If you and your camera are inseparable – if your images are really good – if YOU are the one always pressed into service when the need for pictures arises (and you love doing this) you have probably already asked yourself if you could make money taking pictures.
The answer is YES, you can!
How? Develop a plan – determine a course of action – and do it!

All the time that you have spent over the years, taking pictures for everyone –free - can now be viewed as an investment. Others know your work. You have experience! This is good. Friends can be your best advertisers. They can also be your customers. They have all – at one time or another – paid to have their picture taken. You, too, have probably paid to have your picture taken. Now YOU can meet their needs.

Let others know what you are doing Having a small amount of business cards printed works well. They are inexpensive and very effective to hand out; letting others know that you are working into photography for hire now. Hand these out to ALL your friends – “accidentally” hand them more than one – remember they have contacts in many areas that can be pointed back to YOU!

List the types of photography you have done – FREE – within the last two years. They likely include: family reunions
pictures at graduations
families
weddings

Photographers CHARGE for shooting:
family reunions
pictures at graduations
families
weddings

And people are happy to pay. They want pictures! Someone is making money taking pictures – for people that YOU know. Why not YOU?

Look through some of your pictures
Compare these with ones you have seen done by a local photographer for hire. Are yours as good? Can you make as good? Can you make them better? Are you willing to put forth the effort to make them great? - Everyone loves GREAT photos –

Starting to make money taking pictures is EASIER than you think. You already have a good camera – you know how to use it – and you love using it. Now you need to gain experience shooting as a pro:
YOU controlling the shots, in order to make it a great photograph.
YOU selecting the background – the lighting – the poses – the arrangements!
YOU having a theme in mind for a photo session.

These aspects of photography – and more – are within your grasp. How? Just keep doing what you have been doing –shooting for family and friends– but now with a definite purpose in mind.

The next time you are at a get-together - shoot like you would if you were charging for the event. Download these photos and look at them through the eyes of a customer. Would you be willing to pay for these pictures? You are now your own teacher. Get input from others – especially from ones that were there. Listening to their comments is like hearing what a customer thinks.

This is a great learning tool! You can gain experience doing what you love doing, with a new view – taking pictures of willing subjects (because they know you, and you know how to make them look good) and developing you own style of photography.

These are but a couple of ways that you can begin to make money taking pictures.

For more information on how to make money taking pictures and other related subjects you may want to read the article :
http://www.you-can-do-great-photography.com/making-money-taking-pictures.html

This article authored by: http://www.you-can-do-great-photography.com

Child Photography
By: Kael

The field of child photography is challenging but also both enjoyable and profitable – if you like children. Don’t bother pretending, if you really don’t. You may fool a parent – but not the little one.

Tips to help are:
The techniques used in most other fields of photography do not always apply in child photography. The phrase ”hold it” or “freeze” carry very little weight with children. They typically do as they please and if they please. Your assignment is to anticipate what a child may be about to do and capture it.

YOU can turn this into your advantage: Since children don’t always do what you want them to do, or what you expect them to do (actually they rarely do!). A solution often is: don’t expect them to become a cooperative little adult merely because you want to take their picture. Trick them – expect them to act like children. Don’t expect anything in particular. DO this and you can enter the fun and profitable field of child photography.

Know your stuff -
Before you start booking sessions with children you must know exactly what you are capable of doing – what your camera is capable of doing – what all your equipment is capable of doing. Operating your camera and equipment must be second nature. Have your style of photography down pat, so when you start a session your mind is on the child(ren). This takes your complete focus. This is not the time to be fiddling with you camera, or trying to figure out your light setup. Children take 100% of your concentration. For some children the entire shoot may only last 10 minutes – though you feel you have just run a marathon – so you have to be able to get in position , get the most cooperation from the child, get great shots. At times, this has to be done very quickly, BUT you cannot make the child feel they are being rushed.

Know your subjects -
With children, you must expect the unexpected. At different ages children are capable of doing different things. The more you know what they typically do during some of these stages, the better images you are going to capture. And the happier you make your clients – which, in turn, makes you financially happy.

During a session photographing children you can get a variety of poses, expressions and antics. In no other field of photography are you liable to get such variety. The more you learn about little ones the better child photographer you will be. Children are not just children until they become adults –they come in all sizes. Between four months and four years you can place them into quite a few categories: 4-6 mos, 6-12 mos, 12-18 mos, 18-24 mos, and then you can lengthen out the age span. Awareness of these ages are needed to help you - the photographer - be aware of the limitations children (especially little ones) have.

Listening to the parent can help toward a successful session.
You can learn specific things about their child that will make it or break it:
Are they afraid of certain things or sounds?
What are their special likes?
Do they like books?
How comfortable are they with a stranger approaching them? You do NOT want to spook a little one; the scheduled time may not allow for you to win their confidence.

Be ready with that camera when you first introduce something new –you do not get a second chance to get first reactions!

In most areas of photography a tripod is great for sharp photos. However with child photography you do not always have such a luxury. Once they reach the moving around stage, a tripod limits your ability to capture expressions and poses. Be mindful of your camera settings – keep that shutter speed fast enough to prevent blurring – and be ready to move quickly!

Child photography allows for close-up portraits as well as the child engaged in some activity – taking their socks off – in a box / tub with toys – climbing on or out of something. There is really no limit. As you continue to gain experience in working with children of various ages you will become more adept at learning what typically works with different age groups.

Child photography is a challenge – but don’t worry sometime it turns into children photography. Mom has twins – big brother / little sister – maybe three little cousins. The list goes on! Imagine two sister and they both have triplets! Other than the obvious difficulty of getting multiple little subjects in any semblance of position, conducive to a memorable photo you need to bring everyone’s eyes to a central focal point. Tricky, but not impossible. Adding something NEW to catch their attention, at the moment you press the shutter, can work. Use this sparingly, because when child photography turns into children photography getting all their attention on the same thing is quite a feat. The beauty of digital is no limits to the exposures you take and you can take a quick peek on the spot.

Parents can be quite helpful during the photo session. Children often are more confident with a parent nearby. Also, do not overlook the value of older brother and sisters. They have a relationship with the little one like no one else! Often they can get their little brother or sister to giggle, make faces, hold things and a host of other things that may be exactly what you need. Plus, you have the opportunity of including more subjects in the photos, which translates into a larger photo package for the customer!

As you advance in child photography you will want a lighting setup and a backdrop. A three light setup – consisting of a main light fill light and a background light – is ideal. However if you are just beginning you can do great photography with a lot less. Experiment, and add as needed. If you are using a backdrop keep the child at least four feet from the backdrop (if possible). This eliminates shadows and prevents the backdrop from competing with your subject.

Take your act on the road -
You can do child photography at the park - on the beach - in the backyard, just as easily as in a studio or home – maybe more so - and nature will take care of the lighting for you, as long as you select open shade.

Items to have on hand:
Depending on the ages and whether you are shooting indoors or outdoors you need a supply of items to catch and keep their interest and that look great in a photo:
rattles
feather dusters
soft toys
dolls
hats
mirrors
a telephone (the bigger the better)
a big whistle
duplicate toys (for twins & overly competitive little ones)
treats & snacks

There is much more to be written on child photography. For more information on this, and other related subjects, you may want to read the article
http://www.you-can-do-great-photography.com/child-photography.html

This article authored by: http://www.You-Can-Do-Great-Photography.com

Create Eye-catching Photos Using Depth of Field
By: B.L. Hill

There are lots descriptions of this effect that go into great detail, giving all sorts of formulas and diagrams. While these are very useful to more advanced photographers, the purpose of this article is to introduce you to the subject and to get you trying things out for yourself to increase your understanding and ability to use this effect to best advantage.

What is Depth of Field and why should you learn about it?

Depth of field refers to the distance in front of and behind the subject (focal point) of the photo that remain in 'acceptable' focus.

Have you ever seen a photo of a flower for example where the flower was in clear focus while the background was out of focus? It really made that flower the focus of attention as your eye is not distracted by details of the background. This is an example of using a shallow depth of field to enhance a photograph. A shallow depth of field means that only objects within a small distance range are in focus.

Now think of the landscape photos you may have taken. How much of the photo was in focus? Odds are most if not all of the photo was in focus. This is usually what we want in a landscape photo and is an example of a deep depth of field.

What causes the changes in depth of field?

Basically, changes in any one or a combination of the following affect the depth of field :
the aperture size
distance to the subject
film/sensor size (some say focal length of the lens is the third factor)

Aperture (the opening through which the light passes) size is controlled on SLR (single lens reflex) cameras by adjusting the f-stop. The lower the f-stop, the wider the aperture and the shallower the depth of field. The higher the f-stop, the smaller the aperture, the deeper the depth of field. In digital cameras (non-SLR, also called compact digital cameras) there is no f-stop control as such. Most compact digital cameras have a setting for portrait or close-up/macro and one for landscape. These settings change the aperture size and thus the depth of field.

All other things being equal, the farther away you are from your subject the greater the depth of field. When you are taking a close-up photo (assuming your camera has manual focus) you will have to pay close attention to proper focus as the depth of the area that will be in focus is much less.

The third item mentioned above is film or sensor size. Digital cameras use sensors to capture the image. These sensors are very small, for example ¼ inch. Film, on the other hand is much larger. The most common size is 35 mm or about 1 ¼ inches. The smaller the media used to capture the image, the greater the depth of field. Generally speaking, digital cameras have less of a range of depth of field than do cameras that use film.

What is the easiest way to change the depth of field?

The easiest adjustment to make the change the depth of field is to change the aperture size.

If you have a compact digital camera you may find it difficult to create a photo with the subject in clear focus and the background really out of focus due to the small sensor size and the relative lack of aperture control. Try taking photos of the same subject using the portrait mode and the landscape mode and see what sort of difference you can achieve.

If, however, you have an SLR camera you can experiment by changing the f-stop and seeing the difference in the area that is in focus. If you have a through the lens view finder, your lens probably has a ‘preview’ button that stops the lens down allowing you to see the effect as you look through the view finder. Note that when you change the f-stop the amount of light reaching the film or sensor changes. You will have to adjust the shutter speed to compensate for this – the faster the shutter speed (higher the number) the less light with reach the film.

The best way to get a feel for depth of field is to take photos with various combinations of f-stops and shutter speeds. Remember to note what combinations you used so when you view the results you can match cause and effect.

B.L Hill has been taking photographs for over forty years using a variety of equipment and media. For more articles and some great ebooks visit the photography tips website at www.photographyresearch.com

Photography Tips – Lighting your Subject
By: B.L. Hill

Lighting your subject is, obviously, very important for the successful capture of the ‘perfect’ image. The type and intensity of the light can dramatically change the mood of the photograph. Sometimes the effect is not obvious until the picture is developed. Even with the digital camera, although you can see an image immediately, the size of the view screen makes it difficult to notice some of the differences.

The best way to learn how light affects the final image is to experiment – ah the joy of the digital camera – you don’t have to wait to get the film developed to see the results! Try taking pictures with and without the flash. Try using alternate sources of light. Try using settings other than the camera default settings.

1. Taking pictures with/without a flash

Many cameras have an automatic flash setting that I find most people used 99% of the time. This may not always get you the result you want. For example, on a very bright day your flash will not fire as your camera senses enough light. However, you may find that the shadows cast are very strong and detract from the photo. Most digital cameras today have a setting called ‘fill flash’. You can use this setting to ‘fill’ in the shadows created by the strong sunlight.

The opposite of this is to not use the flash when the camera wants to use it. Each year at Halloween I love to carve pumpkins. I try to create a new design every year and take photos of them. I take them out to the front step (in the dark), light the candles and position my self so that the flame is hidden behind the design but the light comes shining through. If I were to use a flash, all I would see would be an orange pumpkin with stuff carved out – not what I want. If I turn off the flash, I can then take a great photo that shows the design as glowing against the dark pumpkin.

2. Alternate source of additional light (other than your flash)

Instead of using the flash to illuminate your subject, try reflected light. Aluminum foil is a great reflector of light and is cheap, lightweight and easy to carry. During a walk in the woods, I found a small group of delicate pink flowers growing on a moss-covered stump. There was no direct light on the flowers and a flash would have completely washed out the colour. I used my trusty piece of aluminum foil to reflect the light falling to the ground a few feet away towards the flowers. You can adjust the amount of light by moving or crumpling the foil.

3. Different settings

The default settings are not always the best. If you are taking a photo of people with dark skin (not a portrait but a photo including most if not all the body) and you use the automatic settings, you may find that there is little detail in their faces. Opening the shutter by one f-stop (maybe more if they are really dark) should give you the light you need to show their faces. On the other hand, let’s say you have a scene where you have some brightly colored leaves against a dark background. If there is a fair amount of the dark background showing, using the automatic settings will most likely overexpose the leaves, losing the vibrancy of the colour. In this instance, closing the shutter by one f-stop (or so) will bring capture the bright colours. Remember that your light meter sets your camera to give you a ‘mid-gray’ exposure. If your subject and background are quite different in value, then the default settings are probably not going to give you the best results.

For your experiments to have lasting value, record them. I carry a small coil notebook that I can use to note anything different I do. Some of the things I note include:

Identify your photos – In addition to numbering them, for the first photo of a group of experiments, I describe it so I will know which one it is when I get around to looking at them. For me, this is the most reliable way to know to which photos my notes belong as the camera date is usually set off and I may take photos for days before downloading.

Note the ambient light conditions – indicate the type of light (direct sunlight, full shade, light overcast, 60 watt bulb etc) and the direction of the light in relation to your subject (from right to left, front to back, etc). If you have an SLR camera, note any variations in f-stop or shutter speed you make from those derived from using your light meter.

When you have developed your photos (or downloaded them) look at the results and draw your conclusions about what worked and did not, what effects you liked and what you did not. Think about what you were trying to capture in the photo and whether the lighting you used enhanced or detracted from it.

Use your imagination and try these techniques – you have nothing to loose and you may just have more fun with your camera!

B.L Hill has been taking photographs for over forty years using a variety of equipment and media. For more articles and some great ebooks visit the photography tips website at http://www.photographyresearch.com

Black and White Photography: No Color is Good
by: Felix Zhucha

The world of black and white photography is considered a Fine Art form and it is done to induce an emotion of timelessness and freeze a moment at any given time. It goes without saying that a few great photographers like Ansel Adams and Steigletz have made black and white photography what it is to today and even long after their deaths keep it strong and alive. This type of a picture is a true classic form of art and extremely breathe taking. There can never be enough said about black and white photography, but the pictures themselves will speak volumes for all that are looking at them.

Black and white film comes in a few different classes. The tabular black and white film is a new and thinner emulsion film that has more of a surface area and it gives off less depth with high sharpness. Conventional film is the standard type that gives off a superior detail to highlight and was used before the tabular film was introduced in 1988. Orthochromatic film is the best for shots of people and landscapes and gives off a tone that stands above all other film types. Chromogenic film uses dyes and not the silver particles that are used by the other film types. There is no control over the development process and it is more difficult to work with.

There really is no other special equipment or camera that is needed for black and white photography, only the film. When you bring in your roll of film to a store to be developed just let the person behind the counter know what it is. Some places specialize in the development of black and white and it is best to use their services to gain the true feelings you desired to achieve and portray with the photos. Other places develop this type of film, but in return you may not get the true color, or lack of color you desired.

About The Author:
Felix Zhucha has some popular black and white photographs on his site - http://www.postersphotosartwork.com

10 Tips In Better Photography
by: Michael Colucci

Taking a good photo isn’t as hard as you may think. You don’t need the most expensive camera or years of experience, just 10 simple tips.

Enjoy!

Tip 1 - Use All Your Available Space

Don't be afraid to use all the space in your photo. If you want to take a picture of something, it's ok for it to take up the whole shot with no or very little background showing. Keep distractions out of your shot

Tip 2 - Study Forms

This is a vital aspect to photography. Understanding forms in your photos. Don't see an object, she its shape and its form and find the best angle to photograph it from. Form is all around us and I highly suggest you read as many books on it as possible.

Tip 3 - Motion In Your Photos

Never have motion in your photos if you are photographing a still object. If there is something moving while you are trying to photograph a stationery object, your photo won't turn out anywhere near as well. Also never put a horizon line in the center of your frame.

Tip 4 - Learn To Use Contrasts Between Colors.

Some of the best photos have shades of white, gray and black. You can take great shots with just one color on your subject, but the contrasts between colors in a shot is what makes you a great photographer.

Tip 5 - Get Closer To Your Subject

This is one of the biggest mistakes most photographers make, not getting close enough to their subject. Get up and personal and close the distance gap. You can always reshape and resize a good shot but you can't continue to blowup a distant object.

Tip 6 - Shutter Lag

Shooting action shots with digital camera's can be tricky due to shutter lags. What this means is, when you press the button to take the photo, it can take up to a second for the shutter to take a photo, by that time what you were photographing would have moved or changed somehow. This means you have to compensate for shutter lag by predicting what your subject is going to do and taking the photo just before it takes the action you want. More expensive digital cameras don't have this problem.

Tip 7 - Pan

If you are taking an action shot and your shutter speed is slow, pan with the object. Follow through with the subject, from start to finish and one of those shots will be a winner. You have more chance of getting a good shot if you take more then one photo.

Tip 8 - Continuous Shots

To pan like I suggested above you will need a camera that does continuous shots and doesn’t need to stop and process after every shot.

Tip 9 - How To Take Fantastic Night Time Shots

Night time shots can be spectacular, almost magical.... if done right! If not they can look horrible. Really horrible. Without adequate lighting, even good camera's can turn out crappy photos if the photographer doesn't know what he or she is doing.

Tip 10 - Study Your Manual

If your digital camera has a special night time mode, read the manual and follow their instructions on how to use it properly.

About The Author:
Michael Colucci is a technical writer for http://www.photography-tips.org - A site that offers the latest tips on photography.

Freelance Photography: How to Begin Your Career
By: Colin Hartness

Photography is a vast world. There are many different types of photography and many different kinds of people that enjoy it. It’s a hobby that be relatively inexpensive or one that you can invest a lot of money on. Photos are so special because they give us memories of times and places and events in our lives. We can hold onto these memories forever with a photograph.

As much as people love photos, many people love taking them even more. Whether it’s a mother who takes photos at every of her children’s moments in life (first smile, first step, first spaghetti meal) or maybe it’s the father who never forgets his camera for a football or basketball game, or maybe it’s the young girl who loves nature hikes with her camera; these people are not exceptions. They all have an eye for those special moments and they all appreciate the camera’s ability to capture that moment and freeze it in time forever.

What is Freelance Photography?

What if you love photography so much you wish you could do it for a living? I mean, you actually get paid for your photographs! But you work solely for yourself, selling each photo or series of photos individually. You don’t have a boss. You work sometimes on assignment and you may sell to magazines. That is freelance photography.

Freelance photography may be your entire career or it may start out as something you do in your spare time but begin making money from it. It’s just like freelance writing in this sense that many people turn it into a career and enjoy the freedom of working essentially for themselves on their own time and making money doing something they love doing anyway.

How to Build a Portfolio

To start getting jobs as a freelance photographer, you need a portfolio. A portfolio will show samples of your work. Even if you have never had photographs published or publicly displayed, you can start a portfolio of your best work and then add onto it if you win photography contests or start receiving paid work.

How to Get Jobs

As we mentioned, building a portfolio is the first step in submitting your work for pay but when it comes right down to it, it’s the quality of the photo that will determine if you get paid for it. Some people have more of a natural talent for taking great pictures than others but it is a skill that anyone can learn. There are schools dedicated to the art of photography and you can even get a degree in it. If you are just getting started, you can look into classes provided by your local community center or community college. Some cities have photography groups that meet to share photos and tips. There are also many groups online dedicated to photography and freelance photography.

You need to view as many famous photographs as possible. Take a look at what is getting published and compare it to your own photos. This allows you to compare and learn from other’s work. It takes more than just point and shoot to get a great photo. You need to learn about focus, lighting, colors and backgrounds and much more.

Once you start learning about photography and creating a portfolio, you can start submitting your photos to contests and magazines. Get a list of photography markets and start submitting to ones that accept your type of photos. Don’t expect to make it to the big times right away. Few people actually achieve this but you can start small and eventually make your way into a nice living from freelance photography.

About The Author:
Looking for information about Photography?
Go to: http://www.asaphotography.com
'ASA Photography' is published by Colin Hartness -
An excellent resource for Photography!
Check out more Photography articles at: http://www.asaphotography.com/archive