with light and photo paper. It’s also become extremely cheap to get prints this way. A 4×6 from your local drug store will probably cost you about $0.30 and an 8×10 a couple of dollars and the results will be pretty good for most purposes. If you’re planning to sell art prints for a profit I’d recommend going to a more professional lab that offers more options however.

If you don’t normally print your photos you may be pleasantly surprised to see how good they on paper!

Written by Trevor Warren
Photo by Almost August

One of the most powerful and controversial tools in Photoshop is the "Liquify" tool. The tool puts any digital photograph into a "liquid" state where you push and pull on parts of the image without smearing the image. The reason it’s so controversial is because it’s often used for thinning a persons appearance in photographs. Often when Photoshop is in the headlines it’s because someone has gone a little overboard with the Liquify tool.

The Liquify tool can be used in many legitimate ways however: to fix clothing that’s bulging out, correct an unflattering pose, fix issues with lens distortion to name a few. It is located under the "Filter" menu in Photoshop. Below is a brief video demonstration of the tool in action:

This is just a taste of what you can do in Photoshop. If you would like to learn more about retouching photos sign-up for our Adobe Photoshop for Photographers class starting February 8th!

Written by Trevor Warren

One of the first and challenging concepts new photographers must learn is how much different our eyes see the world versus our cameras. For example, on a bright sunny day we are easily able to see both objects in direct sunlight and also objects in the shade.

A digital camera however can not do this very well. Usually when there are extreme differences in lighting, only either the bright area of the dark area can be properly exposed while the other area has little visible detail. To overcome this technological limitation we use a technique called High Dynamic Range imaging usually abbreviated as HDR.

The primary way this technique is performed is by taking multiple shots of a scene at different exposures and then blending the best parts of each image together with software like Adobe Photoshop or Photomatix. The end result is a single image with much more detail in the brightest and darkest parts of an image. Only very recently some camera manufacturers have begun building this technology directly into the camera without the need for external software. Still, like anything that’s done for you automatically for you, you’ll have much more control over the final image with software.

If you’d like to learn how to make your own HDR images sign up for our one day HDR Workshop on April 21st!

Written by Trevor Warren
Photo by Serge Melki

IPC instructor and wedding photographer, Sami-Abu-Rumman is now leading our Beginning Wedding Photography class and recently provided some insight into what students can expect.

“Your first wedding can be a stressful event,” says Sami. “This class is designed to ease the stress by giving you as much preparation as possible. In my class, students will receive an in-depth look at the business of wedding photography including pricing, contracts, marketing, service offerings, and more.”

In addition to learning about suggested equipment and techniques, the Beginning Wedding Photography class provides students with a “dry run” of a wedding. The class covers each part of the wedding process and where the photographer fits in. Find out when and where you should be during various points of the ceremony or reception in order to get certain shots. Learn what must-have shots that the bride and groom will expect from you.

“Approximately 75% of the class will consist of shooting and students receive practical camera time with a bride, which is invaluable,” says Sami. “When finished with the class, students will have shots of a beautiful bride, which is a great beginning to a wedding portfolio.”

Students who have taken this class can sign up for the Wedding Experience, which provides students with the opportunity to shoot a real wedding and reception under the guidance of an IPC instructor. Students in the February Beginning Wedding Photography class are eligible to apply for March’s Wedding Experience.

Over the holidays I discovered a box of old photographs and spent hours with my family going through them and getting the story behind them. Many of these I’d never seen and most of them, if they had anything at all, only had the date the photo was taken and nothing else. If weren’t so lucky to have both of my parents to help me navigate through the disorganized pile I never would’ve known that I am actually a third generation photographer and my grandfather seemed to have the same affinity for low light with shadows like I do.

I wouldn’t have known that the picture on the right was taken when my father took my mother back East to meet his family for the very first time. I just would’ve thought it was some old photo and the significance of that moment at that time in there lives would’ve been completely lost on me.

In today’s digital world we’re taking more photographs than ever and if you’re not keeping your collection organized it would be easy for the significance of the photos you’re taking to be lost forever for your kids and grandkids.

While you can’t write on the back of a digital photo. Digital pictures do allow you to embed descriptions within the digital file with software like Photoshop Elements and Adobe Lightroom as well as many others. These allow you to add "tags" which are keywords you can later search like a location or a person’s name. Other fields like "Title" and "Comments" can hold more detailed information about a photo.

Hopefully this tip will help you better preserve your precious memories for future generations! If you’d like to learn more about managing your photo collection sign up for one of our Photoshop Elements or Adobe Lightroom classes.

Written by Trevor Warren

When you bought your digital camera you no doubt had an idea of which types of things you wanted to photograph but now may be finding the lens that came with it to be less than adequate. This is because lenses that ship with new cameras tend to be “all around” lenses that lack the special characteristics needed for things like sports or weddings. Below are some suggestions of lenses that could better suit the type of photography you wanted to do when you bought your camera.

Portraits
Portrait photography is probably the most flexible type of photography when it comes to lenses. There are a lot of different ways to take portraits and are not as limited by focal length as you are in other types of photography. That said, prime lenses tend to be preferred because of the pleasing effect their wide apertures provide. You at least want to start with a focal length of 50mm. Lenses with a shorter focal length than this can distort a person’s features (e.g. make someone’s nose look disproportionately bigger than it does in real life). The effect of lenses with focal lengths greater than 50mm (e.g. 85mm, 105mm) typically only improve the appearance of the portrait with the 85 mm prime lens being one of the most popular amongst professionals.

Sports
Sports photography is one of the more demanding types of photography as far as equipment is concerned. When you’re photographing sports you have limited mobility and a lot of fast action to deal with. Needing to take a variety of shots without the ability to change your position means you need a good zoom lens. The go-to lens for many professional photographers is typically a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with built-in image stabilization. The image stabilization helps achieve sharper images at a distance and the wide aperture not only helps in indoor environments but also makes it easier keep distracting backgrounds out of focus.

The down side to these lenses is they typically cost about $2,000-$3,000. That understandably may be out of your price range and if it is you’re not out of the game. There are less expensive options. You can typically get a 70-200mm f/2.8 without image stabilization by going with a third party brand like Sigma or Tamron for about $1,000-$1,500. You can also get a consumer grade zoom with image stabilization for about $200-$400. Consumer lenses usually have a maximum aperture of f/4 when at 70mm and f/5.6 at 200mm. The downside to these is more objects in the background will be in focus and you’ll have to use slower shutter speeds to capture the action.

Weddings
Weddings are also demanding when it comes to equipment. Because of the general lack of light at most wedding venues and the variety of shots you’re expected to capture, a zoom lens with a wide aperture is often what the pros turn to. A 24-70mm f/2.8 or 24-105mm f/2.8 are both very popular amongst professionals and will cost between $1000-$2000. Again you can pay almost half that by going with a third party manufacturer – and don’t forget to also buy a flash.

Hopefully this information will help you capture the types of images you bought your camera to capture. Make sure you buy your lens at an authorized dealer to ensure both quality and to comply with any manufacturer’s Warranty. In the local area Robert’s Imaging has a good selection and well trained staff.

Written by Trevor Warren
Photo by Celeste76

If you’ve contemplated photography as a business you’ve almost certainly considered doing weddings. Photographing weddings can be a great way to make some money from your photography, but if the thought of being the primary photographer at a wedding doesn’t scare you it should.

The average American wedding is a chaotic mix of anxiety, alcohol and abundance. In the midst of that are a handful of "MUST HAVE" shots you are expected to capture perfectly that each only last a few seconds (e.g. kiss at the alter, tossing the bouquet, catching the bouquet to name just a few). The only way to survive and keep your cool is preparation, systematic and thoughtful preparation. Below are some critical skills and tasks you really should have done before considering being the primary photographer at a wedding.

1. Master Manual Mode: Churches are often big and dark buildings where things happen very fast during a wedding. In addition to having a high quality flash, you must have a working knowledge of photography fundamentals and be able to quickly make adjustments to your camera.
2. Be Proficient With Photo Editing Software and Basic Beauty Retouching: You don’t have to be a Photoshop or Lightroom expert to shoot a wedding but you must know how to remove blemishes, stray hairs, et cetera from crucial shots.
3. Create a Written Agreement for Clients With Clear Descriptions of Your Service: If you’re not used to asking people to sign contracts (and how many of us are), this can be a bit intimidating at first. It’s an absolute must however.
4. Be a "Second Shooter" for Another Wedding Photographer: Before you attempting to be the primary photographer at a wedding you should really be another photographers assistant at another wedding beforehand. There’s no substitute for first-hand experience.
5. Overequip Yourself the Day of the Wedding: Because there are no second chances at a wedding it’s best to be overequipped. Bring more memory cards, batteries and other equipment than you’ll probably need – this includes bringing a backup camera. Things go wrong at weddings all of the time, how well you’re able to keep things on track in the midst of the frenzy is what will make you a successful wedding photographer.

Hopefully this information will help you understand which skills and information you need to make your first wedding a success! Our Beginning Wedding Photography is designed specifically to prepare for these situations and more!

Written by Trevor Warren
Photo by Stewart Imagery

IPC is offering five students the opportunity to shoot an actual wedding. You can gain the experience and portfolio shots that you need, without having the stress and responsibility of handling the wedding all by yourself.

Join IPC for this rare opportunity: IPC instructor and Indianapolis wedding photographer, Sami Abu-Rumman is your coach through an entire wedding, from start to finish. The Wedding Experience Class is limited to FIVE students.

Experience includes:

· Pre-wedding preparation

· Day-of guidance

· Coaching through the entire wedding

· Post-shoot editing instruction

Criteria:

· Must be available for a pre-shoot review (Monday, March 5, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.)

· Must be available for the entire event (Saturday, March 10, 2:00 -10:00 p.m. (ten.))

· Must be available for a post-shoot editing session (Monday, March 12, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.)

· Must provide IPC a small portfolio which demonstrates capabilities (no wedding photos required)

· Must provide a file/CD of edited images to bride & groom after wedding

Submission Policy:

· Send notice of interest to weddings@indyphotocoach.com

· Include full name that you used to register for IPC’s Wedding Photography Course of Wedding Private Lesson

· Attach 5 – 10 portfolio shots or a link to your portfolio for consideration. You do not need to have wedding photos in your portfolio to qualify

· Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 p.m., February 1, 2012

· Students accepted into the Wedding Experience will be notified by February 10, 2012

· Please ensure that you are available to participate on all three dates noted above. Otherwise, your space will be given to another participant

Cost:

$225

(for more than 12 hours of instruction, shooting experience, portfolio images and editing instruction)

Opportunity limited to FIVE students.

Visit IPC’s Wedding Experience Class page for more information including pre-requisite requirements.

A lot of people get new cameras at this time of year and if you’re the lucky recipient of a new DSLR you may be asking yourself, "what do I do now?" This week we’ll provide you a few common sense tips and a few optional thoughts that may help answer your questions.

Note: We cover these subjects and much more in our first Fundamentals of Photography class.

Basic Tips for Setting Up Your Camera

• Fully charge your battery
• Make sure the strap is on securely
• Format your memory card in your camera
• Set the date and time

Optional Tips for Setting Up Your Camera

• Protect your camera – Get a padded case and LCD screen cover
• Put your lens hood on the lens and get a UV filter and an extra lens cover or two
• Read the instruction manual
• Set the picture quality to RAW*
• Set the numbering to continuous so you don’t write over images when you save them to your computer
• Set up a photo filing system on your computer and remain consistent*

  *Class Suggestion: Lightroom or Photoshop Elements

Still confused? Don’t worry! Photography is a lifelong learning experience. While having the right tool makes it possible to get the job done, it can’t do the work for you. So give yourself time, take a few classes and most importantly enjoy your new camera!

Written by Trevor Warren
Photo by Stewart Imagery