A few weeks ago I found an old album of photos from my first few weddings.... Well.. the ideas were great.. but I just kept thinking.. what was I thinking!! Man has my photography changed over the years....12 years to be exact. Then it got me thinking about new photographers and what I would tell them if I had a chance.... well here's my chance!! 1. If you are using a free editing program or a cheap editing program.. don't!! Get into Light room. Light room has changed me life. It can look scary when you first open it.. but enrol in University of Youtube and you will do great! You can do so many fun things in Lightroom! 2. Take care of your gear and don't be afraid to invest in some gear. Don't forget to use lens caps and clean your lens before you use it. get one of those eye glass clothes and use it ONLY for your camera. Don't forget to turn off your camera when not using it. My camera goes in sleep mode which is good because i do forget from time to time but it will drain your battery so try not to forget. 3. Learn from other photographers. I get ask all the time for help and advice. I don't mind helping anyone! Once upon a time when I started photography I asked a photographer that I admire for help. and guess what?? she did. She also told me that anytime I wanted to second shoot a wedding I could. I pass that same info on to any new photographers. Anyone is welcome to come second shoot with me anytime! Also look for photographers on Facebook that you can look up too. I love Jasmine Star and Jessica Claire. 4. Invest in good education. I learned most of my photography skills from Google University and University of Youtube. They were great! But once I invested in some classes.. things changed.. big time! You will get that money back.. ten fold!! I hope these few tips help you as a new photographer. You are always welcome to message me on facebook or here on blog and ask me questions. We can go for coffee and just chat!
0 Comments
Back to school… already?? Where did the summer go?
After a few days in the pool its time to jump back in routine again and gear up for another school year. Pretty soon your social media feed will be filled with photos of excited kids heading back to school… And of course you will want to have your camera ready!! Get a jump on planning this year’s first day of school photos. Here are some tips on how to capture the moment just right!
When I started working in Eel Ground and having to travel 45 mins to work every day I would love to listen to talk radio and then my favourite channel got taken off the air. So then I started listening to different channels on Sirius XM Radio and I liked listening to them on my drives but then they started repeating the same things over and over again. Then a friend suggested that I start listening to podcasts. I fell in love! There are so many out there on so many different topics.
There is no shortage of podcasts about photography, business and personal development. Podcasts are a great way for a photography to learn while on the go. You can listen to them in your car, while working out, while your editing and my favourite why I am doing housework! Its awesome how much free education there is out there! Here are my top 10 favourite podcasts to listen to. 1. Gary Vaynerchuck ~ The Gary Vee Experience I love Gary Vaynerchuch... warning before you listen to him.. he's very blunt and very... lets say coarse. But he's so good. He talks about business and social media. Again warning hes very coarse! This guy knows his stuff. 2. Jenna Kutcher ~ The Goal Digger Podcast Jenna is a photographer who bought a camera off Craig lists just to take photos of her planning her wedding. Then she became a millionaire before she was 30. I love this podcast because it brings photography and business together. Shes so down to earth and you will fall in love with her! 3. Oprah~ Oprah's Super Soul Conversation Who doesn't love Oprah? like really? This is a great personal development podcast. Its like her TV show she talks to influential people. 4. All Up in Your Lady Business Jessica and Jaclyn interview female entrepreneurs who are rocking their businesses in all areas. This podcast has ended but you can still listen to them on Spotify 5. Shoot Edit Chat Repeat Vicky and Eddie are 2 photographer located in the UK. They talk photos, business and have awesome photographers on their podcast who talk about their struggles and successes in photography. 6. She Creates Business This podcast was created for women wedding photographers who want to grow their businesses. This podcast is all about wedding photography. 7. The Business of Photography This podcast is all about photography. From how to run your business to how to deal with your clients. Plus they have some of the best photographers in the business! 8. Emily Supiot ~ Stayed Focus I love listening to Emily podcasts. She explains things so well and makes everything seem so simple!! 9. Molly Stillman ~ Business on Purpose This girl is awesome! She has amazing guests that are either CEOs or directors of not for profit you name it.. anyone trying to change the world... you will find them on this pod cast 10. Rachel Hollis ~ Rise I saved the best for last.. like does this girl really need an introduction!! She;s just amazing.. you might have heard of her book... "Girl wash your face" or "Girl stop apologising" She;s an amazing motivational speaker and business women and gets right to the point! I hope you get a chance to listen to one or all of these podcasts! Enjoy! When I first started learning about photography I remember spending hours and hours and hours... reading tips and tricks and watching YouTube videos. I just wanted to learn everything... but I felt so overwhelmed and didn't know where to start. Yes its great that anything we want to learn is at your finger tips and can make you feel overwhelmed and confused.
I don't claim to know everything about photography. I am still learning. I am always learning. But here are 5 tips that will help you take better photos. I promise they are simple and easy for you to learn. 1. Take your camera everywhere and take photos of everything When I first started out I was taking my photo every where I went. I also took photos of everything because I wanted to learn about my camera. I wanted to try new things and I wanted to try new settings. This is a great way to learn about your camera and become more comfortable with your camera. Practice, Practice, and Practice!! 2. Learn about light Light is everything in photography. When I get to a place to take photos ... I look at the light.. Yes its a beautiful sot but if the light isnt right.. your photos wont turn out! Look at where the sun is!! If you are just starting out and you're not sure take a minute and walk around in a circle. See where the light hits your subjects on their face. Shade will become your best friend!! 3. Learn about the rule of thirds Everyone thinks when you take a photo that is has to be right in the centre. By breaking up the image into nine quadrants you have guidelines and you should place them either along of the 2 horizontal grid lines or the vertical lines. Once you get that mastered.. then break the rules!! Try a different angle, try moving your camera a different way,.. then you end up with something different and amazing!! 4. Watch your ISO ISO setting determines how sensitive your camera is to light and also how find the grain of image. I always say ISO is like lightening bugs. If you have 100 bugs in a hard you have some light but if you have 1600 in a jar you have tons of light. When its dark we need to push the ISO up to higher numbers but be careful because it will get grainy. When you are outside you don't need you ISO to be high most of the time my ISO is 100. 5. Invest in Learning I know at first I talked about how there is so much access to anything we want to learn and for FREE. But take the time and money and invest in a good class. There are tons out there!! It was something I didn't do until this last year and I am so glad that I did. Its summer and most of us are spending lots of time at the beach! This weekends forecast is to be hot and sunny. So I can see lots of families heading to the beach. Here are a few tips to help taking photos at the beach.
1. Be careful of your equipment. Be super careful when you are the beach with you camera. there's sand, sand and more sand. It just takes one little grain of sand to screw up your whole camera... I might have a little experience in that. If you feel the need to change a lens you are going to want to be extra careful you don't get any sand in your sensor. If its windy turn your back to the wind. 2. Capture the details I love details... why not capture them at the beach? think sandy toes, patterns in the sand, sand castles, and sometimes you meet crazy little creatures on the beach. 3. Consider a silhouette To get the best colors in the sky plan your trip closer to sunrise or sunset. The golden hour is the perfect time to get those photos. The golden hour happens an hour after sunrise and about an hour before sunset. It typically yellow orange light that gives its magical appearance. 4. Watch the Horizon horizons can also become more sloped and angled when you are taking photos. keep an eye on them and keep them straight. You probably wont get these bang on when shooting. So shoot a bit wider and leave room fro cropping when you edit them image. 5. Use black and white I have this photo of my step sons when were in PEI and they were playing in the waves and this big wave came up and they were jumping in it. Its a beautiful photos in color... but the whole photo changed when I made it black and white. Its one of my favorite photos. There's something about black and white photos at the beach. It brings them to life. Its also a great way to give some life to those overcasts or dull days which can often lead the beach photos look colorless. 6. Last but not least have fun!! Get some playful candid shots. Running in the sand, playing in the water, building a sand castle. Just have fun! Who would have ever thought our world would be consumed by taking "selfies". I am as guilty as the next person. Here are some tips to help you take better selfies.
1. Check your light! Lighting is everything when it comes to a good selfie. You need good "Natural" light. Light is undoubtedly the best beauty product you don't have to pay for! When taking a selfie turn towards a window or go outside and bask in the suns glow. But be careful where you go because harsh sunlight can cast shadows and squinting! I suggest dining a window and stand in front of that. Or take a piece of white paper hold it under your chin and it creates a natural bounce of light. 2. Smile like you mean it Don't force a big smile or force a smile. Think of something funny or something that makes you smile. You will see a natural smile. if you are going for a slightly more serious selfie "try smiling with your eyes". Practice in front of mirror. Also ditch the duck face! 3. Take a lot of selfies. Kylie Jenner says she takes about 500 selfies before she likes one to post. I don't take 500 selfies but I do take a few before I find the right one.... and don't forget to clean your camera! 4. Play with your angles. When taking a selfie hold the phone so that the bottom of its level with your eyes. Try tilting your head in different directions and changing angles up slighting between each shot. Don't forget to make sure the camera focused before snapping away. Another great tip is to use a selfie stick. 5. Don't over edit your photos. I go on Facebook and Instagram and see girls over editing and airbrushing your photos to the point that they don't look like themselves. Its OK to use filters ( I use them all the time) but don't look unnatural. When you are using a filter you have an option to not use it at max capacity. Just slide it down a bit! Over the years I have learned so much about running my photography business on Facebook. If I could go back to 2007 when I started my business and do things so differently. I have taken so many courses on how to use social media for my business. I am glad that I have because I really changed how I write posts, how I post, when I post. Here are a few mistakes that I have made over the years and I see other photographers continue to make.
1. Post too many photos of a preview. When you are posting a preview from a clients session you don't have to post every single photo from that session. Choose 2-6 of your favorite and best photos from that session. Remember future clients are seeing these photos... you want to post the best of the best... the cream of the crop. Also sometimes people get bored looking through a ton of photos. Leave that to the client to post and it leaves a surprise for them also. 2. Worrying about the amount of likes or followers I use to worry about how many likes I was getting on a photo and I use to worry about how many followers I had. Then I learned that its better to have 5 Quarters then 100 Pennies. In other words its better to 5 good followers that engage on your Facebook page than 100 that don't do anything. 3. Not posting often enough If you follow my Facebook page you notice i post EVERY SINGLE DAY! I post about photography, social media, about my life, introduce myself, what I am working on. My followers get to know more about me and there is a better chance my Facebook page will show up in my followers news feeds. 4. Automate and scheduling. So when I started posting every single day I noticed that I just didn't have time to come up with posts. I was wasting sometimes up to 30 mins trying to figure out what to post. Now I take one day a month and plan one post every single day for a whole month. That I am posting every single day and not wasting time trying to figure out what to post. Facebook has recently banned all 3rd party scheduling apps like Hootsuite. But have no fear! Facebook has a scheduling app that you can use. Actually they want you to use it! 5. Be yourself When I started introducing myself and telling people about myself I noticed that these posts do really well on my page. Your followers want to know about you. A few times a week I try and let my followers into my life and who I am. You don't have to reveal everything about your life. But that's what people want on Facebook they want the real! I hope these facebook tips help you grow your photography business on facebook! Paige Oh Instagram!! how come don't you show our posts to ALL our followers?
You see Instagram is like a 8 lane highway.. at first it was great because everyone could use all 8 lanes... but then Instagram was like "wow so many businesses are getting free advertising from us" So then they said "if you pay for advertising.... we will let your followers and others see your post more often" so.. all of who are using it for free are all now in ONE lane of the 8 lane highway and those who pay are now more spread out and the more you pay the better the lane you will be in! Here are a few tips to help you get your Instagram posts noticed by more of your followers 1. Post Consistently: Post every single day. At least twice a day. And post at different times every day. Today if you post at 7 am and then tonight at 6:30. Then tomorrow post at 8 am and 9pm. Mix it up. Also when you post don't post at 7am and then another post at 7:30am. You need about 2-3 hours between the 2 posts because posts that are that close to each other will compete with each other. 2. Use better photos. Use stock images... not free cheesy ones.. rather styled stock photos. There are so many websites that you can get nice, clear, styled, photos for free. I am part of a monthly subscription group that I get 30 stock images every month. As I use those photos I noticed that my grid is looking more uniform. 3. Rethink your hashtags. Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags per post which is great... but don't use all the hashtags. Most businesses use 7-10. Plus many followers do not want to see One photo with 30 some hashtags. Don't use the most popular hashtags because your post will get lost. Use less popular hashtags because you will get more followers. Also don't use random or never used hashtags because then your post will never get seen. 4. Stay engaged. Instagram is all about building relationships!! So comment on other peoples post and the more you interact with people the more people will see your posts. I spend 15 mins here and there at least twice a day commenting a Instagram posts and connecting. Also if someone comments on your post you comment back... its building relationships according to Instagram algorithms and more people will see your post! 5. Plan your posts. At first I thought this was crazy. I don't have time to plan my posts. I don't have time to take an afternoon and plan my posts for the month.... but every day when I went to post it took me about 15-30 mins to figure out what I was going post. So I was in a course and I took the challenge. To take a Sunday afternoon and plan ONE post every day for a month. So I did it.. and you know what I found.. I had more time!! It took me a few hours on a Sunday afternoon... rather than 15-30 mins every day.. Now I plan my posts and my posts are better. 6. Use Instastories and IGTV. I hate making videos and going live.. but I am trying. But Instagram wants you to use these platforms inside their platforms. The more you use them the more they wil let people see your posts! I hope these 6 tips helps your followers see your posts more! I loved that when you were able to post on Instagram and then hit the slide button and ta da but post was on Facebook too. But I didn't like if I tagged people on Instagram it wasn't tagged on Facebook. But I also noticed that I was getting the interaction on Instagram and Facebook that I was hoping for. After I stopped pushing my Instagram posts to Facebook I noticed a huge change in my interaction and those viewing my content.
When you push your post from Instagram to Facebook you need to respect the platform. There are a few little changes you need to make. Yes Facebook owns Instagram but they have different "rules". First Hashtags were made for Instagram. While you are Instagram you can follow hashtags and you can use them (only up to about 30 hashtags but you really shouldn't use all 30). When you use hashtags in Instagram it gives your post more weight and more opportunity for people to see your post. However Facebook wasn't really made for hashtags. You can use them and you can click on the hashtag but you won't see as many posts with that hashtag and your post may not get seen as much as it would over in Instagram. Secondly when you tag people on Instagram post then push it to Facebook, Facebook doesn't automatically tag a person. So you manually have to in and change the tag. Also people feel like that when they see a post that has been pushed from Instagram to Facebook that ease dropping on a conversation that was only meant for Instagram. And not everyone has Instagram! People are nosy and like clickable content. So if you tag someone on Instagram and then push it Facebook and people can't click on who you are tagging they probably will just pass the post. And finally if you are pushing your posts to Facebook, it says at the top of the post that it was from Instagram. Some people still have only Facebook and when they see this post pushed from Instagram they don't feel special, they feel like the forgotten Step Child. They also feel like you are lazy and the algorithm puts less weight on pushed posts. For those who are on Instagram and Facebook, chances are once they check out Instagram then they head over to Facebook. They are going to see the exact same content. One thing I do that I noticed a HUGE difference is that I started staggering my content. So If I post on Facebook at 6 am I will post on Instagram later that day OR If I post say Monday morning I will post Wednesday evening. You are going to get 2 different set of audiences and more people seeing your post. I hope these few tips will help you increase your Instagram and Facebook likes and interaction! Facebook was first created for University students to build relationships with other students from other university. So when they opened it to everyone it was the same idea that people would make connections and build relationships with other people. Then businesses got a hold of this and they started advertising for free. Well Facebook noticed this and then asked businesses to start making business pages. But wanted business to start paying for posts that they want people to see. Then Network Marketers started posting about their products. So Facebook started with this thing called algorithms. They want people to not sell things but build relationships organically. A lot of businesses noticed that there are not a lot of people seeing their posts. Here are some tips to help you have more visibility on Facebook. 1. Post regularly Posting at least once a day will increase your chances of being seen. Posting 2-5 times a day can seem kinda of overwhelming to an audience. Most businesses post once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening. When you post every day your followers will see that you are consistent and they may want to engage more. 2. Invite people to like your page. I know this sounds like a duh? moment but many businesses don't know that if you click on the invite button all your friends on Facebook show up that haven't liked your page. Once a month I go and send out invite to my Facebook friends. Also when people like your posts you can click on the like button and it shows all those who like your post but may not have liked your page so you can send them invites! 3. Comment on others pages ~ When you comment on other pages as your business or even as a personal profile you will show the algorithms that you have a relationship with those people. Also you must comment 4 or more words for the algorithms to register that you are a relationship with that person. I take about 15 mins in the morning and 15 mins in the afternoon and comment on other peoples post. 4. Use images ~ An image take sup more space in the news feed and an interesting image can spark more likes, comments, and shares. When more people engage with your content more people have a chance to see your content. People really like photos! 5. Reply to peoples comments ~ the post has a chance for added visibility because there is new activity on that post. you don't have to reply to every single post but its nice to acknowledge people. 6. Tag other pages or team up with them~ when you tag or team up with other pages your visibility can increase with that pages audience. When I photograph weddings I tag any business that might have been apart of that day. Whether its a florist, wedding shop, decorator, or caterer. 7. Create a call to action ~ its important to ask people to engage. Just by asking a simple question people will comment and it will increase your visibility. If you notice a lot of network marketers they are always asking questions or getting their followers to do something. This helps their engagement. 8. Use Facebook Live Regularly ~ Facebook gives more weight to those who do fb lives. So there is a better chance for people to see your posts. Start by doing fb live once a week. plan your broadcast ahead of time to get the best results. although you may not be a viral hit your first go be persistent, practice, find your voice and keep showing up. 9. Change your posting time ~ try publishing content outside your business hours such as morning, evening, weekend. every page is different the best time depends on your audience. For the longest time experts would say there are certain times that you would get the most engagements at like 8am to 7pm. If you own a Facebook Business Page there is a button called insights and you see what time of day you have the most engagement. 9. Promote posts ~ if you don't mind spending money you can increase the visibility of your posts by promoting them via news feed. Its a little annoying because that's what Facebook wants your to do. But at the same time it can be effective I have implemented many of these tips on my photography business page and I have noticed I have gotten more visitors, more engagement, and more visibility. Have fun building relationships on Facebook! |
PaigeI am just a girl who stands behind a camera who takes way to many photos asking the world to love my vision. Archives
January 2020
Categories |