picture eye candy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas Version 1

With photography you can soar high above the ground or explore deep down in the oceans. If you are not adventurous you can stay on the ground and photograph ocean creatures at an aquarium. Its up to you where your photography will take you.

The information in this book was learned over many years with the help of other photographers. I want to thank them by sharing what they have taught me. I think as photographer we should give back by helping and teaching other photographers.

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Table of Contents My Philosophy on Photography

6

Reading,Raw, & Practice

7

Understanding ISO

8

Say Bye Bye To Auto Learning Techniques: 10 Aperture

11

Shutter Speed

13

A Few Facts

15

My Take on Program Mode &

15

Advanced Operations

15

What Mode Should You Use

16

Exposure Triangle

18

Metering

19

Just A Tool

21

The Inverse Square Law

22

Things to Think About & Consider

25

Tips on Buying & Saving Money

25

Recommended Equipment

26

Macro On A Budget

28

Other Equipment & Gear

32

Shooting Tips

33

Growing As A Photographer

36

Models,Savings,& Funky Outfits

36

DIY Gear

37

Photography Snobs

57

When To Shoot Outside

57

Projects & Challenges!

58

Photo Tips

60

Secret Science’s To A Great Image!

81

What Should You Photograph?

84

Props & Outfits

89

Locations

90

Way To Save Your Setups & Ideas!

93

The Business Side Of Photography

94

Do Not Let Yourself Get Burned Out

98

Non-Photography Items You Could Use

99

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My Philosophy On Photography Photography is an art. My camera is like a paint brush with unlimited colors, shapes, and textures. My eyes are used to see the art and to find the subjects. Over the years of learning photography and understanding different techniques. This is a must for my art. Yes anybody can take a photo or a snapshot using the cheapest or the most expensive camera. However You must be able to see the art in your subjects. Also have the skills to create your artistic vision. You can learn the technical part of photography. Understanding all the rules is very easy. Seeing the art can be learned but it much harder.

Are you a photographer or artist? Im both When I shoot I am a photographer, when I am editing I can be an artist. Because I have an artistic license, I can decide how my final image will look. Depending on what my final vision I may go very artistic or keep my final vision looking more like how the image look in the camera just using simple darkroom editing.

You will never please every Critic. Photograph what you love and enjoy your work. Take the positive with the negative but do not dwell over the negative. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so is your photographs. Always remember that.

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Reading,Raw, & Practice Read your owners manual. Really read your owners manual because sometimes in the notes There are hidden options that are not explained in there sections ( They Should Be In My Opinion). For example on my old 20d camera under self timer you have only a 10 second timer.There was no 2 second timer like most cameras. But in notes in mirror lockup section. Using mirror lockup with the timer will give you a 2 second timer.

Start using Raw. Raw will give you the best photo after you process the image, and raw can bring back a poorly exposed image. In Raw you can fix your white balance. JPEG just cannot do that as well because you have less data to use.

Aways try to get the image in camera as correct as you can.

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With digital cameras there is no reason not to practice. How much does it cost to take a photo? Nothing unless you print it.

Its always free not like the days of film. By all means shoot in auto. If you are new and do not have the confidence yet to get out of auto. To shoot in auto is better than not to shoot at all.

You should take the time and practice to understand Aperture,Shutter, and Manual modes.

Understanding ISO ISO Measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain or noise. 100 ISO is the best in image quality.

Higher ISO will give you more grain or noise in your image which reduces the quality of your image. Each brand of camera and model will perform differently so test your ISO to see how hight you can set your ISO and still get a usable image for your taste. Lets Say your camera ISO will goto ISO12800 will it at that setting give you an image that you like or is useable. Probably not, sorry to say.

Always try to use the lowest possible ISO to get the shot.

Sometimes you may need to use a higher ISO. Grain or noise is part of photography You just have to deal with it the best that you can. In low light use the widest aperture and the lowest possible ISO to get the best image quality.

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Say Bye Bye To Auto, Learning Techniques Here are a few way to get out of auto and to understand what it take to make a correct exposure.

Going from auto to manual super fast. Use any auto mode you want to try. Set your camera to one of your auto modes.

Use Full auto,portrait,landscape,close-up,sports, or night portrait. In one of your auto modes take a picture, look at the info of that picture. Now copy all those setting in manual mode. Take the shot in manual mode. If the lighting did not change or the speed of your subject did not change. Your auto mode should look just like the manual mode photograph.

By practicing each mode out will help you to understanding your settings needed for the different types of photography subjects. As a bonus now your image can be in Raw instead of JPEG. This is great for someone who is brand new to photography. (P) mode shoots in raw. I don’t recommend using (P) mode to learn to get out of auto. As you use the other auto mode then copying the data over to manual mode you start learning where the controls are to adjust the aperture and shutter speed.

The best tip to get out of auto mode is just take time to learn by practicing each mode. I recommend starting with aperture mode.

Your camera will have ( A or AV ) on your camera dial depending on your brand of camera. This mode you might be using most of the time. Next mode to learn would be Shutter mode ( T or TV ). After learning Aperture and Shutter mode head over to Manual Exposure mode ( M ). This will be so easy to understand and learn after learning Aperture and Shutter modes. Once you learn all three mode you will be able to handle any subject to photograph with ease. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Aperture Use a tripod and fix your lens about 50mm. Use a non moving subject for Aperture. Make sure you have objects in your background. I recommend doing this in your house. Start with your widest Aperture f4.5 take a shot ,change your aperture to f5.6 take a shot ,keep changing your aperture till you go all the way to f22. Do not use auto ISO! Set your ISO to your lowest setting and keep that setting for all your shots.

What did you learn without even looking at any of the images you took? What did you learn by looking at the f4.5 image compared to the f22 image?

Do you see how blurry the background is at f4.5 compared to the f22 background. 100 ISO was used for both of these images. Did you notice the shutter speed difference? With the aperture of f4.5 lets more light in so your shutter speed is way faster than using f22. At f22 very little light is let in so you need a much slower shutter speed. If you understand ISO, you could increase your ISO to get a faster shutter speed at f22 but this will increase the noise of your image. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Above left shows your aperture’s opening @ f/1.4 lots of light inters the camera and @ f/16 because of a smaller aperture opening less light inters the camera.

Above right shows how depth of field works. A wide aperture gives you less depth of field. A small aperture gives you more depth of field.

Above left show kind of a scale of f/2.8 to f/22. Sometimes a good starting point if you are not for sure how much of your image you want in focus a good starting point is f/8. Above right shows that a wide aperture of like f/2.8 lets more amount of light hitting the sensor. On the other hand a small aperture like f/16 lets less light in to hit the sensor. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Above Diagram shows how using the same aperture for your subjects.

Using the same camera,lens,and settings your depth of field changes based on how close to the subject to the front of the lens is. There probably a scientific rule to better explain this. Here is the simple way to explain. The closer the lens to the subject. The less depth of field you will have. The further away the lens is to the subject you will have more depth of field.

Shutter Speed Lets move onto Shutter mode. Use a tripod and fix your lens around 50mm. You going to need a moving subject. Try running water in a sink with a spoon sitting under the running water to make a splash. Start with a fast shutter speed of around 1000. Take a shot . Go slower and take another shot. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Keep going slower and take many shots till you get a 1 seconds shot. Use auto ISO! . Do not use flash. Tip extra lighting is needed for higher speeds. What did you learn?

High shutter speeds need lots of light. Even using 85 watt cool light your ISO is very high also. Slower speeds need less light and low ISO. Also some window lighting help light this setup. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

A quick note on freezing motion. If you want to freeze motion, a speed light is the way to go.

A Few Facts: Aperture controls Depth of field & Amount of light.

Shutter controls Motion & Ambient light.

ISO controls how sensitive your cameras sensor is to light & quality of image.

My Take On Program Mode & Advance Operations The real scoop on P Mode! P mode means Program Mode not Pro Mode or Professional Mode. Program mode is kind of like full auto mode with a few differences. One you can now shoot in raw, thats a plus. Also you can freely set your Auto focus points,Drive Mode,and your built-in Flash. This is part of the advance operations mode on the mode dial. This mode is very limited and I don’t think it give you enough for a creative exposure. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

My take on calling Advance Operations modes could scare new photographers away from using them. Yes they are more advanced then auto modes but the name could be scary for new photographers. I would like the camera manufactures to call this Creative Exposure Mode. This sounds less way less scarier than Advance Operations. A simple name change could make a big difference.

What Mode Should You Use What mode do you need to be in to take a creative photograph? It depends on your subject and how you want your image to look. Ask yourself whats more important in your image. Is Depth Of Field more important than Motion or lack of motion by freezing motion.

Lets say Depth of field is more important than Motion! You would use Aperture Mode or on the other hand Motion is more important than Depth Of Field! You would use Shutter Mode. Here is the tricky one: You need a certain Depth Of Field and a certain Shutter Speed for the image you are trying to capture! This is when you use Manual Mode.

Manual Mode will give you the most flexibility to capture the image the way you want it to look. Depending on the situation you may have to give up some Depth Of Field or Shutter speed even after setting them to get the shot in manual.If you have all the time in the world to get the shot. Manual mode is the way to go. Once you learn how to change your settings with ease. You can shoot in any mode you like. The faster you can change settings the better.

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Depending on the type of photography you shoot will depend on what mode you use the most. Aperture mode may be the mode you use the most or Shutter mode could be the goto mode. Maybe Manual mode is the one you use the most.

Understanding all the mode is in your best interest for that just in case moments. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Exposure Triangle If you learned and understand how Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO works together. Thats the exposure triangle. Your camera uses all three to get a correct exposed image based on what the camera thinks it is.

I am not going into depth about Exposure Triangle. For your camera to make an exposure. your camera uses three things!

Your camera uses ISO,Aperture,and Shutter to make an exposure. These are the elements used in the Exposure Triangle.

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Metering One of the least used tools your camera has is the Metering Modes. This is a powerful tool that gets overlooked by most photographers. Most of the time it get used only in Evaluative Metering. By just changing your metering modes will change the whole look of your subject. Here is one way I use metering that your cameras manual did not teach you.

Here Is an example why to use different metering. I want to photograph a flower outside on a sunny day but I want a black or at least a very dark background. If your flower has direct sunlight on it and the background is in shade. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

I will use Partial Metering and Spot metering and later in my computer pick the flower I like the best. Other times to change your metering or give it a try is wildlife and tight head shots with a black backdrop to get true black.

Using Center-Weighted Average Metering when you need more area to be exposed than Partial metering. Each mode has there advantages in certain situations. By taking the same shot in each of the metering modes that your camera has. You will see how different you image looks just by changing the metering modes.

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Your camera sensor thinks the world is 18% gray. Every image you take your camera is trying to expose the image to 18% gray. This is why when you shoot snow. Your image will be underexpose by about 1-1/2 Stop. The fix for a correct exposure just overexpose by +1-1/2 stops. Now on the other hand shooting a black cat your camera will overexpose by about 2 to 4 stops. The fix is to underexpose by -2 to -4 stops. Now your black cat is black not grey.

Just A Tool No matter how good your camera is. Its just a tool. Like a quality brush set for a beginning painter. His paintings in the beginning will probably be bad. Only by learning and practice will he improve. But once he has practice and learned his art. He will be able to make a masterpiece even using any type of brush you put in his hand. Reading and watch how to videos on photography is great way to understand,and get inspired to take great photos. To become a better photographer is to use what you learned in those books and videos by grabbing your photography gear and practice the information. Hands on learning and doing is the best way to learn and improve your skill. That means practice. It all boils down to shoot as often as possible, practice what you learned.

Could you in the dark without looking at your camera know where all of your buttons and dials are to take an image? You may need to do this one day like at a concert. When you are watching a television show or a movie at home. Just play with your camera buttons and dials till you know where every button and dial is.

I was told you do not start to take great pictures until you reach about 10,000 shot . Now if you just take the same shot every time the same way you will never improve. So by practicing and trying different techniques is the only way to improve your photography.

Give yourself time. The more you shoot the better your images will be. This does not happen overnight. Give yourself at least two to three years of shooting to truly see how far you can grow as a photographer. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

The Inverse Square Law Do you know the Inverse Square Law? As a photographer you need to understand The Inverse Square Law.

In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity.

The Sun,light bulb,continuous lighting,and flash all apply to this law.

Lets break this down, example your background is a white background. Simply moving your subject closer to or father away from the background will make your background White,grey, or even black. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Here is another example: Place your subject close to the light source with your backdrop some distance away. If you correctly expose your subject the backdrop will be very under exposed.

Now if we keep our subject and the backdrop in the same place.

Move the light source away from your subject. Your backdrop will be less under exposed.

Kiss Breakdown ( Keep It Simple stupid ) Placing your subject close to your light source make your background dark . Placing your subject away from the light source makes your background bright.

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Things To Think About & Consider You do not buy a Lamborghini with automatic transmission. It would do the Lamborghini no justice. That being said. Learn to get out auto while using a DSLR camera. If you are only going to use auto modes on your camera. Save some money by buying a point and shoot.

Spray and prey: Sometimes you may have to spray and prey. don’t abuse it. Just because your camera can shoot images like a full auto M16 machine gun. You should not rely on it.. Learn to see ahead of the action to get the shot. If you study your subjects like you should. You should be able to predict there moves ahead of time and fire of a short burst of shots to get the image you wanted to capture.

About Processing your image. Lets say you have a badly exposed image. You try to bring it back to an acceptable image using your digital darkroom ( any app like Photoshop,Light Room,and Gimp ) but you cannot bring it back. It is just to far gone. Save the image anyway put it into a folder for the future because editing apps are improving all the time.

Tips On Buying & Saving Money Other than camera stores. If you are thinking vintage. Try antique stores,thrift store,Goodwill,second hand stores and country stores.

They are great for deals on cheap props, and you may find vintage clothes for your models.

Another money saver, is buying used equipment. For tripods,light stands,and backdrop stands . Head over to eBay or Craigslist. I found this to be the place to get the best deals.

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When buying used cameras, lens,speed lights,and lighting. I recommend going with a photography store that sells quality used equipment.

Will that scratch on that used lens show up in your photographs?

Shoot directly into a light source. Check the image by zooming in, if you see color variations then that scratch will show up in your photographs.

Cameras get outdated rather fast. As to lens, they have a lot longer lifespan. So invest into better lens. Do not get me wrong. A kit or a cheap lens, you can have a lot of fun with them also. They may not hold up as long or give you the quality you will need in the future.

My ten year old camera was built to last. Yes it is way outdated. The camera’s body looks like it been in a war. The model has been updated five times by the manufacturer. The camera has no live view, small LCD screen,8MP,and no built in HDR. I did upgrade to a pro model. I still use the outdated camera because it still works and takes very good photographs. This is my fun camera now. I take it with me just about everywhere. The only way I will stop using the outdated camera is when it breaks.

Recommended Equipment Invest in a good tripod for your camera. But cheap tripods are good to use as a light stand. I used a cheap tripod to attach my speed light to. Only if I did not need to go above five feet.

Monopods are great tools to have. I am scared of heights. I have tried many times to over come my fear of heights. I cannot handle being on a ladder over twelve feet. Here comes my Monopod with a tripod head attached to the rescue. I can get much higher shots and still be comfortable on a ladder. This will work with speedlights also. Do you need more reach, use a retractable painters pole. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Get yourself a good UV filter, for all of the lenses you own. I use UV lenses to protect my lenses from sand,salt mist,and flying rocks or flying debris. I prefer to have a broken UV filter then a broken lens. Cover your UV filter in dust and dirt. Back light your subject and take a shot! Thats a cool trick for back lit subjects.

Gels for your flash are great to have. One of the coolest uses is doing a photo shoot at a beach. Set your white balance to the wrong white balance to make the ocean more blue. But your model face now looks blue. The fix is to use a correcting gel filter and a fill flash. Now you have a beautiful model with an awesome blue ocean in the background.

Get yourself a good speedlite and use it off camera, for a much better results. Third parties offer some good choices at a better price. Your pop up flash is just not that powerful and is mounted in one position.

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Using your speed light outside off camera can be tricky unless you use a radio trigger. Third parties is going to be the cheapest way to go.

A quick note: As you grow as a photographer so will your gear. I recommend you should not be afraid of using certain cheaper gear. Using cheaper macro gear to try your hand at macro photography is kind of a smart idea. Before you spend lots of money on a macro lens and finding out you do not care for macro. Some cheaper gear works great. Do your homework before you buy any gear.

Renting Lenses before you buy is a great idea. The lens you think you want to buy may not be the lens you needs.

Spending $1,000.00 or more on a lens then finding out you should have bought a different lens because it was not right for you is a lot of money wasted. Rent before you invest in quality lenses.

Buy a self standing manikin for setting up lighting before you shoot your models. They are great to use as in testing a shot.

You can practice with them. Find a used or a surplus store to save money. Just like in the clothing stores you can dress them in the clothes you want your model to wear for test shot to see if the outfit works together. This will save you so much time and give you more time to shoot your model.

Macro On A Budget Reverse rings for lenses are cheap and great to use for macro on a budget. They are not easy to use but for around $10.00 or less. you can get some great macro shots. The downside you have no auto functions on your camera. You have to use manual for everything. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

I made two test shots using a reverse ring on a kit 18-55mm lens set at around 30mm and 55mm. Also this was handheld by moving the lens back and forth to get the subject in focus. I had to use lots of light because my aperture was around f/16 or smaller. Using reverse rings also reverses your zoom. Setting your zoom at 30mm is closer than at 55mm.

By looking at the test shots did you know what the item was?

The test shot subject was a grain of black pepper corn on top of the pepper grinder. Think of the magnification you can achieve using a reverse ring. This costed around $10.00 for the reverse ring I used. Depth of field is a huge challenge when shooting this close.

Macro extension tubes are another cheap item for macro photography. They work well but also requires more lighting to use. Buying the one with the circuitry connectors will allow you to set your aperture and use auto focus. Your auto focus will fail most of the time. If you cannot focus using auto focus just switch over to manual focus.

Macro Rails are a great little tool for your macro photography.

They are a must for extreme close up to fine tune your focus.

This will eliminate the spray and prey method that you will have to use if you handheld the camera. Macro rails are great to use when you are focus stacking.

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Close up filters are useful to have. You can use them for macro. More likely to get closer to a subject. Another use is putting one on a zoom lens so the zoom can focus closer to a subject. Lets say your zoom closes focus distance to a subject is 1.5 meters . Thats 4.5 feet. You cannot move further back away from your subject. Example at a zoo. You are shooting through the fence. Your subject is two feet away.

Your lens cannot focus, by adding a close up filter, now you can take the shot. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Other Equipment And Gear An old projector is a neat tool to have. Use it as another light source,putting shapes and images as a backdrop. You can also put patterns and shapes directly onto your model. Just add a fog machine for some real cool looks.

A pen and tablet will speed up your digital editing. This is a must if you want to speed up your work flow. Using a pen and tablet will give you more precise control than using a mouse.

Get yourself a fog machine or some long burning smoke bombs. This elements adds a new dimension to your fine art photography and halloween shoots. Also backlight your fog or smoke will look awesome!

A flashlight/torch depending on where you live for the name is a great item to have. You can light up your subject in a way that no other light source can do.

A gas leaf blower can be used in the field for a photo shoot to add wind to your models hair. Yes its loud and the tube need to be modified but it works.

Cheap wallpaper can change your background with little cost.

Great for head shots. Using tape or tacks to mount to a wall.

Fast and easy to change.

Get yourself a wireless shutter release. They are great to use around a bird feeder. Set your camera up near the Bird feeder or a bird house. Cover your camera to hide and protect it. Get it in focus, move away and take a test shot . Now just wait for the birds to come. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

This works at the beach for seagulls. Also on a lake with ducks or swans. Just protect your camera. Its a great little tool. Do you have a shy pet? This trick works for them to. I also knew of a mom used this to take candid play shots of her kids using this trick.

Shooting Tips Do you ever think should I shoot this as a horizontal or vertical shot? Here is the answer, If your main subject is going mostly from top to bottom of frame, shoot vertical,and if its going more towards left to right of the frame shoot horizontal . I shoot the subject both ways. Because most of the time one subject has multiple shots so shoot at least a horizontal and a vertical you may end up with two great images from one subject. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Learn to shoot to crop. Why would you shoot a subject and cut away some of the image? I only do this to make square photos. So if I am shooting a subject. Most of the time, if its a non moving object. I will take three shots. One vertical,one horizontal, and one to crop for a square. I know for sure if I do this. I will get at least two great shots. Sometime three great shots from just one subject. You may prefer one image over the other two. I like to offer my customers different options.

See how close the skull is to the top and bottom of the frame. I want as much data in this image so I can crop this into a square photograph. I recommend to do this to any photo you plan to crop.

Because this image has negative space which is just black. Lost of data in this image is not as important as of other images that has data in the background. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

This Is my square photograph. The more you have to crop an image the less data you will have. As you can see I did not crop off any of my image from the top or bottom. Just of the sides to create a square image.

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You don’t want to loose any data from cropping an image but you still want a square format image. You will need to use your tripod for this technique. First frame up your shot with your main subject, take the shot. Now you can lower or raise up your tripod and take another shot. In editing software resize image by using canvas resize anchor down your main image. Now add the second image and manually combine the image and make it match as close as possible. By doing this your image has not lost any data in fact your image has more data than your camera can take. Another way is to use photomerge This way you could use more than two shots and merge them to make a much larger print with lots of data.

Growing As A Photographer Join a photo club or find another person who like to take photos.

One of the reasons is to learn from each other and safety. If you go on hiking trails its better to have someone with you. I recommend do not go with someone who is not into photography to locations you want to shoot . Its just not a good ideal.

If you think you will grow as a photographer on your own. You are wrong. Not only will you not grow, you will become a worse photographer over time. Other photographer can give you inspiration,ideas,tips,tricks,and a whole different vision because we all see differently.

Models,Saving Money,& Funky Outfits Another way to save money. If you want to hiring a model for a personal photograph shoot. Find other photographers who would like to shoot a model also. See if they will go in on the cost. This is where being in a photography club can come in handy. Do not leave your model in the dark. Tell the model how many people will be taking photographs of him, or her.

Always be professional do not make a bad name for yourself.

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Did you know that dancers makes the best models. They can strike the same pose over and over while jumping or dancing.

If you need a model to jump and you then ask them to jump again the same way you will get i’ll try from the model but dancer are trained to hit that jump the same way every time.

Cheap funky outfits for your models! Just by adding a sheer curtain to a wedding dress can change the whole look. A colored mosquito nets are cheap and can give you a unique look to your image. Lets go real cheap by adding news papers,colored paper,and or christmas papers to cover your model. Folding the papers can add more shapes and dimensions. Also cardboard to bubble wrap can be use. Just about anything could be used. A good stylist can make something awesome out of nothing.

Do It Yourself Gear!

One gallon plastic ziploc bags are a must for your lenses and camera. The ziploc bags are used to stop condensation on the inside of your lenses and camera because of humidity especially going from very cold to very hot areas. Also great in emergency situations to protect from rain and dust.When traveling light one camera and one lens keep one with you that you can fit your camera and lens just in case of bad weather or have to cross a stream to protect your gear. You can fill a bag up with dry beans or dry rice for a homemade camera support bean bag.

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From protection to using it as a support. Sealable bags are a must to have. Keep a couple empty bags in your camera bag.

Clear sandwich bags are also great to have for in-camera effects. Go old school and do it in camera instead of Photoshop.

Here are two effects using a plastic bag. Tear a hole into the bag place the bag over your lens. Use a rubber band to keep the bag on the lens. The bag now will give you a soft focus look.All around your photo but your main subject is sharp. Another great effect before you tear the plastic bag. Color half with a permanent Blue marker, and the other half with a red marker.

Now tear a hole in the bag like before. Now your edges of your photo will have a tint to them. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Also you can color the bag before you tear a hole in it!

Rubber bands have many uses. One to hold things in place ( Plastic bags). Do you have an old but favorite lens that creeps out when you are walking or shooting down on a subject. One or two rubber bands will stop the creeping. Also the rubber bands creates friction that helps with macro shots. Use it as a prop( rubber band ball ) cover a model face to warp the face with rubber bands.

Duck tape has 1,001 uses so Google it. Here is one. Duck tape can be use to keep cords on the floor to stop models or your assistant from tripping on the cords at a photo shoot.

Gaffer tape is already matte black. This tape works very well for all your needs. The cost is higher than duck tape. Gaffer tape is strong but less tackier than duck tape. Gaffer tape comes of easier and cleaner than duck tape. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Foam boards are great to have. White foam boards are great as a white reflector and black foam boards works the opposite, they are great as flags. Lightweight and cheap. Take a 20�X30" or a standard white size foam board fold it in half to create a v shaped white reflector. This works great for portraits for even light under the chin line. Just let your model hold the foam board in place.

Keep an emergency blanket in your camera bag for safety on any hiking trips. You never know what could go wrong and be stuck over night it will keep you warm. Also in a pinch or on a budget you can use it as a reflector make a large frame and glue it, tape it, or clamp it with clothes pins.

Above here is a very simple quick fix using the back card board of an old picture frame and a cut emergency blanket. Foam board,card board box,plastic, and wood could have been used for the insert. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

You can make your homemade gear as cheap as you want to. Or you could make your homemade gear look high end and still save money. Even making it look like its store bought you can still save money.

Photographing thru glass can cause bad reflections.

Buying a flexible lens hood and placing the lens hood right up against the glass will block any reflections. You can make a homemade lens hood using black craft foam. Wearing darker colors when shooting thru glass helps greatly to reduce reflections onto the glass.

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You got your camera and you are in your car. You see a great subject you want to shoot you need some fill light to soften the harsh shadow. In your car you have a sunshade for your car. Well that will throw some light into that shadow.You can even uses it as a sun block or as a wind block to stop flower movement. The collapsible ones are nice but on a budget the basic foldable sunshades will do the job.

its up to you both will do the job in a quick fix.

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Paper and card stocks ( white & color ) has many uses in your photography. I will try to give you as many uses for photography as I can. Use as a reflector, backdrop,wind block,light tent,collapsible flash diffusers,flash bounce diffusers,light painting,and so many more.

A simple White Shirt can even be use to brighten up the shadows. Need something bigger use a white sheet.

How can you use petroleum jelly ( Vaseline ) in photography?

Put on a UV filter on your lens. Smear some petroleum jelly around the outside edge of the filter. Keep the center free of petroleum jelly to give your photo a artistic look or go all out and try covering the whole UV filter lens for some real art, give it a try. No UV filter. Use an old piece of glass from a picture frame whether it's acrylic or glass. Just hold it up to the lens or use rubber bands and lens hood backwards to hold it in place.

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You will like this one, its a freebie. You know the clothes hangers you get with your clothes that are plastic with clips. Break of the clips and they are strong enough to hold card stock and other items to hold reflectors, diffusers, and even heavier materials.

Anything that cost nothing that you can use is the way to go. Think of some stuff you get free that you could use. Sometimes you may get free bubble wrap in the mail as packing material. How can you use it? you could use it as extra protection for your lenses in your camera bag.

I have seen it used as a dress or as a head piece in fashion photography.

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Use your laptop or tablet as an unlimited backdrop for small items to photograph like jewelry for eBay to macro shots. Build a table top that covers the keyboard, using plywood. make sure you don’t touch the keys. Find an image to fill the screen set up the table top and item to photograph and start shooting another tip is to make, a slide show using different backgrounds and start shooting preplanning ahead is the tip here. Go old school and use an image from a open book for macro photography.

Another cool use for a tablet is to use it as a light source in a long timed exposure shot. You can make different colors and move your tablet behind the subject to make a backdrop of light.

Here are some items that can be used as a reflector that you might already have at home. Styrofoam plates, paper plates, mirror, aluminum foil, parchment paper,inside of a potato chip bag,bleach bottle,back side of a CD (DVD),And to go containers works well. Just to name a few.

You can make small Reflectors for table top shootings or you can use them for spot lighting a tiny area of your subject. You can use them in many different was for photography.

Sometimes you need a larger reflectors to shine more light onto your subject. Using a large piece of foam board you can use aluminum foil to cover the foam board using contact glue. This is light weight and cost is low. It also easy to make.

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How about making a large homemade diffusers. What do we have at home or can buy cheap? For large diffusers using larger light source use rolled tracing paper,Shower curtain ( transparent clear or white )Sheer Curtains White,And Plastic drop cloth ( used for Painting ).

You are going to need a diffuser stand. So here it goes. Make a cheap PVC stand and use clamps to hold your diffuser material in place so you can break it down for storage,use an old outdated tripod with a PVC pipe mounted to it ( Tip ) use two difference size PVC pipes one larger than the other so the smaller one will slide inside to make it more collapsible. Use a sheetrock screw to lock it in place or use one size pipe and pipe couplers to break down when not in use. You need a small diffusers Make a Free to cheap frames using a wired coat hanger, use 4 paint stirs hot glue them into a frame ,use an old picture frame,wood,thick cardboard,and foam board make a frame then attach your diffuser material to your new frame.

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You can make a homemade diffuser for your pop up flash by using an old empty shampoo bottle ( Use transparent bottles). I cut off the top and cut kind of a triangle out of the bottle. So the pop up flash fits in the bottle. The one I made is for macro, so it extends out and passes my lens for macro shooting. I glued half the bottle with aluminum foil to reflect the light, I used a sheet of craft foam to cover half of the bottle where the aluminum foil is on the bottle to protect the foil and to improve the look. I took some left over foam to cut a long strip. Rolled it up and put under the bottle. This keep the diffuser angled up off the camera but its adjustable, Or it can be parallel to the lens this will make super soft shadows.To no shadows at all. You could cut the bottle to sit straight up for other types of photography. You will need to adjust your flash Compensation.

My macro flash diffuser : ( saying on rubber band ) NEVER STOP IMPROVING pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

For your speed light use a plastic milk jug that is close in size of your flash head as possible, cut it in half, glue, and cover one side of the milk jug with aluminum foil on the inside. That will be the back side of the diffuser. Simply use rubber bands to hold your new diffuser onto your flash You can cover with foam just like the first diffuser if you like to its up to you. If you need more diffusing add tracing paper on the inside of the milk jug.

above I used velcro strips to hold the diffuser onto the speed light

A bounce flash reflector can be made by using a bleach bottle. Cut and attached with rubber bands or as simple as white card stock ,Styrofoam plates,sheet of craft foam almost anything will work. If you have a low white ceiling a white business card angled @ 45 °/ in front of the pop up flash works great for a flash bounce off the ceiling. Give it a try‌ pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Think outside the box for creativity!

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A smoke machine would be too much. I could have made this fog in an editing app. I used a incense burner and incense to make the look of fog. What does this has to do with DIY gear I want you to think outside the box. From how to make gear to how can you use something to improve your image in camera using material that was not design for photography.

Using a string and a 1/4"-20 bolt. You can make a string pod. Using paracord or thin rope works very well. The advantages of a string pod it fits in your pocket, light weight, and if tripods are not allowed you can use your string pod. Just attach the string to the bolt.

Screw the bolt to your camera. Now just stand on the string. Pull up on your camera so the string stabilizes your camera.

A kids toy periscope could also be used to do underwater photography. A large one that is made to mount on to a swing set. I think is the ideal size. They are around 18 inches long this will get you deeper than the fish tank trick. You still need to water proof it before using it underwater.

Here is an ideal. Making a periscope out of PVC pipe using a mirror, PVC pipe and clear acrylic to make a deeper underwater periscope for taking photos. I have never used or made this type of periscope. In the future I think i am going to give it a try. I also think the water must be very clear to achieve a well lit photo. Even with lots of sunlight. You may want to add some type of underwater lighting attached to the periscope.

A fish tank has a few uses in photography. I like this one the best.

Place your camera inside to protect your camera from water, pushing the tank down you can shoot under water in a shallow area of a lake or river.When the water is calm. Very cheap underwater housing.

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By using a fish tank you can get a little creative by putting half of the lens below the water and have above for a unique point of view.

Alway test your fish tank for any leaks before you put your camera in the tank.

You can just use the fish tank like it was meant to be a fish tank.

Use it to hold water and drop fruit and vegetables in to make some cool image with splashes. It works good as an insect keeper. If you like to photograph insects the tank helps you keep up with them.

After photographing the insects you can just put them back where you found them.

Here is a sweet tip. If you have colored cellophane candy wrappers that is transparent. You can use It as a color filter for your built in flash. Cheap trick but works.

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This is an old sunglasses tip: Back in the day I used a pair of Blue Blocker clip ons.To darken my skies and greens. you can use any pair of sunglasses lens in front of your camera lens. As a neutral density filter or color lenses to add some cool effects. Cheap but fun to play around with.

On a dull day try this tip. Shoot in black and white. If you are shooting in raw your image will come out in color so you have to in your editing app and switch it back to black and white.

Sometimes on dull days its best to shoot black and white. If a image just don’t look right in color. Try black and white and add some B&W effects that your app has.

Almost free ND filter! Go to your local window tint location and ask for some small free scraps of tint they cannot use. Just apply it to a 4�x6" piece of glass to make a homemade ND Filter.

A piece of welders glass work very well but gives you a green tint to your image. So you need to correct the white balance in editing software. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

That means shooting in RAW. Welding glass is more than a 10ND filter so this would be a very long exposure.

Do not pass up home improvement store.You can get foam board with aluminum facer and with a reinforced aluminum face. That is a 4x8' sheet for around $12.00 thats a big reflector. You can mount two or more together and cover with wallpaper to make a fake wall. Lightweight and easy to move.

They have diffusers too. Sheets and panels of clear and white acrylic diffusers prices of them will vary.

Sawhorses,plywood,clamps,wooden boards,wood laminate flooring,sheet paneling,tile,fencing material from wood panels to bamboo,rugs,and of course PVC pipe. You can make fake walls to props, go big for a large shoot or small for table top or macro photography.

DIY to save money. Make your own Cucoloris, is a device used for casting shadows or silhouettes to produce patterned Illumination. Other names ( cookie,gobo,and dapple sheet ).

You can buy one made of wood that cost around $135.00 for a 23x36”. Cheaper way is to make your own using foam board and a sharp razor knife. Or you can make one out of wood using 1/4” plywood (cost about $8.00 for 4x4’ sheet ) and a jigsaw ( cost as low as $25.00 new ). You just save over $100.00 so you can make more different shapes. If you want to.

This is the traditional cucoloris look. The shapes remind me of old style camouflage.

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Using you new cucoloris in a different way. Back light using your cucoloris and continuous lighting for your model. By using your fog machine to add some fog. Your model will have beautiful rays of light behind him or her. A great super hero look. Different shape will give you a totally different look.

Great effect for little cost if you make your own.

I also use nylon fabric window screen as a scrim to diffuse light. This kind of diffusing material works better than lighter white diffusers. You can double it up to block more light.

Sometimes the type of gear does not exist. So you need to make it. Think about it go back about 10 years. where was the BlackRapid速 camera strap? Your new DIY gear may be the next big thing! pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Photography Snobs Just a note on photography snobs. They are out there and have no problem of putting you down. Based on the camera you use to the gear you have. The ones who have the most money seem to be the worst. I have no problem of using DIY gear and props. I am proud that I am abel to make my own gear. I try to make it look store bought. If it give me the same or better results for 1/4 or 1/2 the cost.

My wallet is happy also. If you are getting paid for the shoot, I would not use do it yourself gear that does not look professional.

When To Shoot Outside You can shoot any time of day! You just have to know how to get a good shot. Ask just about any wedding photographer about shooting outside at noon. They would prefer not to shoot at that time but they have no choice.

You may need flash,reflectors,diffusers,and flags to get the shot. Shoot in shade! Oh no they want to shoot in an open field no shade. You just got to work with the sun the best you can to get the shot‌ You can shoot anytime at night but to have color in your sky other than complete black you have a very short limited time right after sunset. Sometimes the sun will set sooner than what they say for different areas. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Mountains and urban landscape ( Tall Buildings ) make the sun set sooner so get there early and set up for the night shot.

Projects & Challenges!

Have you heard about the 365 Day Project? Its a challenge to shoot one photo every day for a whole year. You should start shooting simple shots and as you grow by keep improving your skill. By the end of your 365 days you should be able to shoot more complicated images that you could not do when you started. This challenge may be to demanding for you because of your lifestyle. I still say give it a try. In just fifteen minutes you can shoot quite amount of quality images not quantity. By day 366 you will have learned so much and you will be a better photographer. If you want to get started check out this web site. http//365project.org

How about this challenge: One camera, one lens ( prime or fixed focal length ),one location, and only 15 minutes to shoot as many great photos as you can. This type of challenge will help you learn to use what you have on hand. Working without a tripod and not switching lens to get the shot. This is about quality and not quantity. So bring back a few great photos instead of a whole bunch of just ok ones. This challenge is like a 15 minute workout for photographers. This shows you that you do not need a lot of time and a lot of gear to come back with some great photos. Now you cannot say I just do not have enough time to practice. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Heres another photo challenge! Get out of your comfort zone and try your hand at a different type of photography. You can try fine art,nude,night,street,light painting, surreal photography, and etc. You may find a new type of photography and fall in love with it.

Another photo challenge is to shoot only for HDR image.

Using 3 images to make a final image using one correct exposure, one under exposure, and one over exposure.

This challenge will make you look for a scene that is interesting and has a high dynamic range.

Try Pseudo HDR. This is a kind of fake HDR but gives you the look of an HDR image.

Go out and find scenery thats begs to be an panoramic photograph. Think out of the box and find cool subjects that are not normally a panoramic photographs.

This can be fun and kind of hard at the same time shoot for triptych photograph.

Try the Brenizer Method! Take a lot of shots and stitch the images to make a larger image. Kind of like making a panoramic image. Example. Doing this you could print a 50�x60" print just using a 8 megapixel camera. That looks great.

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Photo Tips Photo Tip: This is about your lenses and camera.Take time to test the limitations of your equipment. Let say your lens can open up all the way to f2.8 aperture. Maybe at that aperture your lens sharpness is soft. But at f4 is tack sharp. The same goes for a small aperture, lets say f22 may have a softer sharpness., but f18 is tack sharp. Each lens will differ so take the time to know what each of your lenses can do and how far can you push the limits. How far can you push your ISO on your camera, and get a photograph you can use. How much dynamic range can your camera catch? This will help you to know if this shot will have to be an HDR to get details in the highlights and shadows. How fast is your shutter? Did you know that some medium format cameras only shot at 1.5 frames a second.

Photo Tip: For Portrait the number one rule is sharp focus on the eyes . So put your focus spot directly on to a least one of the eyes.

This will improve your photography. This tip is for people or animals. Now for creative or artistic portrait break the rule, make the whole portrait soft and dreamy. With practice you will know what subjects works using creative or artistic techniques over sharp focus rule.

Photo Tips: Moving subjects like cars and motorcycles should show movement. Use a slower shutter speed and practice your panning motion. Freezing the action using high speeds just kills the feeling making the image stagnant . So you froze the action. Bummer!

When you process your image in your digital dark room app. You can fake motion in your photo. This will take time to get it looking as if you used a slower camera speed and panned the shot. Learn to do it in camera is much more rewarding for you.

Take many photos of beautiful skies, You may need to use them later. You have a great subject but the sky is dull and lifeless. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Remove the dull sky and add one of your beautiful skies in its place.

Shoot textures. Find cracks,peeling paint,rust,and any textures that you may add to a boring background of a image. Or cover the whole image in a texture. This can become a cool subject to look for while you are out shooting.

Head to the forest with your camera and tripod. When the sun is low enough to shine threw the trees. Tall trees work best here. Take a correct exposure shot. Looks Boring! No main subject to draw your eye into the image. ( cannot see the forest because of the trees ). Time for an artistic correct exposure. Slow things down.

Lock your tripod so it will not move horizontal and let it move vertical with ease. As you press the shutter move the camera up and down slowly. This will take more than one try to get the artistic look you like. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

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Oh no its raining. Should I just shoot inside? No! Embrace the rain, you will not melt. Protect your gear and you will get some great shots. Head to a place where their will be a lot of people walking around with umbrellas. That your subject for now (people). You don’t want to get wet. Stay in your automobile and park shoot out the window and threw the window for some nice images. If you can not park in an area where people are visible get yourself a driver.

This works in winter weather also. If you don’t mind getting wet.

Walk around look for people, bright colors,lights,and reflections in standing water. At night when its raining neon signs can make a great subject.

Using slow shutter speed with flash can give you motion with a sharp image. This works great with dancers,or any type of activity from a football player to martial artists. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

You do want the flash at the end of the exposure also known as second curtain sync. Your camera may do a preflash to help with metering as soon as you press the button.

Go out and find some letters and numbers for a on going subject . You can find a letter or number maybe in nature or part of a structure. At first this may sound boring but who know in the future you may need a ransom note one day ( just kidding ) A lot of famous photographers has photographed letters and numbers it gets kind of addicting once you start.

So give it a try. Sometimes cool letters and numbers can be found on houses and signs so don’t forget to check all around.

Another subject you can photograph. Pick a color and only photograph that color. Pick a simple color like red and go out and see how many red subjects you can photograph. A red automobile, break light lens,stop sign and a red stop light are just a few red items you could photograph.

When you start to get close up to a subject. Like in macro photography. The simplest item becomes wow and interesting. Your studio could be just a tabletop light tent or even smaller. Just use a 8�x10" piece of colored paper and prop it up for a background. A few marbles,dried colored pasta,pens, and even different insects will be amazing up close up or macro. So give it a try.

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One of my favorite subjects to photograph are dragonflies. This is a close up image of a dragonfly. A true macro image would be much closer possibly just his head would fill the frame. I used a 300mm telephoto lens to capture this dragonfly.

Try your hand at abstract photography. Grab a reflective item like a cooking pot. Now put some colorful items near the pot.

Put your camera on a tripod. Focus on the reflection in the pot and take the picture. You may need to use your darkroom app to help add some zing to the photo. You can also use a rippled piece of glass and put items behind the glass. Some craft stores carries sheets of glass . A clear drinking glass with a cut design into the bottom of the glass can give you a cool abstract image. Any reflective item can work like the paint on an automobile.

How to improve a grey day at the beach. Change your white balance from correct white balance. To a creative white balance. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

You can add blue to your subject as easy as changing the white balance to incandescent. Will give you a much better image. You can always play with your white balance. See how difference your image changes. You may find that the correct white balance is not always the best white balance for an image. It will depends on the the subject, lighting and your taste.

Lets say you went on a weekend trip to a far location. The weather was supposed to be nice but mother nature changed her mind. Every photo you try to take just looks flat and dull.

Try using colored filters see if they can help make the color pop.

Do not underestimate the power of raindrops. Real or fake raindrops, can add extra dimension to your photos. You can make fake raindrops in an app. The best way to make raindrops is to use a water spray bottle. If you are using the raindrops on flowers add sugar to your water. This seems to help the drops adhere better.

Do you know what is a control shot. A control shot of an image is when you need to remove something from a image.

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Put your camera on a tripod, take a shot of your background and foreground without your model and the chair or the ladder. The chair or ladder is needed to make it look like your model is flying or levitating. Thats your controlled shot. Now add your model on the ladder or chair, take another shot. Now combine both images in an editing app. Now remove the ladder or chair for your model to be flying or levitating. Your image is now a composite image. Fun and simple to do that makes a cool image.

Photograph your moods. Photograph how you feel. Are you happy, sad, excited,and or sick? Do not just take a selfie.

Use props and lighting to show the mood. You may be in a light place or in a dark place in your life. Maybe doing this type of photo idea may help to improve your mood.

If you ever decide to go to an aquarium to photograph the marine life. Dress in all black to cut glare from the tanks. I also recommend using a polarizing filter but that reduces your light by two stops. So increase your ISO. Another great tip is to use a flexible lens hood now you can place the lens right onto the tank. If you use the flexible lens hood trick. You may need a close-up filters to be able to focus close with the lens you are using. Most of the time flash is useless. Turn off flash.

The only way I will try to use a speed light to photograph through glass of an aquarium. Is to use it off camera with a homemade flash hood, using craft foam and placing the light directly onto the aquarium. Using slow shutter speed sync to freeze some of the motions and showing blur also. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Use your lens hood on your camera and placing the hood right on the glass.

Your image just turned out bad. Should you trash it? No way use Photoshop to turn it into a work of art. This is how Photoshop can shine with some playing around with filters and blending modes.

Take a look at this tiny dried rose. I thought I got a good shot of this tiny rose but when I loaded into my computer. The feeling of the image was gone. So should I delete the image?

No, I am going to see if it can be saved. Spending some time in Photoshop can pay off.

Boring! Dead no feeling in the image ( Almost deleted image ) pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

When I took this photo. It had a feeling and looked good on my camera screen. When I got home, maybe my mood had change cause I was not happy with this photo.

Life! Colorful and edgy artistic image ( Keeper ) Heres How : I put the boring rose into photoshop, duplicated it onto a new layer. Selecting the top layer I went to filters Blur.

In Blur, I picked radial blur in between 50 to 100 %. Then I used blend mode using Luminosity then added a little bit of white Vignette effect. Very simple but very effective.

Using filters and plug-ins can be fun to use. You already have the program so take the time to see what you can create in photoshop. Is it a photo? Its Photo Art. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Own who you are. What do I mean by that? Are you a Photographer, “ Photographer “ or a Pro Photographer. A Photographer is someone who went to school for photography! A “ Photographer “ is a self taught person who learned photography! A Pro Photographer make mostly all his money on photography. If a Pro Photographer offers a class, is he now just a teacher? No! He is a photographer who teaches. If you take photographs. You are a Photographer.

Own who you are. Let your work speak for it self.

Post-mortem photography ( also known as memorial portraiture or a mourning portrait ) was popular in the mid 1800. Photographers would pose the deceased to look alive.

Using special rods and metal stands to pose the deceased could be a myth. But I think if a photographer had the rods and metal stands supposed to be use for living people. He might use it on a deceased to get the shot. Why did I write this? Do not pose your living model in a dead pose, or “Mugshot" . Never photograph your subject square on. Study master painters. They never paint a person square on.

You don’t have a wide angle lens you can fake it. Use a standard focal length lens and make it look like a wide angle lens. Not like a fish eye lens! Heres how, take Multiple shots and stitch them together. Kind of like doing a panorama photograph. Use your widest focal length of your lens. This works great for when you can not fit every thing in your frame.

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Kit lenses and consumer lenses are cheaper. They are still fun to use. A lot of time when you see an image that you want to create and you try but the look just don’t look the same. Its your lens. Your lens just don’t have the wider apertures or the lens view is not wide enough for the perspective.

You only have a kit lens which is 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 basic lens. You also can not afford a high end lens. You tried to recreate an image you seen from another photographer who has a prime or fast lens of an fixed aperture of f1.8 or f2.8 at 80mm His background is beautifully blurred. You set your camera in aperture mode, zoom to 80mm and you try to open up your aperture to f3.5 It will not open up to f3.5 But its at f5.6 that the best the kit lens can do. You have to use the setting so you take the picture. Looks good but your background is not the same more focus than the other. So here comes photoshop to the rescue. Put the photo into photoshop duplicate the photo in a new layer select the top layer goto filters blur to gaussian blur. Blur the whole photo keep an eye on the background and blur it to your liking. Add a layer mask . Grab a brush, pick black as a color and click on the mask . Start painting back in the detail of your image.

Your background has improved , with a much better blur.

This image would have not worked for me. If the bird was scared of people. He was very close to me. Using this short of zoom lens your subject would be too small in the frame. If this bird did not pick a berry. I think this would have been a boring shot. The berry just added an extra element to the image.

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Heres a money saving tip if your are going to buy filters for your lenses. Buy the square ones with multiple lens adapters.

So they will fit onto a 52mm diameter lens or a 72mm or bigger. In the long run you will save a lot of money over buying a round filter that fit one size lens. As you grow as a photographer you will end up with more different size of lenses. Buying filters that are design for large lenses with the adapters you can fit on any size lens you have. They do offer step up/ step down reduction rings for round filters also.

Using a pair of fishnet stockings stretched over your lens. Will give you a unique look. Give it a try.

A pair of white,nude,and black stockings stretched over your lens will create a unique look also.

Glass beads for jewelry,cracked glass, and glass crystals in front of your lens can add a in camera cool effect. Some fashion and wedding photographers use this for there photography. From a dreamy to a surreal look in camera can be achieved using this trick. You could glue your beads,crystals, and or the cracked glass onto a broken lens filter or a step up/step down reduction ring so you don’t have to hold them in front of your lens.

Your camera does not have 36 Megapixels but you want a large print? Set your camera to manual, lock your zoom on your lens ,take off auto focus and use a smaller aperture like f11 or f16 now start taking pictures like you are going to do a Panoramic photo, overlapping by 1/3 . Now stitch your photos together. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Use JPEG because this file will be huge when combined in photoshop using photomerge(R). Now you could have a 600mp photo! How big did you want to print? Also named Brenizer Method.

You want to photograph a well known place. But there are so many people in the way. You want an image without all those people in the scene using a very long exposure could work if people are moving they will vanish in your image. Or just set up your tripod someones in your shot, take the shot when they move take another shot keep shooting till you know you can stack all your shots into layers and just erase the person or persons in the image till they are gone and you have a clean image without people.

If you are planning to go on a photo walk or planning to take pictures, just out and about in a new area. I recommend going with someone else. But do not go with a none photographer.

They usually get bored or frustrated at you for stopping or spending to much time to get the shot. Its always better to go with another photographer they may see something you missed or see something in a different way.

Shooting through fences like at a zoo. First be safe follow all rules. Try to shoot through the opening of the fence. Get as close as you can to the fence. If you cannot eliminate the fence. Try taking two shots. Take the first shot then slightly shift down and over for the second shot . Use photoshop to clone out the fence using scene cleaner.

My camera does not have GPS. Here is the easy and cheapest way for me to include the location of a shot. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

I use my smart phone to take a quick shot which will include the GPS location. Why spend the extra money to add GPS module to your Camera. Also they have apps for your phone for photography. I think one app can track your walking location and every time you stop to take a shot, it register where you stopped.

If the world was gray your camera sensor would get it right.

Your camera sensor see the world as 18% gray. Thats why when photographing snow is never true white and your blacks are not black enough. The fix is to over expose for whites and to under expose for blacks. One to Two stops is all you should need.

You want that bokehlicious background but you do not have a wide aperture lens. You can take aluminum foil ball it up.

Open it back up And glue it to a piece of foam board. Place your new backdrop about two to three feet away from your subject. Use flash and you got your bokehlicious background.

When shooting zoo animals watch your backgrounds. So your subject looks like its in the wild. In some cases you may need to clone out the background and put a new background in.

With practice you can match up so your subject looks like it matches the new background. Use layers and layer mask to get the right look.

If you ever use exposure bracketing. Use your timer in your camera also. The reason why is is to let your camera take all the shot with one push of the shutter. This is great for HDR photography.

For a strong composition try to use odd numbers of object in your composition. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

One,three, and five subjects in a composition are stronger than two,four, or six in a composition.

Using even the smallest puddle of water can reflect your main subject for a wow shot. You need to get very low and get close to the puddle. This will make the puddle huge, looking like a lake.

A dark room and a small light source like a flashlight. Set your camera for a long exposure and start lighting up your subject.

This is light painting. Your subject will show lots of texture and detail if you use your flashlight correctly.

You can use glow sticks in light painting. They are cheap but you only get one night out of them. Did you know you can use them to light inside of an object. A large glow stick baton can be used under a bed for a eerie long exposure and use two of them, to replace drum stick for a cool drummer photo shoot at night. They are waterproof and not all flash lights are, they float, you can submerge them in liquids, and you can cut them open and use just the liquid in many photography ideas.

Light painting can be fun. Using a flashlight to light your subjects could make your still-life photography take on a whole new look. Give it a try, see how fun and cool of an image you can make. Just using a flashlight for your light source.

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Sparklers can add cool effects in photography. They are not safe for all users.They are on fire and the metal rod can burn into skin so caution should be used when using sparklers.

However with care they can be quite fun to use. with practice you can write your name using sparklers, draw shapes in the air.

Using fire can add to any low light to night photography. You can set an object on fire with an accelerant. Fire is very dangerous so I don’t recommend this type of photography unless you know what you are doing. Fire can spread,burn,destroy, and kill. If you are going to play with fire be safe. Have a more than one fire extinguisher on hand, keep flammables far away form your fire. I do not list types of accelerants but some of the fumes are flammable more than the liquid so keep all extra accelerant far away from your fire.

The fumes of the fire can be toxic. Use in a well vented place.

If using out side I spray the whole area with a 50 foot water hose, to help prevent the fire from spreading. You never can be to safe. Even the smallest fire can be dangerous. An unattended candle can burn down a whole house in minutes.

A safer fireball is to use coffee creamer mixed with air, can make a fireball. I use a funnel filled with coffee creamer, the funnel is attached to a hose which is attached to a air tank compressor. Knowing the way of the wind is blowing helps keep you and your subject safe, I use a lit tea candle to make the fire for the fire ball. From a safe distance my assistant will squeeze the air nozzle. With the camera ready I try to get the shot of the fireball.

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Use outside only, be safe and I do not recommend this for every photographer. If you try this technique you and only you are responsible for your actions. Note I said Safer, Not Safe.

If you have only one speed light. You can have multiple parts of your subject lit by using a long exposure and zoom on your flash head. Manually setting your speed light and get close to your subject and use the test button to fire your speed light. Moving very fast, fire your flash from the sides of your subject will give you a cool multi light look only using one flash. Don’t be scared to experiment and try something new. Light painting with flash can be fun. All you need is a subject,one speed light,dark room, and a camera.

A trampoline can help add motion and cool poses off the ground for your model. Safety is a must. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

You don’t want anybody getting injured. You could buy a large one or a small one. From price point to ease of use its up to you. The larger ones can make you look like you are levitating horizontal. Technically before gravity pulls you down, you are levitating for a split second. As for the smaller ones you could move it more easily to different locations. No horizontal levitating with the littler ones but a vertical levitation is possible. Compositing in editing software is needed.

Do it yourself a family photo shoot. Take it outside. Grab your gear. A tripod, camera, reflectors, and a helper. Why take it outside? To do something different, your kids hates to just sit still for photos so make it fun. Dress casual and corresponding colors. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Take it at a park or a beach on a cool day thats not humid for your photo shoot. Unless you have access to a private beach plan on out of season and on a cooler day. So there will be less people at the beach.

Lets say you need to have your light stand in the frame of the image. In editing you know you need to remove it. If you have a dark background. Using black light stands could be a challenge to remove them in editing. Using a white light stand is way more easily to remove. A white light stand! You can paint the stand white with flat paint, Or by using white fabric in a long strips taped to the light stand works the best.

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Science! Secrets To A Great Image!

Our brains are hardwired to read from left to right and top to bottom.

You want the viewers especially judges of your images to stay looking at your image longer. So placement of your subject in your frame is very important.

This is how human eyes see: Patterns It Recognizes,Light To Dark,High Contrast To Low Contrast,High Sharpness To Low Sharpness,In Focus To Blur,High Saturation To Low Saturation,Warm Colors Move Forward,Cool Colors Retreat.

You can use some of these or all of these for our photographs. By using them, you get your viewers eyes to do what you want them to do in our photographs. The artist from the past uses these secret science techniques for their paintings. Take a look at Monet and Rembrandt paintings. They used these techniques to keep your eyes in the frame of their paintings.

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Our brains when looking at an image sees the brightest part of an image to be white. Even though the brightest part of the image is a shade of grey. If you add something more brighter to the image. Now that will look white to you. We accept the reality that is presented to us. Our eyes and brain can be tricked.

Can you pick out the darkest center square box? Which one is the lightest?

Darkest Center Square is on the left! The Lightest Center Square is on the right! Or is it?

They are all the same! This is how your brain can be fooled.

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Lets try this one.

The left side is lighter than the right. No they are the same.

Just by covering the center you can now see that they are the same.

Also everybody see’s color and light differently. You are the first person who sees your image. This means you need to be pleased with the way your image looks to you. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

What Should I Photograph?

Anything you want. You did get into photography because you like or love photography. Photography lets you be creative. Or as a hobby and for fun. All you got to remember is to enjoy and have fun with your photography.

Have you ever seen an image in a book,online, or a gallery and you wish that was your image. Just try to recreate it.

Make it yours by adding your style to the subject. You may fail many time trying to get the shot. Think of it this way you did not fail. You learned how not to do it. Was it the lighting,lens, or the angle that made the image fail? Keep shooting till you get it the way you like.

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Heres a cool trick. Write down some props you have or props you want to photograph. Props can be part of an image or the main subject. Here are some prop ideas: Sword,wine bottle,knife,candle,old lantern,blanket,and a christmas ball. Another little tip because you have, or going to buy the prop. Always use the prop as the main subject and as part of an image for two different photos.

Earlier in Photo Tips I told you to pick a color and then go shoot things that are that color only. Now lets go further into using colors. Write down some colors: Yellow,blue,green,black,purple,and red. Or any color you can think of. Colors are more than just colors. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

They have meanings also. Im going to use the color red.

What does red mean to me: stop,anger,mad,hot,blood,passion,and love. Now because color has meanings,I picked the color red, I could come up with a photo shoot based or the meaning of color and I would do a horror photo shoot. On the other hand someone else may do a still life of roses for love.

You can even get a photo shoot idea based on a location.

Write down locations that you know you can shoot or locations that you want to shoot. Here our some examples: Bedroom,bathroom,abandon house,woods,beach,forest,and a closet. Well lets use closet, what do you think of if your location is a closet? I think of monsters,killer in the closet,hiding in the closet,trapped in the closet and many more. Just using a location can give you multiple ideas for a shoot.

Lets move onto wardrobe. Keep a list of outfits you have and also outfits you might want to have. Top hat,suit,masquerade or horror mask,dress,shoes, heels,boots,nightgown, and a cloak. I want to use a cloak for a photo shoot. This is a few of my ideas using a cloak. Witch,wizard,evil,creature,little red riding hood,monk,or just an ordinary male or female character.

Here is my concept by using one item from each category below: Prop: Lantern,Color: Black, Location: Woods, Wardrobe: Cloak. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Now write a story using one item from each of the category: ( Story Board ) A man is walking through the woods.The woods is dark and foggy. He is carrying his lantern to help him see.

Wearing a black cloak, trying to stay warm while heading home. This gave me my whole photo shoot. I know what is needed to make this photo shoot. A male model,a lantern,woods,black cloak,and a fog machine or smoke bombs for the added element.

Now think of different themes you would like to shoot and keep a list of them.

Fairytales,little red riding hood,alice in wonderland,good vs. evil,fallen angel,devil,monsters,killer,and wild wild west. I could keep on going but this is some themes I want to shoot.

By keeping a list you should never run out of ideas for some type of photo shoot. Start out with your categories: Props,Color,Locations,Wardrobe,and Themes: This is story telling 101 and that what we do as photographers.

Trying to tell a story with a single photograph.

Get out of your comfort zone. Try shooting different kinds of photography like wildlife,macro,sports,surreal and many more. This will help you grow as a photographer and you may fall in love with a new kind of photography. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Do you need more ideas? just take a look at everyday objects. Now write down the meaning of that item. Think literal,metaphorical and personal. You will start to see things in a different ways. Take a blanket as an example. Literal: Color,Shape,Size,Texture,and Feel. For Metaphorical: Comparison,Symbolism, and what a blanket could be.

Personal: Memories,association,types, and uses.

Blanket for literal: Blue,orange,white. Sports throw blanket,soft fleece. Personal: Mom,comfort,bed,warmth,beach blanket.Metaphorical: Hiding place,tent,sadness,scared,safety .

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Props & Outfits Every day objects that you have can be a prop if you use it correctly. Like wine bottles,hair dryers,and furniture.

Using a pallet creatively could be a prop. Break one of the cross beams, put a model behind the pallet. Have the models hand reaching through the broken opening or get the model to look and scream from the broken area. This makes for an erie photograph. You should be able to get a free pallet.

Use your furniture in your house as a prop. Take your dining room table and chairs and put them outside for a surreal photo shoot. A recliner,side table,tv, and a floor lamp set up in a field using the setting sun to be the bulb of the floor lamp.

Have fun and get crazy with your photography.

You may want to buy some props. Do you keep all the props you buy? After you use the props do you sell them? I have heard that some photographers will return the item back to the store. Thats up to you. I guess its like borrowing it and then returning it.

If you are handy you could build yourself some props from fake wall to what ever you can imagine.

I Know of two well known photographers when they were just starting out they would buy dresses and outfits from a large department store to clothe their models. After the shoot they would return the items for credit so they could get a different outfit for another shoot. They just could not afford to buy and keep the outfit.

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One of these photographers is now a high end fashion photographer who now shoot models with one of a kind outfits. The other is a fine art photographer. I guess you do what you got to do in the beginning.

A mask can be just a prop or part of an outfit. From masquerade mask to horror mask they can help change to whole photo shoot. They can set the mood,cause more impact to an image. Lets say you have a fashion shoot. The models face has some issues like a case of bad acne. You do not want to spend days trying to edited the images. Just add a mask and now you will have less editing and no acne. Even using a good makeup artist acne bumps will show up in your photographs.

In your area you may be able to rent props and costumes. If you are lucky you may be able to borrow props for free of charge in your area. Try theatrical places, to schools and universities. If you are able to borrow props in your area. Try to do something to give back for the use of the props.

Locations The main reason for a studio is to control light. If you learn how to control light your studio can be anywhere in your house,or even a hotel room. A famous nude and boudoir photographer who travels a lot uses high end hotel rooms as his studio. You need to understand light so you can control light.

In this economy some photographers gave up their storefront studios for on locations and in home studios. Also having a photo shoot in the clients house is sometimes a great location. You just need to have the right portable gear. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Parks can be a great location for a photo shoot. A permit may be required! Less gear is best. You may not need a permit if you just have a camera,speedlight and a model.

The more gear you have with you the more you are notice.

Then you are labeled as a professional and or commercial photographer. Now you better have a permit. Most State Parks you will need a permit to shoot.

Beaches ( Permit may be required ) are great places to have a photo shoot.

If you live in the city you still can find great outside locations to have a beautiful photo shoot. If you have access to a rooftop that could be a great place to shoot depending on the view of the background. Think parks, they can work well. I have used and seen other photographers in my area use the canal walk that is in my city for a photo shoot. Famous landmarks and historical areas works well also. A permit or license may be required. I recommend you getting it.

Backyards,woods,and ponds are great places to have a photo shoot especially if they are free. Also abandoned houses and buildings can make for a great location. But can be real dangerous. You could be arrested for trespassing. You could get hurt or robbed. If you decide to go to abandoned location never go alone. Prepare for the worse case scenario. Asbestos and mold is very dangerous so respirators may be needed. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Farms and barns can make for a great location for a shoot.

Shoot in a clothes closet. How many different setups can you do in a small space? How many themes can you do in a closet? You can shoot in any room of your house for different themes.

If you do not live near a beach, or the weather is bad. You can fake a beach shoot by using play sand. You can go as big or as small as you want. I once made a table top shoot using shells and shark teeth looking like I was on the beach. For my background I use a print of a beach, Using a shallow depth of field making the background to be completely out of focus. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Underwater shooting in a pool can look very cool if you take black fabric and submerge it underwater then your pool don’t look like a pool no more. Use caution and be safe. Have many extra people on hand if something goes wrong. Now you can shoot a model underwater in a pool that does not look like a pool while being safe.

Way To Save Your Setups & Ideas!

A visual diary, take note and ideas you have should be used to inspire you and for remembering ideas you have. I use my phone for notes. If I am out and about. when I get home I use a sketch book to draw up my ideas. I also write down the equipment needed for the shot. A journal works good.

Now with metadata you have a lot of infomation built in. I still recommend making a record book of your shots. Metadata does not record if you use reflectors, mirrors,snoot lighting,gels,etc. You may be able to add more info into your metadata using notes. Using a sketch book to show your lighting setup as your record book is the norm. I just take a photo of my setup and add notes about the set up in notes on the metadata. this is much faster way of keeping records of your setup.

The Business Side Of Photography A thought about studio and clients. If you are starting out.

Some clients will not even go to a in home studio. They want more of a commercial or business building studio. Not all clients are right for you and thats ok. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

You do not want to end up with a client from hell. I recommend that you know other photographers that are in your area that would fit that client. Helping another photographer to get work can pay off in the long run.

Some photographers do not have permanent studio. They like on site locations or outside locations. Think parks,beaches,backyards, woods, and private ponds. As to state parks you may need to get a license/permit to shoot. A beautiful backyard with flowers can make a great location.

Ponds are great for many type of different shoots. You don’t have a pond on your property. If you know someone with a pond or just a beautiful location. Try to contact them. Tell them what you do as a photographer and you would like to use part of their property for a photo shoot . You will get a yes or no. Lets say you get a yes and free use, offer a free photo shoot for the property owner. You may be able to rent the property for a few hours. In any case be professional. If you do get to use the property for free give something to the owner so you may in the future use it again.

Don’t waste space in your studio. A famous photographer paints and adds wallpaper to his studio walls in every ten feet for a new backgrounds. This gives him a lot of different backgrounds just using the walls of the studio. This speeds up time also by marking the floor for your lights and where you want your subject/model. This will give you more time shooting and less time on setups.

If you need to use a studio,in some areas you maybe able to rent someones studio for a day. You have to add that to the cost of the shoot. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Offering to have a photo shoot at the clients house can be a great way to go. Relaxing and more comfortable for the clients.

Photographing babies is a challenge especially when they're not yours. They may be tired,hungry, or just moody. You need to work it all out on a limited time schedule for them. Go ahead and get the cryings shot with the happy shots. Have a warm wet washcloth for mom or dad to clean runny noses,runny eyes,and any returning food. Use a long lens, get close up from a distance. I will play peekaboo,use rattlers stuff animals. I have used Photography Creature(R) sometimes they work great depending on the baby. Hiding behind a backdrop with a hole in the backdrop for my lens works well for very nervous babies. I also record cute sounds on my smart phone and will play it to get the babies attention hands free.

Kids do not just want to sit still or pose the way you want them to. Play games. Get them to make funny faces,take turns posing let them pose them self then bet them they can’t pose the way you want them to. Play Simon Says Game, Give them a toy or stuff animal to play with and to keep. Add actions using ping pong balls,ball pit balls,or a paper plane will make them laugh get them to try to put the ping pong ball into a cup mounted to your hat for older kids. for the younger kids let them try to knock off the cup using the pit ball. You can also use your tablet with funny apps that will make kids laugh. Fishy Fishy App is one that works.

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Teens are still just kids, so have fun with the shoot. Let the teens pick out an outfit to wear and mom picks an outfit for the shoot. Photograph both outfits to have a happy mom and a happy teen. You now can sell more prints or charge more for the shoot.

I always offer one free digital copy to my clients. So they can use it online on any social site. I ask them to give me credit for the image. Please let people know how much they like the quality of my work. This will help get your name and your work out to more people.

Don’t forget pets. Pet shots can bring in some cash and may turn into a family photo shoot. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

As a photographer you are a problem solver on the fly. You may have to figure out how to get the shot with a lot of problems that you need to overcome. Just remember you can do it. It may take many practice shots before you get a great shot. Fix one problem at a time, till you get it right.

A photographer need to be a business man also if you want to start a photography business. Think of it this way every time you make money half of it will goto the government. So you charged $500.00 for a photo shoot.

After taxes you now have $250.00 sounds good right! How many prints did you promise, you got to edited the images that cost or is your time free? If you are not careful you could be only making about $10.00 an hour or even worse you could be loosing money. This is just an example. Every little thing adds up fast. Just because you are a photographer, to become a pro photographer you need to be a business man so you can make money.

A lot of pro photographers also has another job to bring in money when they are not shooting. Some have work shop classes and teach, do seminars,write books and some charge to be a mentors.They may even get sponsors to use their equipment and help fund trip and so on. Some may even have a nine to five type of jobs.

Do not let yourself get burned out.

Don’t just shoot when you are only getting paid. Take time to just shoot for yourself anything you want to. You did get into photography because you love it. Take time off so you don’t get burned out. pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas

Non-Photography Items You Could Use: One Gallon Ziplock Bags( MANY USES ) A must.

Clear Plastic Sandwich Bags

Rubber Bands Duck Tape Emergency Blanket Clothes Pins Old Picture Frames PVC Automotive Windshield Sunblock Paper ( White & Color) Card Stock Petroleum Jelly ( VASELINE ) Acrylic or Glass (from a old picture Frame) Plastic Clothes Hangers with Clips Clamps Laptop CD or DVD Styrofoam Plates White Paper Plates

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Mirror Aluminum Foil Parchment Paper Foam Board Large Roll Tracing Paper Shower Curtain ( Transparent or White ) Plastic Drop Cloth ( Used for Painting ) Sheer Curtains ( White ) Wired Coat Hangers Thick Cardboard Old Oval Transparent Shampoo Bottles Craft Foam Old Plastic Milk Jugs Business Card ( WHITE ) Old Bleach Bottle String 1/4 20 Bolts 10 Gallon Fish Tank 4X8 Sheets Foam board Insulation (with the aluminum facer) Sawhorses PLYWOOD Paneling Laminate Wood Flooring Flooring Tile Wooden Boards Fencing Bamboo AND MANY MORE ITEMS! Get creative with your props.

Think outside the box!

I hope you have learned something new from this book. Maybe a new technique! Try something new! Don’t forget to have fun!

If you have any photography tips,ideas,and techniques I hope you will find a way to share your knowledge.

Grab your camera and start shooting. Never Stop Improving! pictureeyecandy@gmail.com Photography Tips & Ideas