What a Photographer Does!

What goes into a picture? You just point and shoot right? Then place it on the computer and show your clients?

In a perfect world photography would be this simple, but unfortunately this isn't a perfect world and some things are just not that simple.

There is a lot that goes into your photographs and today I would like to put a little insight into what that is.

Number one is equipment. You can't expect a surgeon to do surgery without his tools, and a photographer can't do their job without theirs. My typical camera bag consist of two DSLR cameras, various sizes lens, white balance meters, two flashes, lens filters and extra batteries. Now of course this all cost money, but you can have an $8,000 camera and not know how to use it! I have spent countless hours learning my camera inside out. I shoot in manual mode, which means I have  complete control over my photos. It takes a lot of time and practice and if you don't know what you are doing then the outcome will not be nice.

Number two is actually taking the pictures. There is a lot more to taking a picture than just aim and shoot. A photographer must know about lighting, posing, composition of a photo and countless other factors that can affect the client and the photographer.

Number three is editing of the pictures. Even though the digital age of photography has been a wonderful thing. We as photographers still have to edit and retouch photos, but instead of a darkroom we do the edits on our computer. Here is an example: The 1st one has no edits, the 2nd one has basic edits.

So imagine, your photographer takes 100 photos, that means that your photographer will have to open, edit and convert the file to jpeg (many photographers shoot in Raw, which is an uncompressed file) even if the photo comes out perfect the photographer must still convert your photos to a jpeg for viewing online and printing.

Now I know there are a lot of points that have been missed, cost is a major factor, especially when it comes to equipment. A lot of time is spent trying to reach clients and we are constantly having to fine tune our business to go with the times. Just remember, just like your local grocery store, clothing stores, and fast food restaurant, we run a business and even though it may not seem like a lot of work, it is! But I love every minute of it!