Photo Success

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Seriously….you play favorites? What’s My Favorite Aperture?

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Bigger, faster, wider…that’s my rule of thumb.

In other words, what is the widest aperture I can get away with considering:

  • lens choices available
  • situation….in other words, what and who am I photographing
  • the lighting and certain challenges, limitations or options available
  • the subject matter

Some examples, from recent shoots….and some explanations as to why I used whatever aperture I used.

Family sessions outdoors….I shot this at 5.6. I would have easily gone wider, BUT, I had a beauty dish and was limited to how wide an aperture I could use due to the maximum shutter speeds available. In this case, no faster than 1/200th of a second. Yea, I know, high speed sync would solve this. Working on it….

Two year old…..shot at 200mm at 2.8. I kinda, sorta got lucky. As you may know, with a two year old, that’s the way it goes. You do your best, and get what you get. The stars were all aligned in this shot. The lighting, the subject and me. She gave me a nano second of her time. I love shooting at 2.8 for obvious reasons. The  selective focus, bokeh and compression.

Another outdoor shot at f2.5 at 1/200th of a second. This is the Zeiss Batis 85MM 1.8 lens. In this scene I am limited because of the ambient light. I would have opened up the lens even more, but couldn’t because I was syncing my beauty dish to the maximum shutter speed of 1/200th. Yes, I know…high speed sync. I am on it.


Studio sessions. I use f8 as my go to aperture.
Why? It’s functional, there’s no real need to push the lens wider. Meat and potatoes….Two examples below.

Commercial gigs……first shot, wide angle lens….aperture plays  a small role so I’d use f8 in a scene like this.

Commercial gig for restaurant….here I used a 200mm at 2.8

Family on location….200mm at 2.8 Family in studio….at f8Family on location….200mm at 2.8. This is risky! You need to be very confident everyone will be in focus and on the same plane. This becomes a judgement call. I called it, and it worked. Had I not been so confident I would have likely shot this at around f5.6:

This family in studio shot at f16…I needed to get every one in focus, so I cranked up the ISO and the lights so I could shoot at that aperture.Two more…scenic shots. Scenic photographers use this strategy a lot. Shoot at about one stop wider than the smallest available on the lens. In this case, using the 14-24 Nikon lens, at 14mm, at f16. This ensures front to back sharpness.

If photography were as challenging to master photography like it once was, 99% wouldn’t even pick up a camera…

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Yes, there was a time, pre-digital, when photography was much, much harder to master.

And this created a vacuum.

And a market. An ‘easy’ one for the willing.

If you were willing to learn and master, somewhat, the complexities of photography, and you have half a head for business, you could do alright.

And make some money with images that, in todays standards, may get tossed.
Sounds weird, but true

And we felt special, yessssir. We were magicians, wizards, who knew the secrets to this amazing craft that so few knew.

It was like a secret society.

Truth is. It’s gone. Poof! The genie is out of the bottle long ago….
but you knew that.

I for one am over it. Long ago….

Me thinks in many ways I am a realist. And to me, it was, is and always has been a business moreso than a craft.

Let me repeat that….it’s a business. Photography is, sez Yoda.

As the ease of entry rises, the need for marketing rises too.
(Unless it’s a hobby)

It’s a hard cold reality behind the industry. But, for those who get it, and understand that when you become a marketer of photographic services first and photographer second, you have a much, much better chance at making some dough.

Because of the mindset. Big difference.

The mindset of the photographer who rises above this, rises above their ego and childish ways, and thinks, acts like a strategist, creating innovative moves to build a business…well, think of a sprawling metropolis.

Not a vacant lot.

Big difference…..

What about you? Did you get into photography because it was easy?

If you did, there is a good chance you have the same mindset. One that’s always looking for the easy way to make moneeeee.

Or, are you serious about turning it into a business?

Think about it….and chose a direction.

Yours in photography and success,
Robert Provencher

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

After 22 years of marriage I finally taught my wife to curse…

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I’ll never forget it.

My mom was hanging a picture or something.
I do remember her holding a hammer.

I think I was all of 14 yrs old, me and my four younger sisters, running around, making life chaotic, loud as only a family of five kids can be loud.

My mom stopped, turned at us and yelled: “If you kids don’t F*CKING keep quiet…”…

Stunned silence.

Crickets.

The sound of a hammer rustling and grip tightening in her hands.
Our jaws hanging in shocked awe, eyes bursting wide with fear.

Never, we never, ever heard our mom swear. Ever.

It sure makes a room go quiet.

On that note, I noticed my wife started ‘cussin in the last year or so.

Finally. But I do feel bad, somewhat. She is not one to descend into vulgarities and bad taste. That’s my department.

See, I like swear words. It’s a habit of mine. I find it refreshing.
Cleansing. Offensive.

Sorry, is what it is. I know, I know, I’m a bad influence on her.

It’s one of the eventual side effects of being married over time.
You become to some degree the other person.

It’s the same with branding your photography business. (Not that being a potty mouth is a smart move around your clients. No no…)

But, good branding will eventually sink in. It takes time. Just like teaching your innocent sweet wife to go biker mouth.

Branding means in large part becoming a part of their hearts, minds and souls.

They think warm, positive, fuzzy feelings about you and your studio. They believe
in you. The feel committed. They love you and your product.

This is achieved over time, through years of sessions, offers, affiliation marketing, promos, events, displays (offline and online), sales room experience, reception rooms, publicity, networking, ads….you get the picture.

It takes time. A lot of time. And keeping your mouth clean of course.
Save the curse words for home when you’re with the kids and you absolutely must have silence.:)

Yours in photography and success,
Robert Provencher

“If you want to be a profitable and successful photographer, then study profitable and successful photographers.”
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How to stop procrastinating and take control…

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There are as many ways procrastination rears its ugly head as there are excuses for why we are not moving forward with our hopes, dreams and goals.

Personally, I feel the biggest influence is lack of imagination and fear.

Imagination takes discipline. And it’s a lonely journey.

There are specific things you can do to avoid getting off track….here’s a few that I personally use:

*cards. Small recipe cards. I have my goals and affirmations written out in point form. I read them every night before bed

*smart questions. Never quit on a situation and give in. Instead, ask compelling questions. For instance, you may be trying to come up with some marketing solutions and you maybe hitting a dead end. External forces may be creating some serious roadblocks, Don’t quit. Ask. ….”What can I do to create a solution?”

Sometimes I take on a role model, someone I admire and ask: What would so and so do
in this situation? And wait for answers. THEY WILL COME. All YOU need to do is learn to
ask compelling questions. This is one of the most powerful imagination tools at your avail.

*positive imagery. On cue. Whenever a negative feeling enters you, instantly
and on cue create a positive image
*love list. Ask yourself what things do you love. Get creative. Have fun.
Write fast. Stir the soul.

*deadlines and discipline. I don’t know how many times I found myself in a situation and looked back thinking: “Good thing I committed to this. Because it all worked out.”

There would be a project I am working on and it just sits there. The solution, each and every time, is committing a block of time and forcing myself to sit and work at it.

Each and every time I end up tapping into an immense amount of ideas, innovations, clarity….it all requires commitment. Do not wait for the muse.
Kick him in the b*lls and wake him up! Taking control of your life is a big job.

Being scared or a whiney cry baby is reserved for those who refuse to accept they have a passionate, confident and creative life running right beside them.

All you gotta do is get off the trail you’re on and step over.

Notice I never said the word easy. Lose that word. Kick it out of your life.
Easy is for children who rely on mommy to wipe their nose and butts.

Being able to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and ride it takes a certain mindset and willingness to move on our desires.

Now get to it…..no excuses. It’s YOUR life. Take control….

Yours in photography and success,

Robert Provencher

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

How and why I teach photography 101 in my community

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I was asked a few years ago to teach a photography 101 class at our local library.

At first I was repulsed by the idea. But after some consideration I gave it the green light with a few conditions:

*The class had to be for serious amateurs. I didn’t want a basic 101 for those
with zero experience
*The class size limited to 12 attendees

Fine. They set a date, announced it, filled up the class with about 20 on a waiting list.

Whoa….ok. The interest is there.

After I ran my first series I noticed a few things:
* the students were eager. They ALL showed up consistently and ALL did their assigned
homework
* I really enjoyed teaching it.
* My style of teaching seemed to be a hit.

Go figure. It was working.

And I had NO idea what I was doing insofar as exactly what to teach. I made it up as I went along, following certain parameters:

*I did NOT want to go all techie, you know, let’s look at ALL the camera settings, file types, bla bla bla
*I wanted to PUSH the students to learn to SEE light, learn composition and create a style their own

This of course required some serious distractions. And this was of paramount importance to me.
Teach them to see, and they’ll learn for a lifetime.

I bombarded them in each class with establishing my credibility (showing images I created), going over the basics of exposure (ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speeds) and how tones & light works (source, distance, angle,shadows, mid tones, specular highlights).

Rinse, repeat….over and over. And do the same while going over the images they submitted each week.

This worked. NO endless rambling about camera settings. Just pure learning the art of “seeing”.
My version of tough love.

They never asked about histograms, file types, camera types, lenses or any other academia distractions.
The way I see it, those questions will arise and get answered organically as they master the art of seeing.

I wouldn’t want to teach this any other way. It wouldn’t be fair to them, and it won’t be nearly as fun to teach.

So when Kirk Saint asked me how I taught these classes, I offered to run a webinar style meeting. Which I recorded, and placed in the forum.

That, AND my powerpoint files for members to use as models in case they want to teach something similar in their community.

Members access HERE.

Yours in photography and success,

Robert Provencher

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

It’s what you don’t know that holds the greatest opportunities…

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Food for thought.

I noticed, in me, and in others, a rookie mindset mistake.

EXAMPLE: Think about anytime you started something totally brand new, but something you really wanted to know more about.

It sorta goes like this…..
“I need to learn all I can, so I can look like I know what I’m doing. It’s all about how much I know….” (ego)

The key words….”all about how much I know…”

This is one of the biggest limiting mindsets to getting ahead.

Truth is, it’s all about recognizing how much you don’t know.
That’s the core fundamental mindset of being a good student. No matter your age.
No matter your experience.

As soon as you think you know it, you’re doomed. The gates close.

The is kinda expected at first, since newbs will be newbs.
We’ve all been there.

But the real opportunity presents itself later on, as we get more skilled and masterful.

As we get better, at first, we stumble and fumble…unsure….worried….stressed…. it’s all so new and confusing.

The big mistake= trying really hard to get to the point of “knowing”.

The better place to be is to always be an open, empty vessel…take it all in.
Be modest.

This my friend is harder to do at first because we’re newbs and we want to look good (ego) and it’s equally hard to do when we get better because we think we’ve made it. (ego)

Ask questions. And put your ego aside.

There is no getting to the point of “knowing”.

It’s a fallacy. An illusion.

In photography, both in the actual technical side (lighting, posing, photoshop etc etc….) and in the marketing and business side, we’re always, always in a continuous state of movement and flux.

Stop learning and die.

Stop moving ahead, challenging yourself and your ego on all levels, and the mold and spider webs take over your mind, your heart and soul.

I call this CBS…calcified brain sh*t.

The beginning of the end.

The solution: Ask yourself what you don’t know vs being worried about how smart you are. This requires being a good student and putting your ego aside.

Trying to look smart when you’re starting out is silly. Think about it.

Trying to look smart when you’re got good is much easier…easy to fool many for a while….for a while….

It requires a surrendering, of sorts. An innocent, child like curiosity.

For the most part, I feel very lucky to have been blessed with an insatiable curiosity. I am addicted to workshops, webinars,  documentaries, google and wikipedia…

What success in business and in photography I can directly link to this aspect of my personality.

My daughter has it too. Like her dad. She drives me nuts at times, with 101 questions about something. She HAS to know more, to understand.

I get it. Be patient dad, she’s young. Her curiosity is a good thing.

It will bring her far in life. Let your curiosity work with you.

Let your ego rule, and the doors to curiosity are slammed shut. Air tight.

Nothing gets in. Stay real and authenticity will float to the top of your being.

Yours in photography and success,
Robert Provencher

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

“Why do you use the beauty dish on location all the time?”

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A photographer asks me:

“Why do you use the beauty dish on location all the time?”

“Wind, it’s the wind. This light works much better in the wind. When there’s a breeze, it’s much harder for my 5.0′ wife to hold the light in place when I’m using my preferred light, the 50 inch parabolic shoot through.”

Truth be told, it’s the circumstances that are dictating the process and tools used.

THAT, plus, well, it’s a REALLY nice light source. Let’s not forget that.

Otherwise, light is light. As long as I know how to work it.

Last week I gave the monthly lighting mastermind meeting and shared many examples from legit, real, in the trenches photo sessions.

With real, breathing, legit, paying clients.

That, plus a whole lot more on lighting, from real sessions.

Members can access the replay in the forum.

I also presented a unique Mastermind Marketing meeting on how I teach photography 101 in my community.

For those who are interested in teaching photography 101, this is good info to know. It helps expand your studio brand in your community, boosts your expertise, plus, it’s a ton of fun teaching.

I created a unique style and my students have told me they really enjoyed it.

I also added my powerpoint files from each lesson for members to MODEL.

Access HERE.
Yours in photography and success,

Robert Provencher

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

“Imagine if you would have been stuck in that prison the rest of your life?…”

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Success is easy. Norman Vincent Peale had the right idea in 4 steps:
1-Decide exactly what it is you want.
2-Make it a primary goal. Make it big. Make it important.
3-Establish a series of yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily objectives to achieve that goal.
4-Fight the urge to give up along the way. This is easiest when you have clarity.

My own experience bears this out: you can achieve almost anything you want in life – even if you don’t have much faith in your own abilities.

Lack of self-confidence, Peale said, “is one of the great problems besetting people today.”

He makes reference to a survey of college students indicating that for 75 percent of them, confidence was the thing most lacking in their life.

No one knows this more than I do. No one was more afraid, lost and burdened with the stress of life than I.

Just last night over supper with friends we were recounting our early 20’s (we’re all in our 50’s now, healthier, wealthier and wiser…)

I told our friends about how petrified I was when I was 21. Working full time in a darkroom.

Loving it, good at it. But ready for change and ready to start a new job photographing school photos for a large national company.

That first year shooting was horrible. I was in a constant state of panic. I had anxiety attacks that were unrelenting. I wanted to check myself in to the local san.

When asked how long that went on for, I answered: “A whole year.”

It took me one whole year of photographing hundreds and thousands of students to finally, FINALLY get a handle on it.

In the second year I started to get a sense a confidence. I started a new skill set in those early years. But I had a long way to go.

“Imagine if you would have been stuck in that prison the rest of your life?” was a comment.

“Yes, crazy! I always look back at those years and wonder what would have happened had I let the fears and anxieties rule me. Rule my destiny. What if I would have embraced it and made it my closest friend, my dearest ally? What problems would have and could have arose? What medications would I have chosen to eventually fight that battle?”

Crazy stuff when I think about it.

“The blows of life, the accumulation of difficulties, the multiplication of problems tend to sap energy and leave you spent and discouraged,” Peale says.

In such situations, “it is easy to lose track of your abilities and powers” – but by re-appraising your personal assets, you can convince yourself that “you are less defeated than you think you are.”

Part of me is glad I went through all those times. They made me who I am now.

I persisted. I did not let myself get defeated. Easy? Not for a second.
Worth it? What do you think?
I grew because I persisted. I faced the fears and moved ahead in spite of them.

I created goals. I studied and fed my mind a constant flow of books, seminars and new ideas. I pushed hard.

I fought the demons that tried so hard to rule me.

And you can too. Be true to yourself.

Be fearless my friend.

Yours in photography and success,

Robert Provencher

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

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