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Digital photography is mostly stress-free until it comes to wedding photography. You can survive this most challenging of all photographic assignments if you follow some simple rules.

The Shot List

Before you worry about your gear, you have to find out precisely what shots are required. Some brides will hand you a list of what they want. Other brides may just expect you to know instinctively what is needed. In this case, sweat should break out on your brow. Propose or ask for a shot list.

A shot list should be broken down into three broad categories:

1. Before the Service
2. The Service
3. After the Service

Before the Service

These photos can take in the following:

* The bride dressing
* The bride and friends
* The bride with her parents
* The groom with his friends
* The groom and his parents
* The Dress
* Getting into the limo
* Sitting in the limo
* Arriving at the church

Some of these can be candid shots. Some work better if you pose them.

The Service

These photos depend on the location and whether you are allowed to shoot the actual exchange of vows, etc. You may or may not be able to record the ceremony – ask the bride to find out. As possible, shoot from the groom’s side towards the bride. The bride may want pictures of the groom but most of the guests will want pictures of her – including the groom.

These shots should include:

* Allow enough space in the frame to show the bride and groom three-quarter length and celebrant.
* First take some frames showing the bride and groom from the waist up.
* Three quarter length to full length of the entire bridal party including the maids and groomsmen.
* Take the bridge and groom head to waist with some space around them.
* The ring (close-up on the hands if you can zoom in fast otherwise go for the semi-close-up)
* The kiss (semi close-up)

Lighting plays a big part in the ceremony shots. Flash will destroy the mood and your popularity – don’t use it, there should be enough ambient light for these photos. Request to attend the rehearsal and get an idea of the lighting. Make sure you use a tripod.

Your digital camera should have an option to turn the shutter sound off. Do that so you can shoot many frames without disturbing the event. The more the better. Set the camera to multiple frames and hold the shutter down at the important moments. Photo editing software cannot correct a eye caught mid-blink. You should compensate by covering these critical moments with many photos.

Some fancy footwork may be needed to photograph the new couple walking towards the front doors. Now this is an important wedding photography tip: Use the rehearsal to work out how and where you can move.  Flash is fine once the new couple begin moving to the church doors. You can see more about this under the heading ‘Equipment’.

After the Service

Yet again some of these can be candid and some should be posed. These should include:

* The bride and groom outside the church/venue with well-wishers
* The confetti moment (just hold the shutter down!)
* The bouquet
* Groups of bride and groom and all parents
* Getting into the limo
* Sitting in the limo
* The limo itself if it has been tricked up with cans and graffiti etc.

Following on-After the Ceremony

These usually need to be planned ahead. Accompany the couple to a location you have scouted out – a park, a beach, or a garden. The bride will definitely want some full length photos that show the dress to good effect, you should pose these. The couple can chill out and let their hair down for the camera. Find an attractive location with soft lighting and shoot with your zoom, also do some semi-posed shots.

This phase includes the reception. Guests will probably want photos with the bride and groom but in my experience once the big day is over you discover that those ‘must’ shots sit neglected on the disk.

Definitely shoot the cutting of the cake. Take the bridal table – ask everyone to put down their glasses and forks. Plan to devote most attention and care to pictures of the ceremony.

Recruit the matron of honor if possible to help you stay on track at the reception and organize the group photos.

The Final Product

It is best to supply a CD or DVD with the bad shots edited out. Duds make photographers look incompetent. For added effect you can use video editing software to quickly make a slide show of the event in sequence. Don’t submit any images if they can’t be enlarged to about A4 size and still retain clarity and sharpness. If you are selling the pictures you can place a watermark on each one that says ‘Proof Only’, or simply include the whole finished CD in your overall fee and don’t worry about orders.

Digital cameras or cameras that do not make use of films are one of the most intelligent creations that have ever been made by man and these are gadgets that have totally done away with the need to use films and their associated chemical processes. Through electronic means i.e. an onboard computer, your digital camera records all the images effortlessly and very effectively. Today digital cameras are affordable for the ordinary person which was not possible earlier, when they first came out.

Ensure Greater Longevity Of Digital Camera Batteries

Digital camera batteries are a very important component of this gadget and the longevity of digital cameras in fact depend to a large extent on the performance of their digital camera batteries. This means that in order to ensure that your precious digital camera lasts longer you should, first of all, ensure that you never use AA batteries as these kinds of batteries do not provide power for sufficiently long times. If you do have to choose digital camera batteries makes sure to go for rechargeable batteries that are often called NiMH batteries.

In fact, it is recommended to pay a little more for your digital camera batteries (NiMH batteries) and so ensure longer life of your digital camera than to pay less and buy AA batteries that will not provide suitable power for your camera.

For people that like to shoot plenty of pictures and also for people that are taking their digital cameras on long trips it makes sense to shop for additional digital camera batteries; especially, the rechargeable kind as these additional and fully charged batteries will be able to provide your camera with enough power to help you use your digital camera to best effect. Of course, at the same time you should also have a battery charger with you with which to recharge the batteries.

Follow few easy tips to take care of your digital camera batteries for a longer life. First of all, you should always take the batteries out of the camera when the camera is not being used. In addition, you must never allow your digital camera batteries to become wet since water will erode the batteries and damage them. And, when your camera has MicroDrive media then you will need to have extra supply of fully charged digital camera batteries because the power consumed by the MicroDrive is higher and so warrants additional stock of batteries.

Today, the technologies being used to ensure better performance from a digital camera battery charger have improved to such an extent that you can easily plug in the charger and reenergize your batteries in a few hours. However, there are some tips that you need to follow to ensure that you recharge the digital camera batteries in the proper and safest manner.

It’s very rare these days for anyone – barring artists or professional photographers – to use film in cameras these days. Now a days a memory card is used in digital cameras to store the pictures taken onto them. People are allowed to take many more pictures than a typical roll of film would and it lets you download them directly onto your computer by this revolutionary new system. Why is this significant? Because once an image is on your computer, you can make all kinds of changes to it using digital camera software. Before people would be able to alter very little in the image – now they can manually touch up their images!

What is done using Digital Camera Software?

Digital camera software does a lot of things. First, most programs come equipped with a program that lets you manually download the images from a digital camera onto a desktop computer or a laptop. This puts the pictures onto the hard drive which lets you print the pictures, send them to family members, upload them to social networking sites or even just store them for later use.

Some programs also offer unique features. Some digital camera software lets you create email brochures with the pictures taken, create special slideshows or even send the photos to family members. (An example of this is Photolightning, a company that offers digital camera software for $39.95).

Some digital camera software can even be used to recover images deleted from a digital camera’s memory card. Some have special image viewing programs. There are also many types of digital camera software that help you compile all of your images into a photo database for quick access and organization.

But by far the most valuable thing digital camera software helps you do is this: it helps you edit your images. Some people take pictures and they always have red-eye no matter how many times they retake it. Digital camera software allows you to open the picture and edit out the red eye. And that’s just the simple stuff.

Digital camera software – Nikon digital camera software, for instance – also allows you to do other, more complex things to images. You can manually adjust the colors in a photo. You can also crop images and cut out things that you don’t want. Digital camera software lets you edit all of that manually until you’re happy with the coloring. You can do all this and more if you have good digital camera software.

Photographer’s Market: One invaluable tool in your freelance photography experience is Photographer’s Market. This book is the closest thing to a bible of freelancers. Its 600+ pages include a comprehensive listing of work prospects for freelance photographers. The book undergoes yearly updates and the price of a copy is quite easy on the pocket.

Landing in a photography job in a small city or town is not impossible. Ask around from local dailies and other small-scale publications if they might have something for you. By making your presence felt occasionally, you can convert your prospects to actual clients who want to return to you for repeat services.

If the first few methods turn out fruitless, advertise your photography services in the local paper.

There are event coordinators and couples who will prefer your services over those offered by studios. You must have an impressive portfolio and competitive rates to back you up.

Assistant Photographer: Begin from the bottom; serve as an apprentice.

In many wedding photo shoots, seasoned photographers appreciate the extra hand extended by a second photographer. When you play this secondary role, remind yourself that you are never at the losing end.

Some photographers will supply all the needed equipment: camera, memory cards, flash and lenses. Others give you leave to make use of your own camera, equipment and accessories. Once the event is through, you hand over the shots you made and stored in the memory cards.

A professional photographer who collaborates with at least one assistant can cover more shots and angles of the wedding. There are definitely a great number of photographs that clients will receive. Along the way, you can gain more experience under your belt. You can improve your working knowledge of photography in both its technical and business aspects.

Post Processing Services: Your knowledge with Photoshop opens yet another type of service you can offer to professional photographers: the post processing of pictures.

Especially among those specializing in weddings, modern-day photographers favor shooting in RAW to capture everything they can of the scenes. Before these photos get printed or reach the client’s end, they have to be post processed first. Without a doubt, many individuals who offer photo processing services use Photoshop.

Post processing is time- consuming. Prepare to invest a dose of patience though because there’s simply no escaping from the step. For example, be prepared to spend up to 8 hours of your time in post processing 500 wedding pictures. The processing time is variable and is dependent on the efficiency of your computer. Imagine how much vacant time other photographers can maximize if they allow you to post process their pictures. These individuals can even use the spare time on marketing their skills and booking more clients. With a computer and the necessary software as your start-up capital, you’re just about ready to post process photos.

If you found these tips about “Jobs for Photography” helpful, you may also wish to read more the article about how you can Make Money With Photography.

Just One Of Those Days?

Sweetie!?! The computer is making a strange clicking sound.
What’s that smell? What’s burning?
Weren’t all your pictures on that computer?
Oh, no!

Don’t be a loser … like me.  I am talking about loss, data loss.  In terms of digital photography I am talking specifically about the pictures of your friends and famliy that are most likely all stored only in one place: your computer’s hard drive. 

Wedding pictures, vacation pictures, birthdays, holidays; these precious moments of your life can be lost in an instant from a bolt of lightning or the spark of static electricity you might pick up from rubbing your feet across the carpet. Machines are imperfect and do fail, and by Murphy’s Law, they will fail at the worst possible time.

How much are your digital photos worth to you?  A hard drive failure could cost between $300 and $3000 to recover the data depending on the severity of the hard drive crash, if in fact your data is even recoverable.

Here is a short list of things you can do to protect your valuable photos, videos and other personal data:

Anti-Virus Software

Malicious viruses can erase your hard drive.  Use a product that is updated every day automatically with the latest anti-virus definitions.

Keep Your PC Serviced

As dust collects in your PC and around your hard drives, they overheat and shorten the life of the drive.  Your computer acts just like an electrostatic air filter.  Have it serviced by a professional at least once a year and keep them off of the carpeted floor, away from dust and pet dander.

I recommend getting an air filter and keep it in the room with your PC.  Your computer will not ingest as much dust, and as an added benefit, the air you breathe will be fresher at the same time.

Backup Your Photos and Data

Photos and data backup over the Internet is becoming a very popular as a data backup choice.  It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.  This is a great, cheap insurance policy.  Online backup is like buying an insurance policy for your digital photo archives.

Here are the advantages of backing up to the Internet: 

You can backup securely over any high speed Internet connection.

Since your data is stored on a server offsite, you are covered from events such as PC theft, fire or hard drive failure. Have you considered what would happen if there is an earthquake, flood or other natural disaster in the place your backups are stored.

Mozy.com is the online backup system that I use. Recommended by PC World Magazine, it works equally well on PC and Mac. You can back up to 2 Gigabytes for free and you can backup unlimited data from your home computer for only $4.95 per month (even less with an annual subscription). They have a pro version as well for your office computer.

Many online backup companies offer a low cost data backup only to charge you on the back side to restore your backup data.  Not so with Mozy.  They have no hidden charges!  When I asked their tech support to confirm, they told me “We don’t hold your data for ransom.”

So, don’t be a loser. You’ve invested hours and dollars in your digital photo library.  It is literally priceless.  One day (maybe even tomorrow) you will be glad you did, or sorry you didn’t.  Save early and save often, and make data backup a critical part of your digital photography processes.

You might even encourage your friends to back up their data (send them a link to this article!)  If they experience a data loss event, you very well may become one of their biggest heroes of all time.

Sign up for a free digital photography tip of the week at www.photonack.com. If you shoot in camera RAW (you should be), please visit www.rawconverterreview.com for news and reviews about popular RAW converter programs.