Start doing these things now

Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 80 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.

So I shoot Canon and was thinking that when I upgrade to a mirrorless body it would be a Canon.

But, at the moment Canon is stopping third-party manufacturers from producing mirrorless lenses and even ink for Canon printers. So if you like to use Sigma lenses the chances are that Sigma doesn't make a lens for your Canon mirrorless body. You have to buy Canon lenses. Which is a bit sad, I like that I can buy a third-party lens for my DSLR. Anyway, I hope they change their mind before I’m ready to buy.

Ok, this week’s episode is …

Start doing these things now

Of all the things you need to learn as a photographer, this is one of the most important.

I’m not just talking about general conversation, which is essential. It’s the way you direct your subjects during the shoot. 

You’ve probably already experienced not knowing which pose to use next, or how to get them to smile and not grimace. It’s not easy. 

I quickly realized that the best images from a portrait session were taken in the second half of the shoot when everyone had relaxed.

You need to have some go-to poses. Try to come up with 10 or more. When I started shooting weddings I put together some sheets with poses that other photographers had posted online. I kept the sheets in my camera bag and would take a peek at them when I needed more poses. Later on, when I had my own examples of the poses I would show the sheets to the wedding party and let them choose.

If you can get your subjects laughing during the shoot, their smiles will be genuine. Wedding parties are the easiest to have fun with. Family portraits are similar if you can get the kids laughing. But one-on-one portraits can be way harder.

Many years ago when I had a studio I was doing a headshot/portrait session for a mortgage broker. He was in his mid-twenties and before the shoot, he was laughing and smiling constantly. When he was in front of the camera he totally froze. The worst grimace ever. 

I tried telling him some jokes, but he seemed to take a few too many seconds to work them out, which wasn’t good. 

Then he called his mother and asked her to tell him some jokes. She then started telling him how silly he was when he was 3 years old, and how he had tripped on the beach when he was 5 years old. Immediately two things happened, he started laughing and I grimaced and took lots of photos. It was a good job his mother answered the phone, I don’t know what I would have done.

Now, you don’t need to take a comedy 101 course to get people to smile. Ask them questions about their work, or kids, and expand the conversation. This is going to relax them and take their mind off the camera lens. If you are moving from pose to pose and chatting all the time it’ll be a more relaxed experience.

So have lots of poses you can use and a few conversation pieces that will lighten the mood. If you look stressed your subjects will feel stressed too.

Forgetting to take some of your equipment is so easy to do. I once left my memory cards and batteries at home and only found out when I got to the shoot. Luckily I was early for the shoot and had time to go home and get them. It was a horrible feeling.

So after that experience, I started using a checklist. Just make a list of everything you need, and before you leave home go through the list. It’ll save you from having to explain why the shoot is going to start late, or why you’re going to miss the first hour of the wedding.

If you’re meeting with a potential customer and they mention another local photographer, don’t start putting the photographer down. Even if their work is garbage compared to yours, don’t say anything negative. Just acknowledge them and smile. Bad comments have a way of finding their way to the person mentioned in the comment. 

The customer is probably mentioning the other photographer as leverage to try and get you to drop your price. Again, just smile and move on.

Try to keep all negativity out of your life. 

Remember, all your customers are amazing and little Aaron Smith was so cute when he set the picnic table on fire. The photos were incredible, especially the ones with the firefighters.

Ok, next …

I am always amazed at how many people starting out think changing your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO is done by some kind of magic. If they took the time to read the user manual they would know. 

Every setting is described and it shows you how to change it. 

Spend an hour reading your manual with your camera in front of you. Even if you know most of the settings I’m sure you will find something you didn’t know about.

Learning how to use a flash is a big barrier for most photographers. I know it was for me, but in fact, flash is really easy to use.

Canon and Nikon brand flashes are hundreds of dollars. They are excellent but very expensive.

Third-party options are plentiful and very reasonably priced. On Amazon, Neewer has a bunch of speedlights in the $50 to $60 range. Buy two so you have a backup.

I promise you that if you learn how to use a flash your images will look more professional. This will lead to more bookings and bigger profits.

Don’t think you will be able to shoot professionally using hobbyist lenses, hobbyist bodies are ok, but not lenses. When I was starting out I was told to buy the Canon 75-300 f4-5.6 instead of the 70-200 f2.8. The person that told me this was working in the camera store and didn’t shoot professionally. I was going to be shooting figure skating in badly lit ice rinks and I knew what I needed. 

The 75-300 was $1800 cheaper than the 70-200, and wouldn’t be able to capture any photos I could sell. 

My settings for shooting in a rink in 2005 were: f/2.8 - 1/250 - ISO 800  

If I used a 75-300 zoomed-in at 300mm the best aperture would be f/5.6, that’s 4 times less light getting to the sensor or 2 stops. So to get the correct exposure I would need to up the ISO 2 stops, which is ISO 3200. The images would be super grainy, especially back in 2005. 

But it’s not just the restrictive settings, you have to consider the quality of the glass elements. A professional lens will give you tack-sharp images because of the materials used in its production. Yes, they are expensive, but they will pay themselves off quickly, and they last forever if you look after them.

Give your customers the best possible images. The only way to do that is to use professional lenses. 

If you need help with anything I’ve just gone through or anything you are struggling with at the moment. Message me through the Facebook group and I’ll give it my best shot.

Ok, that’s enough waffle for this episode. I’ll be back next week, talk to you soon, bye.