Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Why I shoot everything in RAW format and why you should too!


It is not uncommon for people to write to me asking if I shoot RAW or JPEG, and my answer is always the same. I ALWAYS shoot in RAW.

Why would I do that? Because, no matter what I am photographing, I want to get the best image possible. The RAW file is uncompressed and holds more data than a JPEG image. This allows me to manipulate the photo much better in my retouching process. To be a little more specific, there is more information in the white balance. highlights & shadows of the photo, and I have a better chance of creating a polished finished image with a RAW file.

While it is true that shooting in JPEG format is faster, both in the camera (writing to the card and clearing the buffer) and in post (opening the file in a photo editing program), I would prefer to have quality over speed.

When I first started shooting RAW, I did so at times when I thought the photos were most important to me or the client. It wasn't long before I realized that every photo I took was important in it's own way.

You may be thinking, "OK, maybe I should shoot in both formats". I know a lot of people who choose to shoot RAW and JPEG to their memory cards. I am NOT a big fan of this for numerous reasons:

1. Shooting RAW plus JPEG slows your camera down! Yes, as it turns out, your camera has to process every image twice if you choose this mode. This means that most cameras will take twice as long to write the images to a memory card, and therefore take much longer to clear your buffer. Even on fast cameras like my Canon 1D X Mark II and Canon 5D Mark IV, this is very noticeable. I always advocate shooting to two memory cards (to make sure you come away with your images) but I shoot the same RAW images to both card slots.

2. If I really need JPEG images, it only takes seconds (or maybe minutes if I have thousands of photos) to convert my RAW files to a JPEG format using a program like Photo Mechanic. This can also be done in Lightroom and other software applications.

There are a couple of disadvantages of shooting RAW:

1. RAW files are larger in size than their JPEG equivalents, but memory cards and hard drives have grown in capacity and dropped in price to a point where this should not be a big deal.

2. It does take an extra step, and therefore more time, when processing a RAW file. As the retoucher, we need to add the sharpening, saturation, contrast and more. But again, I prefer to take a little more time with each image and have a better quality product at the end.

3. These larger files will take longer to write to your memory cards, and therefore fill your buffer faster. But even with that said, I still shoot every Olympic Games in RAW format. Why? I am at the Olympics!!!! I am capturing history and want the best image I can get.

It all really boils down to this: I treat every photo shoot as a once in a lifetime opportunity, and for that reason, I think that every photo should be captured with the best possible format.

What do you do? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on the subject.



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If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
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Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Questions to ask when hiring a professional photographer

Funny...in all my years of blogging, this is the first time that I have written about this subject. I can not tell you how many times I am already booked and the clients have asked me the question "What should we be looking for when hiring a professional photographer?"

The other day I was at a car dealership to drop off my car for service and my service manager mentioned that she was getting married and looking for a photographer. I ended up spending a lot of time giving her advice on the questions she should be asking her possible photographers and what she should be requiring. This made me think that this is information I should be sharing with all of you.


1. What is their shooting style and is it the style you want?

First and foremost, the most important factor when choosing a photographer is to make sure they shoot in the style you are looking for. When people contact me about shooting for them, some of the first questions I ask them is "Have you looked at my web site? And does my style match what you are looking for?" Let's face it, some people want a photographer who shoots all high-key shots or puts an Instagram filter on all the photos. That is not me! My goal is to photograph all my clients to show who they are, not who I am. Most of the images on my web site capture the essence of my subjects and show my journalistic style. My goal is to attract those clients who like high-quality candid photos.


2. Does their personality match yours?

Most people don't think about the personality of the photographer, but I always tell people that this is critical. Remember, if you are hiring a photographer to shoot your wedding or other big event, you will likely be spending 8 or more hours with them. You want to hire someone who compliments you. If you are easy going and informal, you will likely want to hire someone who mirrors that attitude. I insert myself into each family as I am shooting their event. It lets me get to know them really well, determine who they are, have fun with them, and share the passion for photography.

3. How much does it cost for the photographer and the end products?

Once people determine that the photographer is capable of delivering high quality images in the preferred style, and they have a good rapport with the photographer, the next question is usually about cost.

In my opinion, there are some factors which might influence the pricing:

* Geography - the cost would likely be more in higher-cost cities
* Experience - the more experienced (& higher quality) a photographer, the higher the price might be
* Duration of the photography - you need to know how many hours of coverage you are getting
* Deliverables - are these included in a package or are you paying separately for digital, prints and an album? * If you are paying a la carte, how much do these options cost?

And having been a professional photographer for 15 years, I know that pricing can be all over the map. There are photographers that can be found on Craigslist and other web sites who will shoot an all-day event for $300, and there are some high-end photographers who might charge $50k for their team to capture a full day.


4. Are the photos that you order going to be fully retouched?

Typically photographers will deliver images in one of following categories:

1. Not retouched at all (just exported to a JPEG format and handed to the client)
2. Minor retouching (usually batch processed in Lightroom)
3. Full retouching (fully completing each image)

Next month I will be presenting at B&H Photo in New York, and I will be talking about what it takes to take a good photo from the camera and retouch it to make it great. It is my belief that a good photographer should strive to capture an image that gets us 90% to the final deliverable. But this is still not a finished product. I fully retouch every photo that my clients order. Typically this means making adjustments to the exposure levels, shadows, highlights, white balance and then remove fly-away hairs, acne, exit signs, and other distractions.

You need to be aware of this before hiring a photographer, because your expectations of a finished product and theirs may differ.


5. How long will your photographer spend with you?

Most photographers I know set their pricing based on their hourly commitment, and this is totally understandable. I base my pricing on hours when I am shooting portraits or corporate jobs.  When I shoot an all day event, I generally charge a day rate, and unless the event is unusually long, I charge a fixed fee and stay until the event is over. I do this because I want my clients to know that capturing their event in its entirety is more important than the money I am making. But either way, you will want to know what your photographer is committing to.


6. Will there be a second photographer?

Not all events need a second photographer, but I usually recommend a second shooter for weddings and large events. Here is why:

* There is a lot going on at most weddings, it can be difficult for one photographer to cover everything. This is especially true before the wedding when the ladies are getting ready at one location and the gentlemen at another venue. Unless the day is choreographed just right, it takes more than one photographer to capture both sets of the wedding party getting ready. And during the wedding and reception, it is helpful to have a second person getting photos from different angles. Can it be done with one photographer? Yes, I have done it numerous times. But life is much easier with a second photographer.

* For events with more than 300 people, it is difficult for one person to adequately cover all the attendees. And it is not just the coverage of all the people, there will likely be certain scenarios that happen during the course of the event that will be missed.

7. What is their turn around time? And how long are the proofs posted?

I already mentioned the large disparity in pricing between photographers, but will also find a vast difference in how quickly photographers will promise to get proof images to their clients. I have heard wedding photographers say that they can deliver proof images within 3 weeks of the event, and I have also heard others who take 3 months to deliver their proofs. I almost always deliver my proof images the day after the event, and I leave the gallery up for 6 months. I also extend my client's galleries for no charge if they need more time. But I am not saying that this is the norm in our industry. You want to make sure to get your proofs within a week or two of your event, and when you order prints, digitals, and even albums, I think that the turn around time should be less than 2 weeks.

8. What unique services do they offer?

Along with providing beautiful photos to the client, there are many other options offered by photographers. Some still photographers will offer videography or photo booths, while others might provide same-day slideshows. It doesn't hurt to ask what other services the photographer might offer. I personally do not offer videography or photo booths, but am happy to recommend other vendors who do a great job with these services.



9. What equipment do they use?

This is a tricky one, because great equipment does not make a great photographer. BUT, I have seen some "photographers" show up to events with really old cameras, cheap lenses and consumer level gear that just can't get the job done correctly. You want to make sure that your photographer has reasonably up-to-date gear and backups of key equipment. I would never photograph an event with just one camera body, one flash, or one lens. Things can go wrong, and they do. I usually show up to an event with the following gear:

* Canon 1D X Mark II camera
* Canon 5D Mark IV camera
* Canon 70-200mm 2.8 lens
* Canon 24-70mm II lens
* Canon 16-35mm III lens
* Canon 8-15 fish eye lens
* At least 6 of the Canon 600 EX-RT flash units
* Lots of Pro Grade Digital memory cards
* At least 4 extra sets of fully charged Powerex Pro AA batteries for the flashes

And I ALWAYS shoot redundantly to two memory cards in each camera. I spent 12 years in the memory card business and know that things can go wrong with these cards, so I write RAW files to both cards. The last thing I want is to have data corruption and no record of a client's event.

10. How long do they keep the images?

My wedding was 28 years ago and I am pretty sure that our photographer trashed our negatives more than a decade ago. Heck...maybe even 20 years ago. I pride myself on keeping every digital image I have shot since 1998, and having those images in different locations in case of a catastrophe. (You can read about my backup system in this blog post). Last year I even had a client from 2008 place an order for their images. I am not saying that every photographer should keep their images for a lifetime, but you should know what the life of your images are, especially if you are one of those clients that procrastinates in selecting your final images.

11. Does your photographer offer albums and album design?

Believe it or not, there are plenty of photographers who shoot the photos, deliver digital images and that's it. And we all know what happens to our photos when we get them and don't have the time or talent to put them in an album. I remember cleaning out my parent's house and finding shoe boxes full of those long forgotten images.

Check to see if your photographer can create a finished album or book for you. Typically these days, that means a high-quality press printed keepsake. You also want to ask how many photos and pages are included in the layout and price of the album or book.


Events may come and go, but the photos will stay forever

I take my profession really seriously, and I treat every photo shoot as a once in a lifetime event. Whether it is the Olympic Games or a family portrait, I am still capturing photos that tell a story and capture that moment in time. As I always say, "I don't think of myself as a photographer, I think of myself as a historian". This is a job that just can't be taken lightly.

I am sure that I am missing some more criteria here, but I hope that this helps you to make a more informed decision as you search for a professional photographer. If you have a friend looking for a photographer, feel free to pass this blog post along to them.

__________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
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Friday, May 10, 2019

Tips for photographing graduate portraits and a graduation ceremony

It is that time of year when a lot of kids are graduating from high school and college. Our daughter, Ali, worked really hard and just graduated with a BBA degree from the University of Portland. Go Ali!!

Being a photographer, I was excited to document this momentous occasion for Ali and her friends. Also, because her graduation was early in May, it gives me a chance to share my best photography tips with all of you, not only of the graduation ceremony, but also for portraits before and after the big event.

So...for all of you about to head to a graduation, my hope is that this will help you capture great photos of your own.

Here are my top 12 tips for taking portraits before the graduation ceremony:


1. Find a good location on the campus that shows the school name or marquee buildings (preferably with even light)


2. Do formal poses, but also let them have some fun!


3. Do individual and group shots (individuals at f/4 and groups at f/8)



4. If you can, choose a time in the morning or late afternoon for best light. If not, search for a neutral area (like this doorway).



5. If the kids have decorated their caps, make sure to have them turn around to get some fun shots of this.



6. Shoot for a variety of looks. I did group shots and individual portraits for each of the girls at multiple locations.


7. Use an on-camera flash (I used my Canon 600EX-RT flash in TTL mode, turned down to -1 in power) to add just a little bit of fill light to your subjects. I did this for almost every photo in this blog post.



8. Take photos of the kids with their caps and gowns, but also without them. Here, we decided to get a portrait of Gabi with her stethoscope, since she graduated nursing school.


9. If you have to shoot in direct sunlight, have your subjects turn their backs to the sun and use your flash to add light to them.



10. If you are taking portraits with a bright background, you will need to set your camera correctly. This photo (above) was taken with the camera in manual mode (ISO 160, f/13, 1/200). Here is how I came up with those settings. I knew I needed a shutter speed less than 1/250 sec (for the flash to sync correctly). I set the ISO to a low number, and then adjusted the aperture to get myself a proper exposure (using the meter in camera) with a shutter speed around 1/200 sec.


This is the same image taken without the flash turned on. I then powered up my Canon 600EX-RT flash to full power, got close to the group, and fired the camera. This photo was captured with just the one flash lighting the group. As you can see, I also brightened the image in Photoshop to bring out the building and grass.


11. Get creative! The girls wanted to get a photo of themselves in front of the bell tower, but the lighting was not good. But I looked up and thought it would be fun to do a group shot with them huddled above me. I was laying on the ground, looking up at them, and used my flash with a MagMod MagSphere diffuser to spread the light onto all of them.


12. Show off their accomplishments. In this case, Gabi and Katie had just graduated from nursing school and wanted to change into their scrubs. After doing some formal shots, I suggested that they have a little fun with the stethoscope.

And now for some tips on taking photos during the actual ceremony.


1. If you can sneak down (without being intrusive or in others way), try and get a portrait of your graduate amongst their peers.


2. Before the ceremony starts, check out the lighting in the room (if it is indoors) to see what ISO you will need to get a decent photo. In my case, I used my Canon 5D Mark IV with the Canon 70-200 2.8 lens. The room was moderately lit, and in order to get a reasonable shutter speed (between 1/150 and 1/250 sec) I determined that I needed to set my ISO to 3200 and shoot at f/2.8. I chose not to use flash, since I did not want to disturb the others.


3. Track your subject. I set my focus mode to IO Servo so that the camera would track my daughter's movement and keep her in focus as she walked.


Using all those settings really paid off. The wide depth of field (using f/2.8) helped to separate Ali as she walked off the stage, the IO Servo focus mode helped keep her in focus as she moved, and the shutter speed was just enough to freeze her in action as she made this classic "Ali expression".


After the ceremony, we met our daughter outside. I wanted to get a photo of her with her diploma (which was not inside yet). I moved her to a shady spot and grabbed this image. I used an aperture of f/5 to get both her and the diploma holder in focus but blur all the people behind her.

I hope this helps you get great photos of your graduate during this important time of year!

__________________________________________________________________________
Subscribe to the Jeff Cable Photography Blog by clicking HERE!
__________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in purchasing ANY equipment, please click here to go to B&H Photo, as I get a referral from them if you enter this way. It does not change the cost to you in any way, but it helps me keep this blog up and running.
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out my upcoming photo tours to amazing places around the world. I have photo tours to Africa, Costa Rica, Europe, Asia, India and more. And Canon will loan you any gear you want for FREE for any of my tours.
__________________________________________________________________________