Psychology for Photographers

Scott Kelby has been my guiding light for learning the photo part of my trade but he doesn’t really touch down on how to run your business.

There are plenty of resources online for photographers just starting out, but as I’ve said before and will continue to say, Psychology for Photographers is the best / most helpful blog around!

You can snap photo’s like the one above all day long, but if you don’t have some business savvy or marketing tricks under your sleeve your business won’t get very far.  While you’re waiting for the next semester to start to pick up that business class at a local community college or online, check yourself in at Psychology for Photographers.  I promise you will never regret book marking her blog or subscribing to email updates.  This is the most valuable tool I can pass on for the business aspect of photography, so cherish it, stalk it and absorb her lessons.  Stay tuned for more helpful tips, education, hot leads and more!

New Clones & Hints.

People love clone shots.  I hear more feedback about my clones than any of my other images.  I don’t mind however my clones are some of my favorite work.  Lately I’ve been getting back into the craft, expanding on my previously explored basics.

This has drawn more attention to my work and people have been asking about the process.

Well I’ve already wrote an entire “how to: clones series” in my old blog.  One person liked it…. that took a long time to put together.  So this time I’m not going to isolate so much of my time on something that I wont know if anyone benefits from.  This time I will just keep posting hints / tips about the process through out my blog entries.  Now and then I will just release a clone shot and some how to know how / great tips to make yours stand apart from others, for those of you who already know how to make them.

Let’s begin.  With tips on shooting.  I wont give them out all at once.  After we go over all the little things I can remember about shooting them, I’ll start the second part of the series, the editing process.

Clone Tip #1 

• Get a sturdy tri-pod.  I personally use a Vanguard with a ball-head built for my camera weight class.  You want absolutely no shake or wiggle in the head / connection area between tri-pod and camera.
• You want your frame fixed and the support sturdy.
• Take different articles of clothing.  Doesn’t have to be entire outfits though the effect is spectacular, just minor changes to an outfit or something that can easily be changed multiple ways in photoshop.  Such as an accessory that the color of could be changed easily.  A plain t-shirt of a solid color that could also be changed easily.
• Consider a theme if any.  Do you want to see how many people you can fit into a frame?  Do you want to tell a story?  Both?  Props are good for interaction between clones but you don’t want too many to clutter up your frame.
• Take a photo of your scene without your subject first.
• Think about how much detail contrast you want between your b/g and your subjects.  Before you start placing subjects you should consider if you want a regular b/g or HDR.

That is enough for now as I’ve pulled another all nighter in the office and need to take a nap before I get anymore technical.  Tune in later for more.  They will come spontaneously but  you can always tag search clone in my blog to locate the posts with tips.  Get those gears going for now!