Our last community workshop gave one of our readers some great tips on how to approach photographing a model so I’ve decided to post another reader question. This one is a question I get quite a bit – how do I photograph the birth of a baby?

Here’s the latest question from one of our readers – Drew.

“My wife and I are expecting the birth of our new baby daughter in two weeks time and I’m wondering if you might have any advice on how to photograph the birth?

It’s such a special time for us as family that we want to capture it somehow but I’m a little nervous about how to do it tastefully, meaningfully and without my camera dominating the event.”

I know not everyone will have experience in this one and that there are probably different opinions on whether people would take a camera into this situation – but if you’ve got some advice or tips we’d love to hear them.

What advice do you have for Drew?

PS: As a dad of two and an avid photographer I’ve found myself asking the same question. I know some families choose to make a birth a camera free event and can respect that – while others take an ‘access all areas’ approach. In our situation we did take and use the camera but were certainly not using it during the seconds babies arrived.

One piece of advice that I did share a while back here on dPS that came from a friend who took a lot of photos through the birth of his kids was – sometimes images in black and white can be good for this type of situation where color images can be be quite overpowering and graphic. My friend took a lot of photos during the birth of his babies but they were so vivid in color that it was very confronting. He experimented with converting some to black and white and found that the images were still very powerful but not quite as confronting.

The other piece of advice I’d give is to talk about it before labor starts! You probably want both of you on the same page before you start pointing cameras on a day like that!

Looking forward to hearing your tips on photographing the birth of a baby!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How Would You Photograph a Birth Scene?

1. It can be exciting photographing a newborn so compose a list of shots you want to take before you pick up the camera. Grab these ‘safe shots’ first and once you have this selection in the bag, start to get creative with new angles and ideas.
2. The best lens to use when photographing any type of portrait is a fast 50/85mm prime lens. Operating at wide apertures (small f number) will allow you to work in darker environments and capture stills with the focus on your subject and a blurred backdrop to remove distraction.
3. If you’re uncomfortable operating in manual mode then plump for Aperture Priority and opt for a wide aperture of f4 or f5.6. Focus on your subject’s face and include a section of the backdrop into the frame. This is where an interesting or colourful background can make the scene more dynamic. Alternatively position yourself at the end of the child and focus on the feet – throwing the rest of his/her frame into a creatively blur.
4. Attach a zoom lens to vary the composition of your shots; catering for up close cute pictures of feet, hands, nose or ears for example and then span out wide to grab contextual portraits or ones that reveal the entire length of the child.
5. As with any portrait pictures you’ll want to use even light. Avoid flash at all costs – not only is this disruptive to the calm atmosphere you want to create but it can rob the image of texture and tone. Position the cot or child near a window (using a white sheet or curtain to diffuse if it is a particularly bright day. Remember to exposure for the face.
6. Declutter the scene of distracting items such as nappies or bottles and incorporate soft blankets for interesting colours and texture. Consider placing props such as a loved toy or teddy to emphasis size.
7. Black and white images can carry more emotion that their colourful counterparts so experiment when photographing or editing images post shoot. Some cameras offer this as a menu choice but so you don’t restrict yourself it is advisable to shoot in colour and desaturate or select a B&W option in an editing program later. Play around with curves in Photoshop or the Presets in Lightroom to control contrast and brightness of the shadows, midtones and highlights.
8. As newborns grow at such a daunting pace, many proud parents choose to photograph their tots at periodical intervals to chart the change. A collection of these images printed in a photobook can make a wonderful gift for a family member.
9. To emphasis the petite proportions of your newborn try taking images with the parent. For example – baby’s hand on mum and dad’s hand, or the baby’s feet in between the fathers. Use a wide aperture and ramp up ISO if shooting in low light environments.
10. The best time to shoot an infant is arguably after he/she has had a feed and has been put down for a nap. The noise of the shutter shouldn’t disturb them and means you can move their little hands and feet delicately without resistance or movement.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Newborn Photography Tips for Beginners

Time for another dPS poll. This one is for DSLR users (which is the vast majority of our readers) and revolves around the type of lenses being used in our community.

Do You Primarily Shoot with Zoom or Prime Lenses?

A quick recap for those not familiar with prime lenses – in short they’re a fixed focal length lens. Of course a zoom lens is one which you can…. well…. zoom. It is generally named with the range of its zoom.

For me – my primary lens is a zoom lens (24-105mm Canon) and the second most used lens in my bag is a prime lens – a 50mm f1.4 Canon lens (both are pictured above).

So which do you primarily shoot with?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

In comments feel free to expand on your answer and tell us about the most common lens that can be found on your DSLR.

Further Reading from the dPS Archives: Prime vs Zoom lenses – which are best?

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Do You Primarily Shoot with Zoom or Prime Lenses?

One effecct that many of our readers experiment is creating custom Bokeh shapes. It’s a fun DIY little project for a rainy day – this video tells you how to do it.

The video is by Lucas Ridley.

Further Reading on this topic: Aperture Mask – the Many Faces of Bokeh.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

DIY Photography Project: How to Make Custom Bokeh Shapes

Professional and semi-professional American photographers might soon face a new set of administrative and accounting requirements that could bury them in tax paperwork – unless they act now. As part of the new healthcare reform legislation approved by the U.S. Congress this year, business owners must now report to the IRS on an income tax return any amount over $600 they paid to a company or individual and also submit a 1099 form to that company/individual as well.

In simple terms this means if you purchased a new lens this year that cost let’s say $895, not only will you be reporting that on your income tax return but you’ll also have to submit a 1099 form to the company you bought it from. The new tax rule is meant to track cash payments and cut down on businesses that don’t report this income – and fortunately it excludes credit card transactions – but what it really does is place a massive burden on small business owners. For commercial photographers that might order catering on their shoots or make other similar payments totaling more than $600 in a year, filing a 1099 with each of these becomes excessively burdensome.

Fortunately, the IRS is asking for the opinion of business owners and the American Society of Media Photographers has organized an e-mail protest campaign to protect the interests of small business owners. All submissions must be sent in before September 29, 2010. If you’re an American professional or semi-professional photographer check out the campaign and send in a letter if you’d like to support the ASMP’s efforts.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

New Accounting Requirements for American Photographers

Weekly Assignment

This week we photographed a subject that is near and dear to me, Books. A good book can create a story, transport you to somewhere new, help you relax, give you a laugh, or make you think. And we had all of those in our winners this week. Our winner though was a shot that reminded us how books can make us laugh with MagdaK’s well read dog. This shot had to be hard to shoot, but even so, it was incredibly well done. We liked the blue tones and the setup was just perfect. Well done, MagdaK! Our first runner up was mseigafuse, who reminded us how books can transport us into a different world. mseigafuse’s shot of I, Robot takes the story out of the pages of the book and brings it into the photo. You might want to view this one larger to get the full effect of it. And last, but not least was a very well done entry that shows us how books can make us think. arofarmer’s shot using the Tibetan Book of the Dead has a very somber feel to it, but at the same time, the lightness of it underscores the fact that it’s not necessarily sad. This one was a very powerful image. Well done everyone!

This week we started our Cars assignment. We’ve all seen those beautiful pics in advertisements and some of us regularly pick up magazines with stunning images of cars in all their glory, so let’s see what you can do. As always, a quick reminder of the rules if you wish to have your photo included in the mini-contest to be featured on the blog at the end of the week. First, your photo must have been taken between 25 August – 8 September 2010. Second, your post must include the words “Assignment: Cars” and the date the photo was taken. Finally, your EXIF should be intact, and it’s useful if you can include some of the main points (e.g. camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc). Next week, to celebrate the return to school for many kids in the northern hemisphere, our next assignment is Learning. So consider what learning means to you and show us in your photo.

Hot Threads

• Your Standards or Theirs?: If you’re ever thought about doing something with your photography, you might have thought about how you compare to other photographers. And then you might wonder what potential clients would think about your work. But have you stopped to think if your work meets your own standards? So, which of these things matters to your more? Your standards? Clients’ standards? Other photographers’ standards? And how do you reconcile those? Come share your thoughts over in the forums.
• Creating and Printing Photobooks: And if you have thought about doing something with your photos, maybe you’ve considered making a photobook. But how much do you know about creating photobooks, and how do you know which service to actually use? Come read this thread about creating your own photobooks and learn a little more about the process.
• Beginner to Beginner Photography Tutorial: Sometimes it can be overwhelming to be a beginner. How do you know where to start, what the basics are, and even how to actually search for what you might neat to learn? That’s where it can be useful to get tips from other beginners. So if you head over to the forums, you can find a post on just that. Help from one beginner to another!
• RAW: Sharpening and Noise: Nearly all images do need some sharpening. And whether you do this in Photoshop, Lightroom, or a specialized sharpening program, one of the things you might find is that you’re left with noisier images. But why is that? Come read a bit more about noise, RAW, and photoshop processing over in the forums.
• What Would You Do: That’s right, you have another chance to participate in a WWYD thread. These are our post-processing threads where you get the chance to edit another forum member’s photos. So if you’re interested in learning about post-processing, you might want to head over and try your hand at WWYD.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

This Week in the Digital Photography Forums (29 Aug-4 Sep ‘10)

Getting started

Once you have the intention and the funds (see Part 1 of Becoming a Pro Photographer) in place it’s time to consider the legality, rules and regulations and all the red tape of what you need to do. In the UK the government provide a range of free half-day training sessions to help self-employed people get up to speed on everything from paying your taxes to health and safety (visit http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/bst/advice-team-events/work1.htm if you’re in the UK). Another great port of call is www.businesslink.gov.uk who run a plethora of free (and some paid) business course, catering for everything from web marketing to brand building, to assessing customer body language! A quick trawl of the internet should reap some similar courses in other parts of the world too (feel free to suggest resources for your part of the world in comments below) – sometimes these are subsidised by the government. Something else to give great care and consideration is to getting yourself properly insured. Join us again in a few weeks when we will reveal a complete guide on photographer’s insurance.

Paying tax

As inevitable in life, as death – there is no way to avoid paying tax if you want to work. The rules, rates and deadlines will vary massively from country to country so ensure you fully explore what it is you need to do in your own part of the world, and if unsure always employ the services of an accountant who can check you aren’t paying too little – or too much. Regardless of where you work it is advisable that you keep a solid record of your accounts, expenses, income, invoices and receipts. It is recommended that you back up any digital records stored on your computer and also keep a secure paper copy. There are hundreds of software packages out there that can help with the accounts side of your business or – again – employ an accountant to help. This won’t also be useful for ensuring your tax return is correct, but may also help you secure a bank loan or help you to sell or franchise your business down the line.

In the UK as soon as you start earning through freelance methods you will need to register with the Inland Revenue to ensure you pay any appropriate tax and national insurance contributions.  However it is worth bearing in mind that self-employed people here can deduct many allowable expenses (i.e. those items purchased exclusively for the business, including printing paper, inks, stationary, parking tickets etc) from the sum earned that financial year to reduce the amount of tax paid. What is more; currently self-employed folk can claim 40p for every business mile travelled using their own vehicle and there are even other allowances for “capital” items such as new equipment. How much tax you pay will depend on whether your income is greater than your tax allowance after expenses have been deducted for that year. For more information on taxes and NI Contributions see www.hmrc.gov.uk.< ?p>

As in most countries around the world tax evasion in the United States is also illegal, and doing so could lead to you being fined or serving a stint in jail. However thanks to the online payment system (which we also now have in the UK) filling in the tax form return is relatively simple. If you’re just starting out as a self employed person in the US then most of the questions won’t apply. Remember to register as self employed though and you’ll need to pay the basic national insurance stamp over the course of the year which can be made through direct debit.

Amounts vary across the world on how much you are required to pay, but as a good measure of caution in the UK and US, it is ideal to set aside 30% of everything you earn. This should cover your tax bill come the end of the financial year and whatever is left will be a nice little bonus!

Contracts

When you work as a freelance photographer there will be times when you are asked to sign a contract so be prepared to read the small print carefully before signing. There are plenty of little details to watch out for, such as ownership and copyright laws. Don’t try to ignore these issues as you could end up losing you money, or worse your rights to the images. If there is something you don’t understand, always ask for clarification or take it to someone outside of the company for an objective opinion before signing.

Equally you may need to consider creating a contract for your clients or models to sign. Be sure to cover anything you deem necessary such as; payment demands, copyright issues, details explaining that you may wish to use the images to promote your business etc. Again, having an objective pair of eyes – or even a legal representative check over the document will be incredibly helpful. There are hundreds of templates online that are available to use and mould to suit your own business, just find something that suits what you are attempting to achieve.

Invoicing

Knowing how, what and when to invoice can be confusing at first – but there are many templates online that you can use and change to suit your business, but essentially invoices can be as simple as stating your contact details, addressee details, a quick description of the work done, fee and details of when payment is due. Be prompt and organised when it comes to getting paid – otherwise you won’t eat. Keep a detailed spreadsheet in digital form as well as backed up with a paper copy and chart when you dispatch invoices and receive payment.

Join us for Part 3 when we will discuss marketing and brand building concerns. Subscribe to dPS to make sure you get it.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

How to Become a Pro Photographer: Part 2 – Getting Started

Your challenge this weekend is to take and share a photo of you with your camera.

Yep – it’s self portrait time – but we want to not only see you (or part of you – you can have some anonymity if you prefer) but also your prize and joy – your camera (whatever it might be).

To take it you might need to set yourself up in front of a mirror (although I’m sure those of you with two cameras could do it differently). Don’t just take a rushed shot – this is a photographic assignment. Think about composition, your background, lighting etc. As you’ll see from some of the examples in yesterdays post – these kinds of shots can be quite creative and say a lot about you.

Once you’ve taken your best “Self Portrait” image, upload it to your favourite photo sharing site and either share a link to it below or embed it in the comments using the our new tool to do so. Please note it sometimes takes us a while to approve comments with images as there’s a moderation queue – particularly over the weekend.

If you tag your photo on Flickr, Twitter or other sites with Tagging tag it as #DPSMYCAMERAANDI to help others find it. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

PS: don’t forget to check out some of the great photos shared last week in the ‘My Favorite Subject’ challenge.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

My Camera and I: Weekly Photography Challenge

Going hand in hand with the previous Travel Photography Subject: Food, is what goes on behind the scenes. Some will consider food and food preparation one and the same and photograph them as such. But I have often found the ceremony, skill, art and heart that goes into creating the meal deserves its own category.

While food photography on the road may be fairly easy (it’s placed right in front of your or you grab it from a cart, after all) shooting food preparation is going to take a little more tenacity.  You’re going to have to get behind the scenes and often through kitchen doors to get the low down on where your food comes from.  For the most part, previous techniques of smiling and asking politely are a great place to start. If it’s a food cart out in the street or a market where everything is in the open, it’s always appreciated if you sample the fare first.  I won’t discourage you from simply walking around and shooting, but I have found I get a better response when I’ve stopped and made a purchase, shared a smile and show genuine interest in what’s being cooked.

Restaurants can be a different nut to crack.  In more developed countries, with their strict rules and health concerns, getting into the kitchen can take some work.  A good first step is, after enjoying a wonderful meal, ask to meet the chef.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the chef is busy, they are busy.  But sometimes they will come out to talk shop.  Everyone has an ego and many of us enjoy hearing compliments about our work, especially if we pour ourselves into it.  If you’re a good conversationalist, you may be allowed to sneak a peek in the kitchen.  In third world countries there will be less barrier between the kitchen and the eating area and it may only require simply asking your waitperson if a photo is ok.

Another great way to get a feel for food preparation is to go couchsurfing.  Couchsurfing is the act of staying in someone’s home, either on a couch or spare bed, while on your travels.  I had great luck with the site couchsurfing.org (there are others out there as well) on a recent trip to Morocco.  While I don’t have a lot of photographs inside the home, I was welcome in the kitchen to watch the mother of the house prepare a tremendous, delicious couscous dish.  This wasn’t some cookbook method, it was simply the way she made it for her family week after week and it was a pleasure to be involved.  Cooked on a two burner camping stove with multiple washings and steamings and other techniques I don’t use, it was a delight to behold and I do have a few quick snapshots of the mother in action.

Chances are, if you’re not out in the hot sun of an open-air market, things are going to be dim.  Resist the urge to use your flash.  In the end you may need to, but cooking is an active, lively event, so let a little blur into your pictures (blur of motion that is, not blur of everything).  Practice at home with higher ISOs to see what is tolerable for you.  I’ve found great luck at times with ISOs as high as 6400 and used the grain in the image to an effect.   Be careful of getting in the way of the food preparation if you’re in small spaces.  Before your step in, observe the flow and understand what’s really going on in the cooking space.  Watch out for all the hot stuff, obviously, and slow your shutter to around 1/15th of a second to experiment with capturing better looking flames from a burner or direct fire.  Focus on faces and the action.  When people are really focused on meal preparation their faces will reflect the concentration and add emotion to the shot.  Cover the mechanics, but don’t forget to bring some emotion (smiles, frowns, curses, sweat, etc…) into the frame.

I’d like to see what you’ve managed to shoot while on your travels.  Share a photo or five of Food Preparation in the comments section below.

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Previous articles in the Travel Photography Subjects series include Water, Old People, Young People, Religion, Sports, Socializing, Icons, Rich, Poor, Transportation, Economy and Food. These posts are not intent on telling you everything you need to do, step by step, to capture perfect, cookie-cutter pictures while traveling.  Instead, they are intent on pointing out some vital elements to capture when on the road and highlight thought provoking questions you may want to ask yourself.  My hope is they help guide you to find your own means to better expressing what your travels have meant to you and present that in the best light possible.  Be sure to subscribe to this site to receive the other nine subjects as they are posted!

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Travel Photography Subjects: Food Preparation