Digital Photography Home-Business Opportunities

For the next seven years, digital photography is forecasted to remain steady as a job opportunity for those that are interested in this field. While the competition is expected be strong amongst photographers and the demand for jobs will fall below the number of photographers there are expected to emerge in this field.

The most successful photographers exhibit traits in being creative, able to adapt rapidly to technology changes, and management proficiency. There are digital photography business courses available to help you gain the competitive edge. You will be able to start your own full or part-time business when you develop a good business sens and keep up-to-date on the rapidly changing technology.

There are many areas that you can pursue in a digital photography home business. I will cover a few of the areas for digital photography businesses.

Real Estate
Each year there are millions of homes sold in the US and real estate agents use at least one picture to advertise the property online, in magazines, in brochures, and in newspapers. As a digital photographer you could earn $50 to $100 a house working with real estate agents or others involved in real estate.

Portraits
There are many locations that you can use for a photo shoot. Many people like to have a professional portrait done of themselves for various reasons. The common charge for a shoot is $100 per hour and an additional $50 to $100 for prints and enlargements. There is also a strong demand for pet and children's portraits.

Sports
Being a photographer for sporting events can be profitable and exhilarating. As a sports photographer, you can submit your photos to event organizations, to participants and publications, local news agencies, and a variety of other types of news and sporting sites. The local minor league teams could pay $50 to $200 for team photos with extra sales potential for prints, premium items such as photo trading cards, T-shirts, and reprint. Do not forget your local school teams either as there is a hidden potential for a photo shoot for these teams.

Commercials
Every year there are billions of dollars spent on product advertisements. Commercial photography is normally limited to the more experienced photographers who can charges as much as $2,500 a day for high end product shots. There is also an opportunity for those that can also do shoots for the local chamber of commerce for their websites, local businesses for websites, and a wide array of other ways to earn as a commercial photographer.

Glamour
There are many beauty salons, hair dressers, and modeling agencies that use photos to help promote their services and products. While it is not uncommon for them to pay more than $150 an hour for promotional shoots with images that can be used for brochures, online advertising, point of sale materials, and business cards. There is an opportunity for those that wish to have photos of their staff and customers photographed for in house promotions or for conventions.

Stock Photography
There are agencies that specialize in stock photos that they resell to business for promotional purposes. For you to have your work listed with them they normally require a minimum submission of 300 to 500 photographs. As a stock photographer you can submit photos such as travel photos, landscape, people, animals, still life, and various other types of images that will appeal to their customers. The commissions for stock photographers can range from $5 to $100 for images that their customers purchase through their agencies.

News and Events
Many local newspapers, magazines, and newscasts often look for interesting human interest stories and pictures. The requirements for each of the types of periodicals will vary, but it is possible to have your pictures published, receive credit as a tag line, and possibly a payment for your photo.

Wedding Photography
There are photographers who will establish a wedding package of 25 to 40 prints that will retail for $1,500 to $3000. Normally this a type of shoot will take two days to work, the first day is to shoot the event and the second day is to process and prepare the album.

Graduation
There are parents who wish to have a professional photograph took of their graduate walking down the aisle and across the stage at graduation. The charges for photos could range from $5 to $10.

Mirrormask: The Illustrated Film Script - Review

Mirrormask: The Illustrated Film Script of the Motion Picture from The Jim Henson Company By Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean William Morrow The Jim Henson Company approached Messrs. Gaiman and McKean, inquiring whether they would be interested in making a fantasy film. They have collaborated on a number of projects over the course of almost twenty years, their most noteworthy achievement being the award-winning Sandman series. Even though The Jim Henson Company only had a $4 million budget, Gaiman and McKean were intrigued by the offer and agreed. In the book’s introduction Gaiman details how he and McKean worked together to create the film’s story and screenplay, which was a tad difficult because of their different approaches to writing. McKean outlines an entire project on cards, aware of every aspect and idea, before writing a screenplay while Gaiman talks until he’s ready to write and then allows a screenplay to flow out of him as he works. Mirrormask is about a young girl named Helena, whose parents run a traveling circus. She is tired of her life and wants to get out of it. Her mother falls very ill and is hospitalized, so Helena stays with her aunt. Helena loves drawing and covers the walls of small bedroom she is staying in with her pictures. One night, she has an odd dream and then unknowingly walks into a city on the other side of reality. It’s a magical world that is divided into the White City and the Dark Forest. Helena is mistaken for the Princess, who stole a charm that caused the White Queen to fall into a sleep she can’t be awoken from. Her slumber has broken this world’s balance and shadowy tendrils seep out of the Dark Forest, destroying everything in the White City they touch. Helena volunteers to find the charm because she has seen herself sleeping back in her aunt’s flat and assumes she is dreaming. As the adventure progresses, Helena learns that she may not be in a dream after all. She becomes aware that she has switched places with the Princess, who ran away from her mother, the Dark Queen. Helena discovers even graver news when she realizes that this strange, new world she is trapped in are her drawings pasted on her aunt’s bedroom walls. When the Princess sees Helena in the drawings, she begins tearing them down, destroying the world she ran away from. Gaiman and McKean have created a fabulous fairy tale that playfully deals with familiar archetypes, such as Sphinxes, while creating brand new ones like the Monkeybirds. Mirrormask should satisfy both children and adults because there is plenty of action and some mild frights. Gaiman wrote the screenplay from their story with plenty of input from McKean along the way. McKean directed the film, which is coming out this fall from Sony Pictures, but has no release date. The Illustrated Film Script contains the screenplay matched with McKean’s storyboards, including the deleted scenes that are sure to appear on the DVD. There are also stills from the sets and behind the scenes that show the final realizations of McKean’s vision. They look marvelous and should be a wonder to behold on the big screen. I was worried about the effect reading the script would have on me in regards to seeing the film, but Mirrormask is so imaginative and its story and visuals are so compelling that the book increased my interest in seeing the film. I highly recommend the book for fans of film and fantasy and certainly understand if you choose to see the film first before reading it. The screenplay format might be tough to read for young children who like the film Appendices in the back show the transformations the Mirrormask story made as Gaiman and McKean emailed back and forth with ideas and alterations and what-ifs. They write mutual-admiration letters and the book closes with the lyrics to the song over the end credits, which were written by Gaiman.

Anglin's Wedding Photography in Bend Oregon

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Anglin’s Wedding Photography will preserve your wedding memories with their exceptional and incomparable talents. Jake and Shereen Anglin can create beauty on film that will last a lifetime! Together, they capture the sentiment of a couple’s once in a lifetime event, their wedding day. Anglin’s portraits are incredibly intimate and share a level unlike any other wedding photographers endeavors.

The level of intimacy captured and preserved on film between the bride and groom is unsurpassed and enduring. While viewing Anglin’s sample portraits from their website www.Anglins.com, you can almost feel the emotional and intimate nature of the wedding with the soft focus and moody lighting the Anglins use. For any couple, their wedding day can be the most anxious and exciting day of their lifetime together. Photographs of this moment should be intimate not only with the wedding party but should include seemingly simple fundamentals of the wedding such as the environment, the décor and guests.
No two weddings are identical because no two people are identical. Each wedding is as unique as you and the Anglin’s expose the individuality and style of your wedding portraits. On the website, a happy couple by the water is holding up a big Thank You sign; they really appreciate your business! The Anglin’s not only take the traditional wedding shots but they also create portraits with natural body movements with natural expressions that are difficult to do in posed portraits.

Their portraits are very detail oriented with great elemental compositions. Their photographs not only portray close-ups among the bride and groom, but they also capture the smallest minutiae of the wedding and their sample portraits show an assortment of close-ups of the wedding jewelry worn or the candles lit beside a wedding cake. Another precise photograph is of white chairs and the bride’s bouquet and in yet another, the bridal bouquet on the table with lit candles only further giving an artistic element captured on film. These are small moments the bride has dreamed about her whole life. Even when the lighting seems low they capture a well lit environment that exposes the low light elements and details with clarity. Their wedding portraits carry artistic appeal. Precise close-us of a wedding cake so detailed you can actually see the very crumbs and it is elegant and beautifully done. Their special effects portraits are luminous, vibrant and brilliant with pure clarity.

Anglin’s Photography is operated by the owners, Jake and Shereen Anglin and they are truly a wonderful dynamic team. They formulate a great portraiture plan to make the wedding day a very treasured and memorable event. In addition, the Anglin’s are great to work with and they have fantastic idea’s that can be incorporated individually for uniqueness in the photographs. They are a very charming and loveable pair with vibrant personalities that make you feel very relaxed, comfortable and welcomed even when the heat of the wedding day turns on. These photographers have an artistic flare not only capturing a moment in time on film for the newlyweds but they add artistic beauty and value to the portraiture package. Anglin’s Photography offers a wide range of pricing and package arrangements with both color and black and white portrait’s. They also do engagement portraiture and this could be an added bonus for the busy bride and groom. Anglin’s Photography in Bend Oregon is precise and experienced. Please visit their website at WWW.anglins.com for further information.

The Best Baby Showers Gifts to Give

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When your friend announces the wonderful news of a new arrival the thought always turns to what you want to buy the baby that will be of most use. Having had my first baby and 2 showers I received several gifts that were total life savers and am forever in debt to the people who bought them.

The coolest thing I received was a Fischer Price Oceans of Wonder cradle swing, this is the best gift I could've ever asked for, it has 2 ways to swing, plays melodies has lights as well as 10 different speeds. I was able to use this from day 1 up until my little guy got 25 pounds. This was truly awesome as the baby was able to nap and the fish and lights held his attention long enough for mom to get housework done.

Diapers are always a great gift because parents go thru so many, the trick is to give a few packages in the larger sizes as many new parents receive so many smaller sizes and babies grow so fast. A case of diaper wipes is also helpful as they tend to last longer.

The Fischer Price Deluxe Jumperoo is also a great gift, the baby can start using around 4 months of age, it helps strengthen their legs and provides plenty of entertainment. I found this to be a great way to get a moment of peace when having a hectic day.

The Womb Bear is also great to help baby sleep at night, it makes the sound of a heartbeat and reminds baby of time spent in the womb.

Gift cards are also great as their are many last minute things that parents need or want, and can be used to buy many different things.


These are some great suggestions and good luck with the shopping

Christmas Photography Tips and Advice

Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes

For Christmas photography tips, or any sort of photography, we want the best results to come from our time and effort. Christmas photography captures special moments, especially when children are involved. In fact, this leads to my first Christmas photography tip:

(1) Focus on the children first. This admittedly is a bias of mine, but Christmas foremost should be a children's holiday. This applies to gift-giving, and also to photography. If you disagree and/or if adults are at the center of your Christmas, fine, that's just my opinion. Just think of ol' Art Linkletter: "Kids Say the Funniest Things." Kids also make the best photo subjects, and regardless, Christmas (like Trix cereal) is for Kids.

Our Top Ten Christmas photography tips are going to relate to the strategy of taking the best photos, not to the type of camera. That's a whole 'nuther topic. In fact, yours truly is not even a shutterbug. My advice comes from working as a local daily newspaper reporter, among some of the best professional photographers, going back to the 1970s when they still used darkrooms, up to today in the digital age. These Christmas photography tips are geared toward how you interact with your subjects, once the camera is chosen and the lighting adjustments are made.

(2) Don't be one of these photographers who is constantly out front and interrupting things, asking people to pose. For your best Christmas photography, be the fly on the wall. Stay in the background and take candid photos of what's happening, photos in which the subjects don't realize you're taking their photos.

(3) A lower angle (shooting "upward" toward the subjects and the scene) often yields better results. Don't hesitate to sprawl on the floor.

(4) In your Christmas photography, look for sequences of events. A photo is just one moment in time and to capture a sequence, many folks nowadays prefer a video camera. Still, there's nothing like a series of photos. For example: (A) Child awaits anxiously for gift-giving to begin. (B) Child receives wrapped gift. ( C ) Child tears wrapping off of gift. (D) Child reacts to gift.

(5) In fact, your sequence of events could begin hours earlier. Child helps decorate tree. Child puts on Christmas outfit. Etc.

(6) Just because you're staying out of the spotlight with your camera, that doesn't mean you can't be persistent. Patience is a virtue in waiting for just the right moment, just the right shot.

(7) Be a minimalist. Don't try to illustrate the whole scene of the Christmas event at once. If it's a party, take turns focusing on individual participants, or no more than two or three in one frame. If your Christmas photography involves a group of carolers, go ahead and photograph the whole group, but also aim for closeups of one caroler, or a small group.

(8) If you still want some posed Christmas photography for the archives, that's fine. Try to do the posing at the conclusion of the shindig, not at the start or during the middle.

(9) For posed photos, try to keep the number of subjects small. Let's imagine the group of Christmas revelers is 20. Go ahead and shoot the group of 20, but keep in mind that with so many folks in there, their faces are going to be the sizes of dimes. Also shoot "subgroups" with three, four, five people.

(10) When people pose in groups, have them put their heads as close together as possible. This may seem like a minor point, but when you see the results, you'll understand. Faces can be 20 percent larger and up close if we eliminate the wasted space between their heads.

SOURCES

Personal experience

http://digital-photography-school.com/16-christmas-photography-tips

http://www.best-family-photography-tips.com/Christmas-pictures.html

http://photography.about.com/od/christmas/Christmas_Photography.htm

Tips for Breaking into Sports Photography

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Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC, student photographer Chris Osborne hopes his experience in sports photography will take him to the next level - his goal for every shot is "Sports Illustrated Cover".

Osborne explains how a sixth sense is valuable in sports photography, but without the basics of photography, you will still miss the shot.

What first attracted you to photography? How did you get started yourself?

Photography was something I could do since I have always been able to see how I wanted things to look. I have started and restarted a few times. My first camera was a 110 mm back in 3rd grade. I moved onto other interests until college, where I got a Coolpix L3. It is good for general use, but trying to shoot basketball did not work at all. So, I purchased a Rebel XT and have not looked back.

What photographers - well known or unknown - inspire you?

Beyond the sports photography culture, two unknowns got me where I am today. The first is my sister. She says that I stole her interest in photography and will not hold back any criticism of my work. The second is Paul, a fellow photographer at the school paper. After seeing one of his pictures in the paper and not liking it at all, I decided that I could do a better job and filled the other sports photographer position. Only later did I learn that an editor and not Paul made the cropping decisions.

What equipment do you use? Is there a certain piece of gear you could not live without?

I am currently using a Canon Rebel XT with the kit 18-55mm lens, Canon 50mm 1.8, Canon 75-300 4-5.6, and a Tamron 28-200mm 4/5.6. My only other add ons are a Canon battery grip and a polarizing filter. Being on a college student budget, I do not buy new equipment unless I will really use it. But if I had to pick one item that I couldn't live without it would be the battery grip. I missed too many shots by flipping the camera the wrong way to shoot vertically or simply missing the shutter button.

Do you have any goals in mind with your photography?

For my sports shot, there is always one basic thought running through my mind - Sports Illustrated cover. I would love to have one someday. For everything else, I think about if I could see the shot hanging on someone's wall. If I cannot, I find something that fits that requirement.

What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses in sports photography?

As much as I hate to say this one, one of my strengths is that I have a camera that can handle the speed and lighting at college sporting events. Beyond that, I am able to have a personal relationship with most of the athletes and am able to predict fairly well what is about to happen. My weaknesses are that I am still too slow at times to get the shot that I want, despite knowing almost exactly what is about to happen and that I have a tendency to tilt my camera. Also, where the Winthrop athletic department lets me go during games limits what I am able to shoot.

What does it take to be a quality sports photographer?

To be a quality sports photographer, you have to be a little bit psychic. By that I mean that you need to be able to know where to point the camera to get the shot. Some sports are easier than others. What sports do you like to shoot? I like to shoot basketball and volleyball most. They are high intensity and usually have something new to get every time. I like baseball the least because most of the shots are just excessively similar.

What post-processing tools/software do you use? How much does that influence your photography?

When I want better control over the photograph, I will use Photoshop 7 or Gimp depending on which operating system I am working under (desktop runs XP while laptop is in the process of switching over to Linux). I use Picasa for basic editing such as cropping and overall brightness/contrast. I sacrifice the overall control for speed when I have to turn things in to the school paper.

What advice would you give new photographers?

A) Don't get discouraged. Photography is an art, which means you will have to work at it.
B) A good photographer can overcome bad equipment, and good equipment will not make you a good photographer.
C) Less time editing your photographs means you'll have more time to take more, so get things right in camera as much as possible.
D) Try to see all of what there is to shoot, not just the stereotypical snapshots that everyone else will find.

Check out Osborne's photography at http://sapidexistence.com

Shooting for Stock Photography

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A great way to earn money and learn a lot in the internet is participating in stock photography. Stock photography has been around for a while. And there are a lot of great stock sites that sell photographs for a reasonable price.

Just how and what should you shoot to be able to participate in stock photography?

Photographers say you should start with the concept. But the very first thing you should do is to know your equipment. I literally spent ten times more time trying to know how my camera works than thinking of something to shoot.

Stock photography is a very demanding industry. It's as close as you'll get to professional photography. It requires you to be able to produce images of the highest quality. That is because this industry is very competitive.

Try shooting the same subject with different settings. You should know how your camera reacts with different kinds of light. You should also know how it responds to different levels of illumination. Note the differences you see and keep them in mind.

Next you need a concept. Your images should present an idea, a thought or an expression. Consider a photograph of a man typing on a computer. What is he doing? Why is he typing? Is he working? Is he Blogging? Or just playing?

Designers buy stock images because of the concept they present - not because they look good. Stock photos are used in web sites, brochures, magazines, publications, advertisements, and almost anything that has a print.

So you need to have an image that has a concept that satisfies the needs of the would-be buyers of your pictures.

Then, you need a lot of light. Stock photos require that images have the right level of illumination and contrast. They need to be clear. If you can't afford a big set-up, you can always use desk lamps or even the sun.

You'll also need a computer and two kinds of programs: noise reduction tool and a photo editing application. Most stock photographs go through a noise reduction process. They also get a little tweaking in color, contrast and brightness.

Stock photographs need to be as close to perfect as possible. It's like what they say in the computer graphics industry: "it does not matter how you do it as long as you get the job done." Don't think that editing a photo in your pc is cheating. That only goes for journalism.

The next is pretty simple. You need a stock agency to upload your images to. Or you can showcase your work in your own site. Uploading in stock agencies is better. That is because you can find out where and how to improve. Use their powerful community to find out your weakness and strengths as a photographer.

Then when you have all this, what you need to do next is to be consistent and improve and improve and improve. You need to keep up with the ever demanding industries. If you don't, you'll get left behind.