COMPLEX MASKING MADE REALLY, REALLY EASY

July 15th, 2010

About a week ago I posted this image on Facebook, along with a link to my web site, where my clients along with their friends & family could view some of their wedding images.  Emails poured in from photographers asking how this capture was made and enhanced.  In this post I am going to share the extraordinary technique, that when coupled with an exceptional software product, enables you to EASILY create dramatic images involving intricate masking.

I captured this image on my Nikon D3 camera equipped with an AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8G ED lens.  My assistant was positioned behind the couple with a radio fired Nikon SB 900 Speedlight.  Looking at the before and after versions of this image side-by-side will help you visualize just how exacting the masking had to be in order to achieve the final result.  Simply burning down the sky in Photoshop was not an option.  To do so would have taken all the detail out of the tops of the trees that lined the path and put them totally into silhouette.  I wanted to hold all of the detail in those trees while allowing a magnificent sunset to show through all the openings around the individual leaves.

The first step in creating this image was to darken the sky in Photoshop to create the breathtaking sunset.  Simply making a levels adjustment of the RGB channels (Image>Adjustments>Levels) and lowering the mid range slider yielded this image.  The sky is amazing…the rest of the image is useless.  Save this image under a different file name.  It will look something like this:

Now comes the fun part which has been made ever so easy by the folks at Vertustech and their unbelievable software offering “Fluid Mask 3“.  I first met Mornee and the crew from Vertus at WPPI in 2008.  Fluid Mask Version 2 was being shown at the trade show and was thrilling everyone that witnessed their incredible demos.  I purchased this software on the spot.  As good as it was then, Version 3 blows it away.  I encourage you to visit the Vertustech web site, download a trial version of the software and experiment with a few images.  There are extensive video tutorials on their web site showing how to use this product.  I’m going to give you a short description of the steps involved but I’ll refer any specific questions on use back to the good folks at Vertus.

Open your original image in Photoshop and choose the Fluid Mask 3 filter from your filter menu (Filter>Vertus>Fluid Mask 3).  Your Photoshop window will close to conserve RAM and a dedicated Fluid Mask workspace will open.  You will not believe how easy and automatic this software works.  Choose the local delete brush and paint a swatch across the sky and Fluid Mask intuitively chooses the areas of the sky that you wish to mask out.  Any small spots it misses can be selected by clicking on those areas with smaller sized local delete brush.  The image now looks something like this:

Next you will Autofill the areas of the image that you wish to keep by choosing Image>Auto-Fill with Keep.  Your workspace will now look something like this:

You must now fine tune your selection mask by using the Blend Exact brush.  Your workspace will now look something like this:

Finally, you’ll tweak the most exacting selection masking choices using the patch tool:

When you are happy with your selection mask click to create your cutout and Fluid Mask generates the most precise automatic mask you’ve ever seen.  This one looked like this:

Copy this cutout to your clipboard, reopen the image you created with the deep sunset and paste the cutout on top of it.  Voila!  An amazing composite with awesome detail in the shadows and a saturated deep rich sunset.

The entire process took me about five or six minutes and I don’t use this software very often.  The pros at Vertus could probably have effected this composite in under two minutes.  With practice you and I could too.

Detailed tutorials on the use of this software product are available on Vertus’ web site.  Any technical questions should be directed to the folks at Vertus.  Give this great product a try and check out the galleries on the Vertus web site to see how other creative imaging professionals are using this product to handle challenging masking projects.

Posted in Camera Techniques, Compositing Techniques, Lighting Techniques, Masking Techniques, Nikon, Photoshop, Remote Speedlights, Retouching and Image Enhancement, WPPI, Workflow | 1 Comment »

GREAT NEW WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

June 28th, 2010

Wanted to let you all know about a great new wedding photography book by author, David Pearce and Oliver Cameron Publishing.  Simply entitled “Wedding Photography-A Guide To Posing” this in-depth guide to posing techniques has over 500 images illustrating the use of poses in the context of a wedding. There is a fascinating array of images from around the World, shot by amazing photographers such as Yervant, Chenin Boutwell, Dave & Quin and David Beckstead.

I am honored to have my images and techniques featured in this fine book alongside some of the finest wedding photographers in the world.  An entire chapter in this book has been devoted to illustrating the workflow and Photoshop techniques I use when creating my award-winning images and album designs .  Measuring approximately 7″ x 5” the book has been designed to fit into your camera bag or jacket pocket, so it’s there at your fingertips when you need some inspiration.

The book is available on the web site of Oliver Cameron Publishing.  Click here to order your copy today.

Posted in Books and Publications, Camera Techniques, Phtographic Education, Posing, Retouching and Image Enhancement, Workflow | No Comments »

BRIDAL REFLECTIONS

May 28th, 2010

A week ago I posted this image on Facebook along with an announcement that Elizabeth & Michael’s wedding images could be seen on my blog.  Over the next few days emails poured in from other photographers asking many different questions regarding how I made this image.  I’ve decided to share, here on The Pro Spot, the techniques I used creating this image.

I want to start by saying I saw this image in my mind’s eye before I ever placed this beautiful bride into position.  When I entered the magnificent Garden City Hotel on Long Island my eye immediately went across the lobby to where I saw a wedding gown on display in one of the windows of the myriad boutiques in this world class hotel.  I knew right away that I would be posing my bride there for this fashion style image.  I wanted to isolate the bridal gown display from the other displays adjacent to it and eliminate, as much as possible, the handrail on the right side of the frame.  I chose a Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 lens for my Nikon D3 camera and positioned myself at a relatively long distance to my subject.  The narrow angle of view enabled me to crop the image tight and the long focal length made it easier to keep the vertical lines in the picture straight.  When shooting straight into vertical lines (like the ornate frame around this window display) make sure that your camera height is as close to bisecting the vertical plane of the image as possible.  This will keep the vertical lines in the picture straight with no skewing inward or outward.

A quick meter reading gave me the proper exposure for the illuminated background of this image.  Then a single Lowel iD video light was used to illuminate my subject.  There are many different video lights on the market but the Lowel iD light is the most diverse of the offerings giving me three distinct ways to adjust light output to match the ambient light in the scene.  For starters the light has an infinitely adjustable dimmer to dial in the right amount of light to match the ambient exposure.  The light also has the ability to focus from a wide flood pattern to a more intense concentrated spot.  Finally the light output can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the distance of the light to the subject.  True, there are LED based lights on the market that offer a more compact, convenient solution but none of those lights can match the quality, consistency and flexibility of the Lowel iD light.

My assistant positioned herself 90 degrees off camera to the right, focusing the light in a tight spot illuminating the bride’s face and the top half of her gown.  I had her dial the light output up to where it was just the right intensity.  The bride’s face was turned towards the light to avoid any unsightly shadows on her face.  Keeping the bride’s dress perpendicular to the light source insured that all of the detail of her gown would come out.  The manual exposure was 1/50th second at  f3.2 with my ISO set at 800.  The vibration reduction feature in the lens enabled me to confidently hand hold this shot with this long, heavy telephoto zoom lens at a relatively slow shutter speed.  Only some minor editing was done in Photoshop to remove a few distracting reflections in the glass and to burn down the lower left corner of the image.

Posted in Camera Techniques, Fundamentals, Lighting Techniques, Nikon, Photoshop, Posing, Video Lights | 1 Comment »

NEW HOME FOR MICHAEL ONEILL FINE ART

May 13th, 2010

It is with great joy that I announce that we finalized the real estate transactions today for the new home of Michael ONeill Fine Art.  Our new studio and gallery will be located at 81 Larkfield Road, East Northport, NY in a newly renovated historical building on this main mercantile thoroughfare.  Our past gallery locations have been on Larkfield Road since 1984 and it feels great to return to this wonderful community following a brief period of working from our home.

Formerly the East Northport movie theatre, this property has been completely renovated into luxury space with an art deco feel inside and out.  When you enter the main lobby a large expanse of glass looks in to the Michael ONeill Fine Art gallery space.

Beyond that glass is the reception area with glass-partitioned walls and double french doors wrapping around the conference area.

The open format conference area will serve as our client consultation space and also as a small ‘classroom’ for the photography workshops I offer here on Long Island.  Our computer workstations and fine art printing room will be located in the office immediately adjacent to the conference area.  This office opens directly into the conference area allowing our clients access to our computer workstations, where we retouch and enhance our images, and create our award-winning custom album designs.

A long hallway runs the length of the facility and will be set up as our fine art photography gallery.  The initial presentation here will be of my fine art works, but plans to host shows for other photographic artists are in the future.  The second office space in line will be our production/fulfillment area.

The wall between the third and fourth offices will be removed and the area will become our camera room.  In addition to our state-of-the-art lighting gear a north facing glass block window will allow for beautiful natural light portraiture indoors!

At the end of the gallery hall there is a service area perfect for cosmetology and wardrobe changes.  This service area also includes a compact fully-equipped kitchenette.  A private restroom and a storage closet completes the space.

The physical move into our new home will be taking place over the next few weeks.  There is so much to do…installing telephone, internet, WiFi and security systems; construction for the camera room, accepting delivery of furnishings, adding custom interior lighting for our gallery of photographic art, etc., etc.  We are confident that the transition will be efficient and painless.  One down side of the move will be the loss of our existing telephone number.  We will be updating all of our clients and colleagues with our new information as soon as possible.  Our existing phone number will remain in place for a period of time and will forward calls to the new location.  Stay tuned to this blog for progress reports and for information on our grand opening reception to be held this summer.  Our sincerest thanks go out to all of our wonderful clients and colleagues that contributed to making this dream gallery a reality.

Posted in Customer Relations, Events, Phtographic Education, Sales and Merchandising | 1 Comment »

GREAT NEW WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

May 12th, 2010

Hot off the press is another great new book from Author, Bill Hurter and publisher, Amherst Media, Inc.  The book is entitled “Wedding Photography: Advanced Techniques for Digital Photographers”.  For those of you that don’t know Bill Hurter here is a small portion of his impressive biography:

“Bill Hurter has been involved in the photographic industry for the past thirty years.  He is the former editor of Petersen’s PhotoGraphic magazine and currently the editor of both Rangefinder and After Capture magazines.  He has authored over thirty books on photography and hundreds of articles on photography and photographic technique.  He is a graduate of American University and Brooks Institute of Photography, from which he holds a BFA and Honorary Masters of Science and Masters of Fine Arts degrees”.

Bill has once again used his incredible editorial and authoring skills to compile a book that is a must-have for every  wedding photographer.  The book is filled with extraordinary images from some of the most highly regarded wedding photographers working today.  The list includes Marcus Bell, Joe Buissink, Mike Colón, Jesh de Rox, Dan Doke, Bruce Dorn, Jerry Ghionis, Greg Gibson, Kevin Jairaj, Charles & Jennifer Maring, JB & DeEtte Sallee, Ken Sklute and Yervant Zanazanian.  I am truly honored to have my photographic work and techniques showcased in this book alongside some of the finest photographers in the world.

The book is already available on Amazon.com, Amherst Media’s site, Camerabooks.com. and in the online store on the WPPI web site.  Be sure to check the archives of my blog for information on other great books from Bill Hurter and Amherst Media. (Search Word: “Book”)

Posted in Books and Publications, Camera Techniques, Customer Relations, Guest Posts and Features, Nikon, Photoshop, Phtographic Education, Sales and Merchandising, WPPI, Workflow | No Comments »

RETOUCHING & ENHANCING THE GLAMOUR HEADSHOT

March 23rd, 2010

In today’s installment I am going to share with you some of my techniques for retouching and enhancing the glamour headshot.  I will preface this post by saying that I have no standard formula for this type of retouching.  I do use certain third party actions and filters along with the proprietary tools within Photoshop itself, but I caution you to not rely solely on any one set of actions or any one filter for all of your images.  For starters, your pictures will wind up looking just like those of everyone else using those actions.  More importantly, you will never grow creatively if your sole purpose is only to get through your image workflow as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Take some time to experiment and explore.  Every image is different and every image requires unique manipulation to make it all that it can be.  Only experimentation and practice will enable you to decide quickly which techniques to employ to dramatically enhance each of your images.

So let’s go through the steps I took to achieve the before and after results you see above.  The first thing I do when I open an image like this is to remove any obvious blemishes and birthmarks.  (I discuss this with my clients beforehand and determine whether they want birthmarks removed or simply softened).  Using the healing brush in Photoshop I can click away these imperfections in seconds. The next thing I do is soften any obvious creases and lighten any dark areas under the subjects eyes.  I use the clone tool in Photoshop, in the “lighten” mode at an opacity of only 10%-15%, cloning a light area next to the area I wish to lighten and gradually lighten it with many clicks of the mouse until the desired result is seen.

I then set my sights on the subject’s eyes.  Using Photoshop’s dodge tool at an opacity of about 12% I carefully lighten the color of my subject’s eyes and lighten the whites of the eyes.  Using the smudge tool I “push” the white of the eye into the corners to remove any red that is showing.  Finally I set the burn tool to a very small diameter and carefully burn the black line around the colored portion of the eye.  These adjustments, when practiced regularly, will take you less than a minute and work wonders to enhance the inherent beauty of your subject’s eyes.

Next I go to work on my subject’s skin texture.  There are countless ways to address this. Both Lightroom and Aperture now include skin softener brushes where you can enhance your subject’s complexion when you open your RAW files for the very first time.  There are also countless third party filters and actions that plug in to Photoshop available to you.  For an extreme close up, like the one we’re working on, I love the Kodak Digital GEM Airbrush Pro filter.  I start by duplicating the main layer and roughly selecting the area where the airbrush filter will be applied.  I feather that selection by approx. 20 pixels and apply the airbrush filter at it’s default settings.  I then erase the filter effect from the subjects eyes and mouth and reduce the opacity of the duplicate layer until I like the look.  The airbrush filter at 100% opacity is too much, thus it’s application on a duplicate layer (with the final adjustment being made via the layer’s opacity setting).  I then flatten the image and move on to some selective burning.

There are numerous ways to burn an image in Photoshop but I have found the burning and vignette tools in The “Kubota Image Tools” action sets to be incredibly efficient while rendering extraordinary results.  I applied two levels of vignettes to this image: first an oval shaped vignette tilted to the same orientation as my subjects head; followed by the edge burner action to darken the edges of the print.  I also burned down the side of my subject’s face to draw the attention of the viewer to my subject’s incredible eyes.  Once again I flatten the image for the final steps.

For the final touch on this image I used the Kubota Action called “Lord of the Rings” to put a wonderful glow on the subject’s skin and to add a diffuse glow to her veil.  Though this action renders a dramatic result you have to be very careful using it as it can block up the shadow areas or blow out highlights in an image.  To avoid this, and to render a true custom effect; I run the action, flatten the image and save the file to my desktop under a temporary name.  I then open the last saved version of my file and copy and paste the temporary file over it.  Using the eraser tool I brush away the “Lord of the Rings” effect from the deep shadow areas in my subject’s hair, from the eyes and from the lips.  I then adjust the opacity of this layer down to where I like the overall effect.  Lastly, I flatten the image again and use the Kubota “Edge Blur – More” action on the right hand side of the image to put a nice blur in the bride’s veil, then I add a touch of sharpening to the bride’s headpiece.

In future posts I will share some other great Photoshop tools and techniques I employ to retouch and enhance my images.  I welcome your requests for solutions to any specific challenges you may be having and will do my best to get you the answers to your questions.  In the meantime fire up Photoshop and explore, experiment and practice.

Posted in Photoshop, Retouching and Image Enhancement, Software, Workflow | 5 Comments »

FIRST IMPRESSIONS • PART 2

March 15th, 2010

First off let’s get some news out of the way…

I returned last week from WPPI 2010.  What an extraordinary event this was.  This is the definitive conference and trade show for every one in our industry.  Mark your calendars and save the dates for WPPI 2011: February 17 – 24, 2011 at The MGM Grand Hotel and Conference Center in Las Vegas.  I am proud to report that I returned from WPPI with five Accolades of Excellence in the 16″ X 20″ print competition.  You can check out my award-winning prints on my blog.

A quick update on your mentorship requests.  I have read all of your emails, visited your web sites and have sent out the first set of invitations to some lucky individuals.  I wish I could work with all of you but unfortunately I must limit these on-the-job mentorships to about a dozen wedding events in 2010. I look forward to meeting all of you and working with you in the very near future.

Now onto today’s feature with some more insight into the initial sales consultation with a prospective bridal client.  This feature started a few weeks back with the post “First Impressions”.  You may want to give that feature a read first.  Click here and it will open in a new window.

After my clients have relaxed and viewed my samples at their pace I return to the room and get them to start talking about the subject they are so excited about…their wedding.  Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.  Resist any urge to start telling them what you do…you’ll get to that soon enough.  I ask them questions that will keep them excited and talking about their wedding, but also ask questions that reveal to me a lot about their personalities, their friends, their families and their budget.  Spend a few minutes finding out how many people are in their bridal party, who is important in their formal family photographs, how many guests are going to attend the reception, who the other vendors are, etc?  My clients are all unique and I can’t see them that way until I know some of the little details that make up who they are.  I try to bring something unique to each and every wedding I’m given the privilege of photographing.  The only way to do this is by finding out what your clients are all about.

I then spend a little time educating my clients on a number of subjects relating to their wedding photography.  I talk to them about off camera lighting and the role my photographic assistants play in creating dramatic, detailed images for them.  I talk about Photoshop and how it is a tool used to enhance fine photography.  I have an album of “before and after” images that I display showing beautiful complexion enhancements and dramatic image effects.  I talk about the importance of proper archiving of my clients images, telling them about our in-house RAID storage system and offline backup on a server at a remote location.  I talk about the importance of doing their engagement session…to get to know them better and to build their confidence for the wedding day.  I talk about how all of my image editing and finished album design is done in-house and how they will have a real influence in the theme of their finished album presentation.  What it really comes down to is I talk about ALL of the things that I offer that set me apart from my competition.

Only at this point do I start to discuss pricing.  There is basic pricing information on my web site that has already told my prospective clients that my average couple invests between $5,000.00 and $6,000.00 on their wedding photography.  Don’t be put off if the only question your client asks is “How much”?  Remember…you’ve done this before, they haven’t.  They don’t know what else to ask.  Address the subject with confidence and professionalism…you know what your services are worth.

I give my prospective clients the information they will need regarding my payment schedule, acceptable methods of payment, my retainer of the copyright to all of my images, etc.  I finish my presentation by thanking the couple for the opportunity to discuss their wedding plans with them and encourage them to call me with any other questions that might come up as they continue to shop.  A great deal of the time my clients confess that after sitting down with me they didn’t feel the need to shop anywhere else and retain my services within a day or two of our initial meeting.

So there you have it.  An accurate description of the manner in which I handle the initial sales consultation with my brides and grooms.  Take the ideas that work for you and incorporate them into your efforts.  Remember: differentiate yourself from your competition and always remember that it is your client’s wishes and desires that must be met.  If you’re the right man or woman for the job you will be granted the privilege of capturing that special couple’s memories for a lifetime.

Posted in Customer Relations, Sales and Merchandising, WPPI | 1 Comment »

UPDATE ON MENTORSHIPS WITH MICHAEL ONEILL

March 3rd, 2010

Let me start by thanking all of you for your interest in the post on The Pro Spot offering mentorships here in New York. I received more than 100 emails from around the world in response to that offer. I was overwhelmed that some of you pledged to come from as far away as California, Canada and The United Kingdom for the opportunity to study with me. I am truly honored.

I must also apologize. As much as I would love to work with all of you I will be unable to accommodate everyone. I will only be photographing about 45 weddings in 2010. I have read all of your emails and visited each and every one of your web sites. I was truly impressed by the quality of the photography I viewed, again feeling honored that you think enough of my artistry to make the commitment to come to New York to study with me. I have decided that the only right thing for me to do is choose my pupils randomly so that no one feels that they were not chosen because of any shortcomings. That is not the case. I will be collaborating and sharing with photographers on all levels.

I will be contacting all of you within the next two weeks. I will be arriving this Friday afternoon in Las Vegas for WPPI 2010. Those of you that are attending should look me up when you are there. I will be tied up all day Saturday and Sunday judging the Accolades of Excellence 16 X 20 Print Competition.  I’ll be on the “Wedding 2″ judging panel in room 302 of the conference center. (Read more about that here).  Stop by and say “Hello” or look for me at many of the events, platform programs or on the trade show floor. I would love to meet each and every one of you in person.

Thanks again for all of your enthusiasm. I look forward to sharing with you.

Posted in Events, Phtographic Education, WPPI | 2 Comments »

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

February 18th, 2010

A lengthy post, but well worth the read…

I’m going to start this post by saying this is going to be just one of many features to follow on sales and marketing philosophies that will enable you to grow your business in 2010 and beyond.  2008 was a great year.  So was 2009.  2010 is going to be a great one, too.  I know those are tough words to swallow in these economically challenging times, but read on.  I personally photographed 60 weddings in 2008, 54 in 2009 and will end 2010 with about 45 weddings under my belt.  It’s a shrinking trend but it is exactly where I want it to be.  Even though the number of weddings I photograph every year is declining, my revenues are steadily increasing.  I have managed to raise my prices steadily through tough economic times while maintaining a strong client base.  I’m willing to bet that every one of you would like to earn more money while doing less work so I’m here to share some of the things that will enable you to increase your revenue, attract a more affluent clientele and free up more of your time to pursue other activities in your personal life.

I will admit that I’m working harder at my sales efforts today than I ever had in the past.  I used to book 90% of the potential clients I sat down with, now it’s more like 65%.  The reasons are many.  Yes, we’re in a recession and some clients are scaling back their budgets when planning a wedding.  Some simply can’t afford my services and I accept that.  Yes, there is more competition in our craft these days.  The digital technologies we enjoy today, and the relatively low start up costs for photographic equipment when compared to film-based gear, has opened the floodgates of new talent into our industry.  Over time myself and my guest authors will be talking about various ways to stay ahead of the competition and grow your business.  Today I’m going to talk about the beginning of the initial sales consultation.

I’m going to preface this feature with a great quote:  “It’s not WHAT you have, it’s WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE that matters”.  For more than 20 years I had a brick and mortar storefront on the main mercantile road in my home town.  I had a beautiful 2,000 square foot gallery with a magnificent 900 square foot camera room and I catered not only to my wedding clientele, but also to retail portrait customers, seniors, maternity sessions, editorial photography for magazines in the motorcycle industry, etc.  In 2006 I underwent a complete reorganization of my business and changed my entire business model.  I gave up my storefront and decided to work from my home.  I gave up my retail portrait business to focus completely on high end wedding photography on location, my fine art photography and photographic education.  I was apprehensive, at first, about being taken seriously without a boutique studio storefront, but have found that it’s my images and my personality that my clients are contracting me for…not my real estate.  Here I am, not even four years later, grossing more revenue that I ever had in the past with none of the fancy storefront overhead eating away at the profits.

First Impressions are important and when prospective clients come to see me for the first time they walk into the scene pictured above.  The small living room in my home is set up as my gallery.  It is warm, inviting and showcases some of my favorite wedding images, hanging gallery style, on one wall.  The room is eclectically furnished and kept spotlessly clean.  An assortment of my fine art photography images are beautifully framed and showcased on walls adjacent to the gallery wall and two of my most prized possessions, two wonderful sculptures, are displayed on the mantle of my fireplace under low-voltage spot lights.  The entire area is understated, intimate and reeks of my passion for art and my sense of design.

There is no television in this room…nor do I use any audio-visual programming in my sales consultations.  I don’t deny the effectiveness of romantic slide shows or video presentations, they just don’t fit into my scheme of things.  Let me explain…

I want my customers to feel like they’re sitting around the kitchen table with me.  A great salesman once told me that the living room is where you entertain company, or the life insurance salesman…the kitchen table is where you hang out with friends.  I don’t want my prospective clients to feel like they’re being force fed a professionally tailored sales program.  Instead I encourage conversation and I make my clients comfortable.  When my clients first come in I tell them to relax, to leave their checkbooks and credit cards in the car.  I tell them right upfront that I have no intention of “closing a sale” and that I am just going to educate them and send them off to make their decision.  A relaxed client is a lot easier to get through to than one who is on their guard.  Under no circumstance should there be a desk between you and your clients…unless you want to make them feel like they’re about to square off with a car salesman.

Once seated I leave my clients to peruse some sample albums at their leisure.  Again…no A/V presentations.  I sell wedding photography packages that include custom bound albums of exquisite finished images.  I need to show them those albums.  Any photographer that is just shooting weddings and burning images to disc for their clients to tinker with is missing the boat.  The proper enhancement and merchandising of your images in elegant bound albums will triple the revenue you receive over simply “shooting and burning”.  If you’re serious about building a long standing, profitable photography business you can’t afford to leave this money on the table, and, more importantly, you can’t leave the production values of your images up to your clients.  My images are not going to wind up at the 60 minute photo counter in Wal-Mart!

So what do I show my prospective clients?  First I steer them towards a compilation album…a beautiful book full of my favorite images from the last year or so.  Keep your samples current, folks.  Hopefully you are improving at your craft every day…show your freshest work, not the stuff you were shooting years ago.  Here’s a short video of what my guests see inside the cover of this first album:

The music for this video slideshow was provided by Triple Scoop Music.  Photographers that are looking for an amazing source of licensed music for use in their video and slide show programs, as well as on their web sites, are encouraged to visit their web site.

This album, like all of my custom albums, was bound by the artisans at Leather Craftsmen, Inc.  This particular album features the finest of Leather Craftsmen’s offerings:  a striped edition cover of Distressed Brown leather and Sand Top Grain Cowhide, an inset cover photograph, branding in lieu of imprinting and cork end lining treatment.  It is a work of art.  Any photographer seeking to upgrade their album offerings should look no further than the folks at Leather Craftsmen, Inc.

I steer my clients next to a complete wedding album…a 255 picture design from one wedding.  This particular album was featured on this forum previously in the post entitled “First And Foremost We Sell Images”.  I invite you to read that post for more insight on our sales philosophies.  I usually leave two or three additional wedding albums on the table for my guests to view.

When my clients have finished looking at my work at their own pace I return to the gallery and continue with the initial sales consultation.  In a later post I will tell you what goes on next.  For now I encourage you to take a good look at what you are doing at the start of your sales consultations and make sure that you are making a great first impression.

Posted in Bookbinding, Customer Relations, Leathercraftsmen, Sales and Merchandising, Triple Scoop Music | 12 Comments »

FREE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORSHIPS WITH MICHAEL ONEILL

February 15th, 2010

The 2010 WPPI convention and trade show is just about two weeks away now.  Last year I had the honor and privilege of presenting my platform program “FUNdamentals” to some of the more than 12,000 photographers who attended WPPI 2009.  As a speaker you get to look out at your audience and see the desire to learn in their attentive faces.  As rewarding as the speaking experience is, I was overwhelmed by what transpired after I wrapped up my presentation.  Members of the audience rushed to the podium after I concluded my presentation to ask more questions and seek more answers to their particular challenges.  A few offered to come to New York for the opportunity to assist me and learn from me on actual wedding assignments.  I accepted some of those offers and they turned into the catalyst for some great 2009 wedding experiences.  Photographers came in from all over the United States…Illinois, Mississippi, Massachusetts, California…to accompany myself and my team on a number of wedding assignments here in New York.

This year I’ll be returning to WPPI 2010 as a judge in the Accolades of Excellence 16 X 20 print competition.  Though I won’t be speaking at this year’s convention I do have quite an eager audience nonetheless…more than 2,400 subscriptions to The Pro Spot and more than 4,000 friends on Facebook.  So using this, The Pro Spot, as my podium I am extending an offer to any photographer who wishes to learn from me…on the job…on an actual wedding assignment here in the New York area…to contact me.  Send me an email with a link to your web site and a brief statement of why you would like to work with me.  I will choose a number of you and arrange a mutually convenient time for you to come to New York and work with my team.  I seek no compensation from you for this experience.  I just ask that you pay your own travel expenses and bring your camera gear, your enthusiasm and an open mind towards learning while creating some new and exciting images.  (Stick around an extra day after the wedding assignment and you’ll witness my two hour editing workflow to finish 1,000 images and learn some of the Photoshop enhancement techniques I employ to create award-winning images).  This is a win-win scenario for everyone involved.  You will learn, firsthand, the posing, camera and lighting techniques I employ and will go home with some great images for your own personal portfolios.  I get the benefit of having a second creative professional on my assignments; not only enhancing my client’s product, but also challenging me to perform at the top of my game.

The team at Michael ONeill Fine Art photographed 54 weddings in 2009 and will photograph a similar amount in 2010.  Opportunities will be very limited so I encourage you to contact me as soon as possible if you are sincerely interested in spending some quality time in New York with myself and my crew.  I expect the response to this post to be staggering and I apologize in advance as I certainly won’t be able to accommodate all of you.  I look forward to creating some spectacular wedding imagery with some of you and to helping you grow your businesses in 2010 and beyond.

Posted in Camera Techniques, Customer Relations, Lighting Techniques, Photoshop, Phtographic Education, Posing, WPPI, Workflow | 8 Comments »

  • Page 1 of 2
  • 1
  • 2
  • >