The Pro Photo Business Forum

For a limited time our 12 Month membership, normally $50, is now 50% off. Use coupon code “photo”. Click the Join button above.

Welcome to the Pro Photo Business Forum. We are a friendly community of business conscious portrait and wedding photographers. Our goal is to help amateur photographers transition into professional photographers by providing a safe environment to ask pressing business questions and receive honest, straight forward critiques of your photography.

Here are some additional things you will receive with your membership.

Simply use the coupon code “photo” in the registration process.

This membership drive will end on 6/27.

Just a last minute warning before the next issue of “Aric On Photography” starts.

Load this blog entry first: http://solarisstudios.com/2010/06/16/nair-2/

Attend The Teleseminar Here: http://AttendThisEvent.com/?eventid=13453302

Tonight I’ll be reviewing a wedding I shot last weekend from beginning to end! It should be a good lecture packed with information.

Make sure to download last weeks lecture free of charge before I take it down in three or four days and replace it with tonight’s lecture.

I know that many of you were wanting me to discuss contracts on the next teleseminar. I’m just not prepared to do that talk yet as I am attempting to line up a guest speaker that will be able to help us on the subject.

My next lecture I think will be very pleasing though. I got the idea while I was shooting a beautiful Indian wedding last night.

I have a new intern working with me. On top of spending about 30 hours a week with me at the studio, she has another job she is working. One thing I have been trying to teach her is how to shoot a wedding, and I have started out by showing her just the basic “Meat and Potatoes” way of shooting a wedding. However, last night she was not with me, and I know that she wanted to be.

My guess is, that there are quite a few people out there that would like to tag along with me at a wedding.

So my idea for Wednesday’s lecture is to show you the entire wedding I just shot, and break it down for you step by step! I want to share with you what I expect from associate photographers when they turn in their edited weddings to me. I want to share with you a “Meat And Potatoes” wedding.

What do I mean by “Meat And Potatoes”? I mean, I am going to share with you what I have learned to shoot over years of shooting weddings. I want to share with you how I photograph a wedding from beginning to end.

One this particular lecture, you will need to make sure that you have an internet connection.

Hope to see you there.

Please fill out the form below to be directed to the next free teleseminar.

See the date and time of my next telesemianr.

A man is standing in a hole.  The hole is 50’ deep and 50’ wide.  He stands at the bottom, alone, scanning the top edge for movement.  Suddenly, he sees someone standing on the edge.

The man in the hole yells to the man on the edge.  “Jump in” the man yells.  “I can solve your problem”.

The man in the hole must use language to persuade the fearful individual to jump in.  Trust must be established in a very short time.

This then is the way of business for many.  Advertising is used to bring people to the edge, and the business owner tries to get the people he/she has attracted to “jump in”.

Now lets take another look at how this can play out.

A man is standing in a hole, and on the edge approaches an individual who has heard the call of the business owner, but something is different this time.  On the top edge of the hole, the visitor finds a ramp spiraling gradually and gently to the bottom of the hole to the expert waiting at the bottom.

As the visitor begins their journey into the hole, they encounter one delight after another.  Each delight communicates that the waiting expert understands their plight, and that help lies ahead.  Each new delight is free with no risk, and the visitor travels further, until the end of the ramp is near, at which point the visitor may choose to proceed further.

If the visitor has found their pain lessened during their journey, then they are likely to make a trade.

Welcome to the Pro Photo Business Forum.  This site is designed to help amateur portrait photographers transition into professional photographers.  During your visit, make sure to read the articles in our blog.  You will also want to download a free Podcast of our last FREE Teleseminar.  Make sure to sign up to be notified when our next free teleseminar is about to begin.

Additional delights await those that choose to continue on their journey with us.

My name is Aric Hoek, and I am the Administrator and Creator of the Pro Photo Business Forum.  How can I be of service?

Thank you for visiting the Pro Photo Business Forum.  Please come back again to download our next free podcast.

Spray and Pray
by: Bryan Lindsey
Visit us on the web: Houston Wedding Photographer
Fan us on Facebook!

We have all probably heard the term “spray and pray.” It refers to the setting of the camera on an automatic mode and then taking as many pictures as possible in the hopes than some of the images will be good. As amateurs, this may be how we got our start – while taking pictures of this and that, every roll of 24 exposures had one or two images that made our friends and family say “wow.”

I cannot think of a worse strategy when it comes to photographing the biggest day in someone’s life. When the big moments arrive we need to be meticulous, steady and sure of ourselves and our equipment.

But can we deploy the “spray and pray” model in other areas of our photography? I argue that we can. Consider these two scenarios: First, we walk into a bridal session. The bride is stunning, the dress is perfect, the light is good, but…the location is terrible. As a pro, we should be able to make this work – we should be able to create art, especially with all the variables that we have going for us. But it just doesn’t come out spectacularly. Maybe we couldn’t connect well with the bride, maybe we couldn’t get creative enough, maybe we got rushed out of the venue, or whatever. The shoot is good, but not the greatness we were hoping for. The second scenario is a thrown together engagement shoot (maybe even a TFC with friends). Two folks show up, not particularly nicely dressed but very much in love. You walk out the front door to go play around, and you come back with portfolio-worthy images.

I’ve experienced both of these scenarios, maybe you have too. The point is that we don’t always know where those killer shots are going to come from. So if we can rein in the “spray and pray” process and make it mean “shoot several different poses” or “shoot several different locations” or “shoot several different sessions,” we can’t help but increase our chance of taking great photos. I honestly believe that every time I bring the camera up to my eye, I have the chance to take the greatest photo that I have ever taken – and I bring that attitude to my sessions and weddings.

So don’t spray and pray in the sense of randomly snapping away without applying photographic principles. But you might be pleasantly surprised at the images you “stumble upon” while you increase the quantity and quality of your shooting.

Who is Bryan, and why should I care?: Houston Wedding Photographer