Photo Success

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What they will never teach you in photography school…

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If you didn’t know any better…meaning, if you listened to everyone else, including the professors at photography school, you’d think the way to a successful career in photography would involve uber expensive lights, lenses, cameras and complicated software and more.

BUT, and this is a big but, what they won’t teach you in school is how much that’s a crock of bull.

We had an amazing lighting mastermind meeting last week with special guest and co-founder of noBs photosuccess James Hodgins.

And James was very generous in the amount of information he gave us involving his lighting strategies. Very.

See, the thing is, James is in my oh so humble and accurate opinion, one of the best lighting guys I know. I hate him 🙂

Is he a Big Name marquee celeb? Not.

Would I put him head to head, toe to toe in the photographic ring against any of the big names out there today?

In a flash (excuse the pun). And I’d bet my last dollar on him.

James has an ungodly amount of raw, innate talent and skill when it comes to working with light. He’s the real deal. (did I mention I hate him?)

And he’s just a regular small mining town, blue collar schmuck like me who likes to go fishing (a lot!) and rolls many times a week at his local jiu jitsu club.

The cooler thing is he credits me for teaching him. Ok, I’ll take that pat on the back. But the truth is, I may have started him off and kicked him in the rear, but whatever lighting monster I woke up, he created his own journey and worked at his own photography style.

And I’m just going to come right out and say this….James admits he shoots 100% jpeg, uses auto white balance, and uses every light available to him. And he makes it rock.

I can hear the gasps of air and clutching of pearls. The shock. The horror!

His images are stunning. And he’s in demand for his quality commercial and industrial photography.

Do you think they care HOW he created his images? Not in the least bit. He gets in, gets the job done FAST, and gets out, gets under budget and EVERYONE is happy.

Including his wife and his bank.

That’s the stuff they won’t teach you in photography school

But we do…The replay is HERE for members.
Robert N. Provencher – Your Master Coach Marketer

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

Join us…Content, Coaching & Community

Why Do Photographers Fail?

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Someone once told me….
“The reason you’ll never attain success in your photography business is the same reason you don’t put yourself on an endless self-educating schedule…it’s because you’re not hungry and passionate enough about success.”

Most folks don’t go out and look for ways to do things better or different. Nor do they apply much of what they learn.

The problem is, we have very short attention spans. Or the tenacity of a snail.

I have become well known and respected in our town, when one time I was a nobody and my work sucked.

For me it was a long slow crawl to earning a respectable reputation, then almost overnight a rise to mastery and success.

For nearly 5 years I took every single photographic job I could get my hands on. I then started my own studio and essentially became self employed, I struggled along for at least another ten years.

Hey, I’m a slow learner. You don’t have to be slow. But a learner you must be.

I worked my buns off. I went to every workshop and convention I could get my hands on or could scrape together the cost to attend and the expense to travel to.

I asked old timers for information and feedback. I wanted to know how others made it. I especially liked sales and marketing.

What was the driving force that compelled all my role models to succeed? I wanted to know. I read hundreds and hundreds of self help and success books.

Not to mention whatever books on photography I could find. Everything!

I get asked what it takes to succeed by newbies and those struggling along, how they too can grow, succeed, shoot and market to success.

But they look for answers that are out of balance with what they are capable of producing.

And too often are unwilling to do what is necessary to build.

There’s two sides to this coin. Both of equal and essential value and importance.

Ignore one in favour of the other and you will begin to wobble down the wrong road until you figure out the wheels ain’t rotating properly and the steering gets harder and harder, until you eventually drive into the ditch, broke and torn up.

One side is the photography. The other, the marketing. Get good, or minimally decent and deliver a good product.

Hopefully something with impact. This includes delivering a great attitude and personality, since you are touching people’s lives at very important and meaningful times.

On the marketing side, the one too often abandoned or replaced with the wrong information or tactics, is the one that fuels the engine.

Without marketing you won’t have anything. (maybe a fun hobby)

The two areas need to progress together, one leap-frogging in front of the other.

Get good at both.

Also, get good at selling, creating new offers, communicating with your ‘herd’ and keeping them close to you.

I am told all the time that people don’t have the time to learn, study, read and listen to educational materials.

Time is democratic and fair. We all got the same amount. Success in your photography depends on a mastery of a handful of skills and how you manage the time allotted to you.

The two main ones I already mentioned: marketing and shooting. And hustle…tons of hustle.

The person who sets out earnestly and diligently to acquire a wealth of know-how, tempered over time and application, will end up with wealth in their bank accounts.

Also, they discover the joy and thrill of success in their own photography business.

On that note….let’s get together and talk shop, marketing and challenges:

January 17th at 9:00PM EST is our next members marketing mastermind meeting.

Got ANY questions, ideas or struggles…email me, or, show up and well throw you in the fire. REGISTER HERE

*Judy Comier will make a cameo appearance and talk about her 2018 Brand Ambassador Search promotion

*Hark Nijar will join us and share some successes he’s had with fairies, sports and more…

*Rob (yours truly) will update his newest promotion Ice Fairies…a whole new look and add on to the fairy brand And more….

Yours in success and in photography,
Robert Provencher

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

How to get a free full page ad for your photography studio…

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This is not the first time I scored free advertising in bigger media outlets in our city. I’ve acquired full page ads in magazines, newspapers and most recently a full page 8.5″ x11″ ad in  a local real estate mag. This ads are typically very expensive, sometimes running into thousands of dollars for a full page version.

I did get lucky, but I’ll take it. I believe in getting out in the community and giving. A lot. As much as you can. I find many photogs get pigheaded over this one.

What happened for me recently is a guy started a ballroom dance event. You know, chacha, waltz, foxtrot and such. (For the record, my wife and I are dance school dropouts.)

This even was a fund raiser, for kids with cancer. I think it was more a showcase for the dancers, which it was. It appears dancers are very passionate, and love dancing. Especially when in a crowd.

So Len, the guy who started it, contacted me to see if I wanted to set up a drop, lights etc and shoot on spec. I thought about it, and came back with a better idea. “Why not give me an area to display at, feed me and my wife, and I’ll shoot all the dancers in action, and give everyone the files.”

Done. It was  huge success. Why didn’t I go with his suggestion? Think about it. There were 16 dancers. I’ll go in, bring all my lights, a huge drop, and see if anyone wants to pay me for pics. Ugh. I’d rather go back to dance school.

My ultimate suggestion was, in my oh so humble yet accurate opinion, was a much better solution. Win win all the way, and we got a great meal out of it. Not to mention all that publicity.

I love helping out in our community too. Meeting so many people, getting face time, and displaying my work. That, and Len was so grateful, he gave me a full page ad in his real estate magazine. (yes, that’s his full time, day time job and business.)

You can see some of the images I shot from this event. And the actual ad I ran….
I spoke in greater detail on this subject in the December Mastermind presentation…. replay available HERE for members.

 

Next year will be even better…..just watch.

Yours in success and in photography,

Rob

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

Fast and easy light painting a la John Hartman

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A while back I hosted a webinar with John Hartman on his light painting style. Admittedly, one can’t cram too much into a 1.5 hour online webinar.

John puts on a three day workshop to teach this stuff. You can see more info on John’s light painting workshops HERE

That didn’t stop me from giving it a go. I thought about it long and hard, and came up with my own fast and easy light painting hack.

Here it is…..first thing I did was create a custom white balance based on the LED lights I was using. I don’t shoot raw, so, in theory, this should solve the problem.

Here’s the grey card set up I used to create a custom white balance.

I scoped out locations weeks prior to the shoot.  I had the car ready to go, a 2006 limited edition Ford Shelby.

I decided on an area that looked industrial. I wanted something “Mad Max” like.

In our city their are mines everywhere. Problem is trespassing. More on that in a minute.

I set up the car before the sun dropped:

Shooting with my Sony A7Rii, 55MM Zeiss lens. Exposures to 30 seconds, ISO 100 F8

The camera is locked down and not to be touched during the shoot. Each exposure is fired by my assistant using the Play Mobile app made for the Sony system.

It works off my Android and does the job just fine, showing us a preview of each exposure should we need to inspect as we go along.

Here’s the area we decided on. Still light in the sky.

I started painting the ground under the car. You can see the sky show up when in fact is was quite dark to the human eye. This didn’t matter for these exposures since I was planning on only using the area under the car.

You can see blurred out parts of my body as I was moving around, “painting” the ground.

After two hours, over 40 exposures, a few mosquitoes and an encounter with the security guard-who told us to get out- this is what I created. Most of the magic happens in photoshop, as I brought in each image and erased only what I needed. I also added color to the light under the car.

It’s not perfect, and I had to sneak in one last 30 second exposure to paint the tires, with the security guard glaring over me (I whispered to my assistant..” quick, fire the camera one last time”..and I gave each tire about 10-15 seconds of light so I had something to work with in that area.) but it worked out nevertheless.

What I discovered was:

  • planning is key. Dedicate time to scoping out  a great location with very little to no ambient light. I suppose a calm day is a good idea, since wind may moves things around. If you’re off by one pixel you’ll have problems
  • mosquito repellent is a good idea
  • shoot raw. I don’t, but I think you should
  • attend one of John’s workshops. I’d like to one day. John seems to be making great sales with his light painting creations.
  • I actually enjoyed this experience. I didn’t think I would, but I’d do it again in a flash
  • I actually enjoyed the photoshop portion too! I really didn’t think I would. But it went smooth and it felt like I was creating a work of art

Yours in photography,

Robert Provencher

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

The industry that ate itself alive…

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I don’t know too many industries that have as many mentors and instructors as this industry (photography).

It seems, for many that is, it goes like this….Get good, start teaching. Maybe, get good, make little to no money, start teaching to make up for it.

I don’t want to sound cynical. It’s not my style. I’m very much a zen like dude. Que sera sera.

Roll with it. Adjust.

The biggest changes in this industry are being fueled by the fact that there is an abundance of “how to”, either from industry gurus or from the proliferation of youtube videos. Not to mention that cameras are everywhere.

Don’t take my word. Go to youtube and search any topic on photography of your choosing.

The fact is, we’re eating ourselves alive. Photography is being ground down to an organic, democratic, “everybody is a photographer” state. For better, or, for worse. Who knows.

The bigger question, for me anywho, is: “How do I market my studio so I stand out and make money?”

It really boils down to marketing. The old days of running a photography studio because of our tech knowledge are quickly coming to an end.

It’s one of the reasons I do my best to answer the question above. And why I believe in constant, non-stop personal growth and searching for excellence. Not just in tech. Iphones got that covered.

If you want to grow, no matter your level, join me tonight and tomorrow. I have three presentations lined up for you:

  1. Bull Pen Print Show….send us your images, let us give you a beat down. With love, of course.
  2. Kristi Elias– Platinum, Silver and California Photographer of the Year
  3. Joel Grimes– shattering the myths in Photography

The industry is like a unicycle. Stop peddling, and you fall off. Don’t risk being eaten alive.
Get serious about your personal growth as an artist and a business person.

Yours in success,
Robert Provencher

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

Finding, seeing and using the light you randomly find on location…

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When I show up at the brides home for pre-ceremony photos, I look around for creative lighting and posing options. In this example, you can see the light reflecting in my assistant Danielle’s eyes. I spotted that right away, looked to my right and noticed the source. The same light is, in this shot, bouncing off the closet doors to my left.

The main source of this light. I spotted the bannister to the right as a possible option for some creative angles:
I knew I wanted to try some images here with the bride, and planned on shooting from several angles, since the main floor (upper right) would allow me a great place to shoot from. I love finding cool, unusual angles.

Here’s one angle, at eye level…notice the specular highlights in her eyes:

Another example, (the bride is in the exact same place, and this is one of many poses/ expressions) creative angle from up high, shooting just over the bannister:

The thing is, when shooting at a wedding, there’s isn’t a lot of time so I need to work fast, work with what I got and get maximum results.

Yea, yea, I could bring all sorts of studio lighting, or spend hours planning. I want the bride to enjoy the day, not have to sit for too long, and have fun in front of my camera…..

Yours in photography,

Robert Provencher

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

 

Learning to “see” the light and create portrait style lighting on location.

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Light is ridiculously simple and infinitely complex all at once. It’s like music, take  a few notes and you can create a masterpiece. But you need to know where you’re going, what you want to create. In other words, mastery. Learning to “see” the light.

Just like learning to play the piano, or the guitar, or the sax, learning light isn’t about buying lights or throwing a flash on camera. When you get to a scene, it’s about seeing what is available and using it, like any tool, and create a masterpiece. Even if it’s a portrait of a two year old. (which also requires an extra dash of timing, luck and patience)

Check it out, from the summer time….two scenes, very similar, where I maximized the lighting available.

We were facing north, and there were some soft streaks of light coming in from behind this scene, creating some “kicker” light:

The final results, almost near perfect studio type lighting. Yes, I did get lucky to some degree, since this was an active two year old. But I had an idea where I was going, what I hoping to achieve, and a willingness to act crazy to get her attention for a nano second. (you won’t have much luck with two year olds unless you’re willing get a little nutty. They “get” nutty…):

Same area, different scene, a younger boy. Arrow on the left indicated where I was standing during the shot. Notice that behind me is the north sky.

Arrow on the right is where the boy is standing. The light coming in from his left, our right, makes for near perfect portrait lighting on location.

80-200 2.8  lens at 200mm, 2.8

Working with lighting on location and “seeing the light” takes time and practice. Force  yourself to see the light, the light source, the possible kicker lights and stop, think, analyze for best results during your on location portrait sessions.

I used to really struggle with this, especially when working with people. I’d get flustered, nervous and couldn’t focus on the job at hand. With time and persistence I feel very confident when working with light.

Yours in success in photography,

Robert Provencher

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”

Frontline webinar with Thomas Dodd December 3rd, 9:00PM EST

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JOIN US….December 3rd, 9:00PM EST

OPEN to everyone….REGISTER HERE

Thomas Dodd is a visual artist and photographer based out of Atlanta, Georgia who has developed a style that he calls “painterly photo montage” – a method he employs in editing software in which he crafts elaborately textured pieces that have a very organic and decidedly non-digital look to them. His work often has mythic and quasi-religious themes that pay homage to Old Master art traditions while at the same time drawing from psychological archetypes that evoke a strong emotional response from the viewer.
Although his artwork resembles paintings, his pieces are entirely photographic in nature, fusing many images into a cohesive whole. His larger works are often presented in a mixed media form that adds a depth and texture that complements the photography beautifully. Thomas has had numerous exhibitions of his works in many cities in the USA and around the world.

He has had recent shows in Germany, Romania, Argentina, New York City, Mexico City, Orlando, Miami, New Orleans, Tokyo, San Antonio, Seattle, Paris and in his hometown of Atlanta. Dodd’s photographs have been featured in many magazines, on book and album covers and he frequently teaches workshops and webinars on photo-editing and marketing for artists.

Thomas began his career as a visual artist in 2005. Before that, he was best known as the harpist and songwriter for the 1990s musical group Trio Nocturna, a Celtic Gothic ensemble that put out three critically-acclaimed albums (“Morphia”, “Tears of Light” and “Songs of the Celtic Night”) and performed at author Anne Rice’s annual Halloween balls in New Orleans, as well as spawning an offshoot band called the Changelings. Mythic themes and their relation to emotions and psychological states continue to be his primary subjects and motivations.

JOIN US….December 3rd, 9:00PM EST

OPEN to everyone….REGISTER HERE