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.

The Creation of Art is Subjective

The Creation of Art: A Review

The Creation of Art: New Essays in Philosophical Aesthetics edited by Berys Gaut and Paisley Livingston is a great book. As a person who loves art, I was excited to read a book dealing with art from a philosophical perspective. I was particularity impressed with the essays talking about genius and creativity. Therefore, these essays will be the focus of my review.

According to Guyer, genius is a gift for invention. This gift leads to originality in representation (Guyer116). He also claims that what the genius does is that he uses art to represent the freshness of nature (Guyer122). By stating this, I believe that he wishes us to see that when the genius uses nature as his canvas he wants whatever he paints or sculpts to be as fresh as the outdoors themselves.

I agree with Guyer's definition of genius. A genius doesn't just make a copy of what he sees in nature. Anyone with a small amount of artistic talent could do that. A genius seems to be able to take what he sees and shape it in such a way as to make it his or her own. For example, an artistic genius might paint a rose blue instead of red or pink. A statue may be sculpted out of gingerbread cookies instead of clay. A poem can describe the sunset as ‘rainbow sherbet melting in the sky'. Artistic genius seems to spark imagination. I also enjoyed the way he described Kant's view of what a successful work of art entails. A piece of artwork qualifies as a success when it brings human beings pleasure because its form and content starts a free play with our imagination and understanding (Guyer 127). This makes sense because some of the poetry that I write is inspired by what Kant calls ‘successful artwork'. For example, the first time I saw Van Gough's "Starry Night", I wrote a poem entitled "Imagine the Night Sky."

I also like the fact that Cohen states that human beings who appreciate fine art must posses a bit a genius (Cohen 145). This is because it seems that we are geniuses when we can appreciate Shakespeare or Van Gough. It seems that being a genius isn't ass hard as first appears. It seems that all it takes to be a genius is the ability to change the ordinary or the ability to appreciate the extraordinary. However, it is unclear what it takes to be an appreciator of fine art or to have something labeled an appreciator of fine art. It is also unclear how much an artist must change something to be called a genius. Therefore, being labeled a genius isn't a clear cut decision. In other words, many factors may play a part in being labeled a genius.

Olsen does good job talking about creativity. I like the way that he uses Shakespeare to describe what poets do. Shakespeare claims that a poet's pen "gives to an airy nothing a place and a name" (Olsen 192). This description reminds me of Plato. According to Plato, the Muses are vital to poets: "If anyone comes to the gates of poetry and expects to become an adequate poet by acquiring expert knowledge of the subject without the Muses' madness, he will fail" (Phdr 245a). The Muses seem to help the poet's pen give life to nothing.

The discussion of the creative personality is provocative. Creative people may have non-conventional thoughts. This may be due to a need to resist being mainstreamed on society. A creative person wishes to give into his or her own unique nature (Olsen 196). I think that a creative person can have a unique nature and still create a painting, poem, or short story using a very structured regimen. In other words, creativity doesn't have to give way to convention and structure. One thing that a creative person might create is a fictional character. However, many philosophers have argued that fictional characters can't be created. I don't agree with the idea that fictional characters have no reality at all. It makes more sense to believe that fictional characters come into being only because of the mental and physical acts of an author. Because of this, fictional characters have become part of most cultures.

While most of this book was informative and interesting, one essay that I read was boring. The essay deals with the origins of creativity. The explanations of the origins of creativity are cognitive, biological, and social. The argument seems to be that creativity comes from all three sources. This comes as no surprise to me. In addition, the biological portion of the essay was a bit confusing.

This book is worth reading because it stimulates and educates readers. Also, it has put art in a new perspective for me. For the most part, people will not need a background in art to understand and enjoy this book; therefore, I recommend this book.


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Film School - Chapman University's Groundbreaking New Facility

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Chapman University located in Orange, CA is a small private school but lately it has been making headlines. Why you ask? Well, as of June 2006 it is the first film school in the world to have it’s own backlot studio. Chapman’s 800 undergraduate and graduate film students, part of the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, will now be housed in the Marion Knott Studios, a beautiful 76,000 square foot complex. 

The notion of a studio lot where students could get more hands-on experience and be in the atmosphere they would someday work in came to the thought of Dean Bob Bassett years ago. It took some time and money ($31 million), but his dream is now a reality. With a 4,000 square foot sound stage and it’s baby brother, a 2,500 square foot sound stage that students will have access to, they can shoot cinematography projects, create set-ups for broadcast journalism and film special effects on the green screen stage. 

The facility will also house a foley stage for creating sound effects, 36 editing suites, sound booths, motion capture capable rooms, set construction rooms, audition spaces, Dolby surround sound mixing stages as well as numerous classroom and viewing/seminar rooms. 

Also impressive is the 500 seat Folino Family Cinema theater where students will be able to screen their work, both 35mm film and digital film. 

Chapman University offers film degrees in screenwriting, film production, film studies, public relations and advertising, broadcast journalism, and producing. An emphasis within these majors is also available. All of the faculty are currently employed within the industry as well as professors. 

As a recent graduate of Chapman’s film school I must tell you, it is the most amazing film program. I loved every moment of it. From the first orientation when Bob Bassett told us to enjoy our last week of sleep because we wouldn’t be sleeping for the next few years to the grueling morning hours trying to finishing editing a film before it’s 8 a.m. deadline. It was the best experience I could have possibly had at a school. 

The classes are mostly 10-12 students, with the exception of the lecture/seminar classes which get as big as 45-50 students. For a university class, that’s still incredibly small. If you’re looking for personalized education by professor who really actually care about you then Chapman is the place. All of my professors were always available to help students outside of class and even after graduation. Most give their students their cell phone numbers and private email addresses so they can be reached at any time. Chapman hires professionals who not only know their craft but are able and willing to help the next crop of aspiring filmmakers. 

Chapman’s film program also has a few special programs to further enrich the curriculum. Among these is the Filmmaker-In-Residence program where one filmmakers comes and spends the semester with a select group of students chosen through an application process. These students meet the filmmaker weekly to work on their projects. It is this kind of personal hands on teaching that makes Chapman special, and will, I believe propel it to the top of the list as the best film school in not only the nation, but the world.

Novel Baby Gift Ideas for the New Mom or Parent to Be

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Anyone who has ever shopped for a baby gift - whether aimed at the child itself or to either or both new Mom and Dad - knows how tough it can be to get a present that 15 other people have not already given. Most of us, too, have had to buy for a mom or parents that we don't even know all that well, making a tough purchase that much harder to get right.

That's not to say that traditional baby gifts aren't very much appreciated. Every parent knows all too well that they can never have enough disposal diapers and extra blankets and towels always get used. One too many baby books or silver spoons, however, cry out for store return.

Also, it can be extraordinarily satisfying when you're able to present a gift that is a particularly good value for you as the giver while also being something the recipient(s) will truly appreciate. Add to this the delightful buzz you get when you give something the recipients brags about for months to come, and it can become worth your time to invest some creativity into the process.

But before you buy anything, it helps if you can determine if there is anything the recipient really needs. All too often, many expectant parents do a large amount of shopping - or getting hand-me-downs from family and friends - but they may arrive at the delivery room realizing they have no baby bottles or formula or even the all-vital crib or carseat. Always try to go for parental need over almost any other type of gift.

Once you discover they're fairly well set for necessities, stop and think about what you do know about the expectant mom or parents. A gift that the dad can enjoy equally with the mom is a big plus; men frequently get forgotten at baby gifting time even though they're essential to the process.

Consider some of these ideas for unique, incredibly useful, and/or much appreciated baby gift offerings, grouped by expense categories that include budget, moderate and higher end. But don't forget that you can afford a more expensive gift if you get a few people also planning to buy a gift to go in together with you. It's a great way to get something nicer without breaking your bank account and eliminating the problem for several gift givers at once.

Budget:

A special ornament for the child's first Christmas or other holiday

Combine a smaller practical gift like baby bottles or a blanket with one or two prepared meals to help the new parents get through the first hectic week with the newborn

Start a tree or plant in advance and then, when large enough, place in a nice pot to give the new parents with a little poem or salutation that emphasizes the new life of your gift as well as their child

Put together a keepsake box you decorate or appoint yourself that you can start for the new parents before you present it; a crafts store will have just about everything you need

Buy copies of newspapers or visit the newspapers online and then print a copy of some of the biggest news stories on the day the child is born. Once you have them, assemble the clippings into a scrapbook with the birth date and name of the child listed on the front

Put together a book or portfolio of pictures that document the months before the baby arrives which can become a great keepsake for both parents and the child

RedEnvelope.com and several other shops offer different versions of a baby care kit which includes a comb, a tiny brush, medicine spoon, teether, and other much-needed accessories that new parents don't always have when the child first comes home; for a little bit more, you can usually put one of these kits together yourself, personalized for the specific needs of the parents and child

Use your computer and printer and desktop publishing software to create an artsy or cute booklet of coupons for "services" the new mom or parents can redeem. Here are some suggestions for coupons:
-Three or four coupons for an evening or weekend day of babysitting
- Volunteer to grocery shop or pick up the dry cleaning
- Offer a home made dinner or a drop-off breakfast or lunch
- Offer to return unwanted baby gifts and/or help with thank you notes
- If the new family has not finished their baby room, volunteer to paint or wallpaper or wax the floors
- Offer a morning of house cleaning, rug shampooing, or garage organizing
- Volunteer to groom the family dog when the pet gets a little too dirty to be around the baby

Moderate:

A book store gift certificate (new parents often want to buy books or tapes to learn more about parenting)

A tree or plant or stepping stone that can be placed in the garden or elsewhere in the yard to commemorate the new addition to the family

An assortment of pillows suitable for use with a baby to protect them on a bed or keep them in one place on the floor

A duo or trio of beautiful picture frames that would be great to use with some of the baby pictures; you can find some great buys in used furniture shops that can clean up well

A roomy lap blanket that Mom, Dad and Baby can use as they curl up on the sofa together

A basket of easy to prepare foodstuffs and snacks to help the parents out when they can't get dinner because the baby is fussing

Buy a great carry-all that you fill with great take-along items like baby wipes, diapers, baby lotion, energy snack bars for the parents, and more

Higher End:

A week of prepared, possibly frozen meals that can be reheated

A basket of high energy snacks

A gift certificate for a professional photography session for a baby portrait

Prepaid cell phone for the new parent without one

A super easy digital camera they can dedicate to baby pictures

Scour used furniture shops for a decent rocking chair that can be cleaned up into a beautiful, vintage gift

A gift certificate for an hour of massage, a session at a day spa, or a nice dinner out

Upgrade Your Digital Photography Studio on a Budget

Photo Credit: celtics baby clothes

Digital photography is progressing almost as fast as the computer industry. Mega-pixels are multiplying faster than you can count them. As with all advances in technology, a higher price tag is attached. So, how do you upgrade your digital photography studio with out breaking your budget?

Let's go over a few ways to do just that.

Upgrade your Digital Photography Studio - Don't Buy New

The more mega pixels the better, I know. But, if you are using a 5.0 mega pixel camera now, wouldn't a 6.0 one be an upgrade? There is no need to spend the extra $3000 to get the newest 10 mega pixel digital camera.

There are plenty of used camera stores to find newer equipment that will fit your budget as well. KEH offers a huge selection of both new and used digital camera equipment, all of which has been cleaned and tested.

Let's not forget about eBay either. The deals there on new equipment are sometimes better then buying older used equipment. You never know when some college kid is going to sell off his $3000 digital camera just so he can make rent.

Upgrade your Digital Photography Studio - Compensatory Upgrades
Find way to stream line your business. Odds are, you don't have a lot of people working at your digital photography studio. So, you probably wont be buying equipment that saves you money by eliminating workers. Still, there is always new software coming out to help you stream line your business.

Such software may be expensive at first, but will be worth the price. Even if the software does nothing more than free up two hours in your work day, that is two more hours to make money. That is two more hours to see customers. Those customers could then turn into lifetime customers who bring your repeat business and great word of mouth advertising. All because you freed up two hours in your work day.

Upgrade your Digital Photography Studio - Upgrade Only What You Need
Upgrading your digital photography studio doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune on new gear, lights, printers, computers, and what have you. Take some time to really identify what it is in your digital photography studio that needs to be upgraded.

Lets say you bought an expensive sub dye printer years ago to start printing photographs in house. 60,000 prints later, it's just not what it used to be. This doesn't mean you have fork over a huge amount of money to buy a new one. You could out source your printing for a while or you could even look into getting the printer refurbished by the manufacturer.

Upgrade your Digital Photography Studio - Upgrade Your Staff
Not every digital photography studio upgrade is a piece of expensive new gear. Invest some of your budget by training your staff. If you have other photographers working for you, try spending some money on a training workshop. The more your employees know about their job, the better they are at it. These workshops will help increase your staffs skills, but it will also help them get a better picture of what you want. Being on the same wavelength with your employees will also help them operate more efficiently

If you have complicated software programs, consider having a sales rep come out and teach your staff about the software. This goes back the same point, the more your employees know, the better they operate. Often, sales reps will be more than happy to come out and teach refresher courses or how to use new programs free of charge. After all, the happier you are with their product, the more you will buy from them in the future.

These are just a few ways to upgrade your digital photography studio with out breaking your budget. There are always ways to pinch pennies if you think about. The biggest obstacle to get over is the, must have the new stuff, mentality. You almost never need the new stuff, it is almost certainly nothing more than a want. Think before you buy and you are sure to save money in the now and make more in the future.

Baby Photos and the Art of Photography

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"Seize the Moment" This is one of my favorite sayings. How often do we take advantage of the MOMENT? The moment is instantaneous. What happens right now will not happen again, ever! Will you remember the moment?

Photography is the art of capturing an image of that moment. It could be a face, a plant or a mountain. It could be something that will be there tomorrow but will look different or it could be something that won't be seen again. I read in a comic book once of a conversation between a father and son. The young son asked his father why old photos were always in black and white and new photos were in color? His father said there was always color film in the old days, but the world was only in black and white then! It was funny but some of our most famous photography "artist" worked in black and white such as Ansel Adams. He and so many others were artists that couldn't make up their work but had to capture it at the right instant of time.

I was going through some photos with my wife the other day. Some of them would take my breath away. They were images captured in time of babies in our family. Some of these babies are now 5, 8, 10, 14, 17 years of age. They are my children, nephews and nieces. Some of them are of my wife and her sisters. They're baby pictures! They are an instant caught in time. They were either taken by my in-laws or given to them as gifts. They may not have been present at the time the photo was taken but they had that image of that instant in time to carry with them until they died. These images were no different than the images that Ansel Adams gave me as a gift when he photographed San Francisco bay where the Golden Gate Bridge is before it was built. He gave me a memory that I could not have had otherwise. My family and my sister-in-laws' families gave my mother -in-law and father-in-law memories that they would never have had if it weren't for photography.

Even if you aren't a great photographer, a picture is still worth a 1,000 words. When a newborn baby comes home from the hospital and the family and extended family come by to see him or her, what comes out? Of course, the cameras come out and start snapping. I learned two schools of thought from photographers that I took courses from. One was in a roll of 36 exposures, 34 better be the top quality photos that you intend to sell. The other photographer taught that in a roll of 36 exposures, expect 2-3 quality photos that are worthy of selling. What I learned from this is spend your time taking posed photos but keep snapping for candid photos.

If you are taking photos of babies or children, take your time for both types of photos. I personally do not like posed photography but that's me. I prefer to capture a child that is at play trying to solve a problem or just being natural. I like the expressions when they are deep in thought or interacting with other children. I found a photo of my son that I took through a car window when he was five holding his hand up with his fingers stretched out. That photo is so memorable to me because I sent it to my mother before she passed away. It was exactly the same photo that my mother took of me when I was five years old.

May I suggest that you seriously consider studying photography to get a better understanding of the capabilities of using a camera properly? If you are just starting out, you need to start with the basics and work from there. Here is a good site to learn various aspects of photography from: http://www.photographytips.com/ For some detailed photography, study someone like Ansel Adams and look at this website: http://www.anseladams.com/

Whoever Said a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words Probably Didn't Use Positive Images Photography

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Well I've come to terms with the fact I'm no Denzel Washington... and I'm okay with that. All I really wanted to do was to take some good quality pictures I could use as profile headshots for my internet businesses and for my business cards, brochures, etc. This was important since I had a deadline coming up that I needed pictures for.

Based on my photography needs, I had wondered was there a photographer where the average looking person can go to get reasonably priced, almost "Star Quality" pictures taken. Also, I preferred that they were local too because I wanted a photographer that I could do business with again on future projects. Just imagine my delight when I found out that there was such a photographer located in Oakland at Positive Images Photography.

The owner is Gisele Bonds (no relation to Barry) and she not only consulted with me on the objectives of my project, she also happened to be a pleasure to talk to. She is very knowledgable. She definitely won points when she suggested that I go home to retrieve a few darker outfits to round out my photoshoot after I mistakenly arrived with all lighter colored outfits. She then explained why and how the darker colored outfits could be used to my advantage in the photoshoot.

As we took pictures she instructed me to pose at various angles and again she told me why those angles were important based on the numerous ways we discussed I could to utilize those pictures in my marketing mix. For instance, some of my pictures were taken with my business' branding in mind so that my company's logo or other images could be easily incorporated into those pictures. Nice!

For someone who's camera shy, I can honestly say I did enjoy Gisele's professionalism and creativity. After what felt to me like a thousand pictures and almost an eternity, we finally finished! At that point my mind started thinking, I hope these pictures look okay. I have to admit, I felt a little self-concious about the prospect of seeing the finished product because I have like many people, facial blemishes. When I mentioned this concern to Gisele she said not to worrry the pictures are going to look good.

Gisele invited me to come in and take a look at all the pictures we took and choose the ones I wanted. She gave me some positive feedback that was helpful and then I selected my favorites.

Later, when I received my Picture Disc I was happy to see that she was so right, my pictures did look good and my facial blemishes were gone... at least in my pictures! Interestingly, I'm told her specialty is working with high school aged students. Her studio is filled with with a plethora of graduation and prom pictures, etc.

She mentors students by providing intern opportunities at her studio and one of her past interns who is in college currently, still works at the studio which to me says alot about the kind of person Gisele is. I think that Positive Images Photography is aptly named and if you're looking for high quality photos, Gisele is the person you need to see. You may soon find that your pictures will be worth much more than a thousand words if you do!

Christmas Light Photography Tips and Advice

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We're out taking photographs of Christmas lights. There are so many beautiful displays, and we want to capture them on film. So as we prepare to take our pictures of Christmas lights, we back away so that we can capture the entire magnificent scene within our frame.

Correct. But also incorrect, if that's all we do. And this leads to our first Christmas photography tip for illustrating Christmas light displays.

(1) The best Christmas lights photography captures not only panoramic scenes, but also close-ups of the highlights within the panorama. We want both. Let's say that on the sprawling front lawn of a suburban home, we see Santa on his sleigh in one location, and a Salvation Army bell-ringer in a second spot, and a nativity scene someplace else. In addition to our distant Christmas photograph, we can also zero in on each of those three highlights.

(2) Opt for a high shutter speed. We want to illustrate the lights, not the light that they emit. A wide angle lens is for the panorama, and a macro lens is for the close-ups.

(3) Those Christmas light displays are so brilliant in the deep, dark, Silent Night. Maybe so, but our Christmas photography will be lousy at that point. Our photos will show the lights, but not the property in the background. Or, we'll see the property but we won't clearly see the lights, so to speak. Our best bets are at dusk or at dawn, and overcast usually is better than clear sky.

(4) If we're really dedicated and sticklers for perfection, we'll shoot our Christmas photography both at dusk and at dawn. Great photography of any sort is trial and error. Furthermore, if we show up maybe a half-hour before the optimal time, then we can plan our logistics and our camera angles, so that we're ready when the time is right. Extra time = excellence in our Christmas photography.

(5) Let's see here. We have the lights. We have the various props that go with the lights, such as the nativity scenes or Santa on his sleigh. We have the property in the background. Aren't we forgetting something? Oh yes, the sky. The sky! Look at examples of Christmas lights photography that impress you (or even thrill you) the most, and odds are that the sky will play a prominent role. Seek an angle at dusk that shows an afterglow in the evening sky. To include more sky, shoot from a low angle, upward toward the Christmas lighting display and toward the sky.

(6) People. Where are the people? Just because your subject is Christmas lights photography, that doesn't mean the scene must be devoid of people. Have some children pose in the scene, or better yet, just tell them to go ahead and frolic. This can add a unique element to your Christmas lights photography.

SOURCES

http://www.intofotos.com/photography/2007/11/10/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights/

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-photograph-christmas-lights.html

http://www.slrphotographyguide.com/tips/christmas-lights.shtml