December 2010 Newsletter
Happy Holidays (nearly) From All Things Photography!
Hi all,
Welcome to this, the "Monster" December 2010 newsletter and yes, it has been a while. Too long in fact. Things just tend to get so busy around here and before you know it a few months have passed!
I must say 2010 has been another fantastic year for ATP and we are now receiving over 7,000 photographers a day from 200 countries worldwide so thanks to you for being a part of the website and I sincerely hope you continue to get something from it.
2011 will hopefully, finally, see the addition of a video section for those of you that have the HD video feature on your DSLR but don’t fully understand all the ins and outs such as frame rates, bit rates, fps, encoding, codec’s, rendering and so on. We didn’t add it last year as it seemed that the demand wasn’t quite there but I have been noticing a lot more people talking about using the video feature of DSLR’s more and more.
HD video can be a great addition to a wedding or family portrait slideshow plus it is so easy to set up and sell footage clips online with submissions anywhere from just 5 seconds to one minute long…
For example, this simple clip of a Rabbit sold 4 days ago for $50!
We also hope to add more reviews and new sections such as shooting landscapes as well as a general update for the whole website. I would also like to encourage readers to add their own images and comments to the site so we will be implementing that feature too.
So what is new?
Well, there have been some exciting new products released throughout the year but for me, nothing huge in the way of new technology. Although saying that, I saw my first glimpse of a 50″ 3D TV this year and more recently went to the cinema with my kids to watch a 3D movie…wow! We have come a long way since JAWS 3 in 3D way back in 1983.
I have a strong feeling that in the not-too-distant-future, not only will photography and videography continue to merge in business but we may well see more people shooting and videoing (in particular) weddings in 3D. Imagine a slideshow showing the bouquet toss in amazing 3D on a 50″ TV screen! It’s not so much about what we think will happen but more about what clients will demand and expect from us in the future.
Also, where DSLR’s introduced HD video to their feature set in recent times, video cameras are now increasing the high resolution, still image taking possibilities with cameras such as the NEX-VG10. This new offering from Sony not only shoots crisp HD video, but it also has a 14 megapixel sensor that is 19.5 times larger than traditional Handycam sensors and takes great stills (not RAW) at up to 7fps.
The image quality has been likened to that of the Canon EOS 7D (apparently)
The large sensor and ability to change lenses means super film-like depth of field for your videos so it could be a great tool for a second shooter to use in order to catch a few high resolution stills, the odd, super shallow DOF clips as well as some interesting sound bites!
This is food for thought if you want to keep your wedding photography business fresh and up with the times…even if you use your VDSLR to capture sounds bites from the ceremony and speeches, they can add a lot to a decent slideshow.
So, for this issue…
- 1ATP Members is 1! Join for half price for the rest of December!
- 2Learn EOS 7D Video - Review
- 3Photographing Royalty
- 4Photoshop Autoloader - Review
- 5Harbor Digital Design release the "Quick Spot" - Review
- 6Earn $$$’s by helping us sell our "How to Sell Stock Photos" eBook
- 7Photography Courses
Happy birthday to ATP Members. Join us for half price!
Update 2018: Now ended...sorry.
I cannot believe it has been a year since we launched ATP Members…how time flies when you are having fun. The site was built to help others to improve their photography with regards to weddings, stock and photography in general but it has become so much more than that.
We have one of the friendliest photography communities on the web with members interacting with each other and helping out with regards to critique and advice which I think is fantastic.
I myself like to spend a lot of time there answering questions and creating short tutorials to answer more in depth questions but I also like to spend time there looking at members images, and even more so, the stories that sometimes go with them.
As a celebration of our birthday, you can join ATP Members for half price (Just $33 instead of $65*) for the rest of December (offer ends December 31st).
(* Plus the first monthly installment of $10)
To join ATP Members simply head over to www.atpmembers.com before New Year’s Day and become part of our super friendly community with bags of training and tutorials for just $33!
Learn Video on the Canon EOS 7D
Having reviewed the Video DVD for the Canon EOS 5D, I recently got hold of a copy of the Canon EOS 7D equivalent. If you have either of these cameras and feel like venturing into the world of video, these DVD’s give you a great insight into how to get the most from the HD video feature and how to put it to best use.
Photographing Royalty
Last month, and about 20 years since photographing his sister HRH Princess Anne, I was lucky enough to get the chance to photography HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. I spent about 40 minutes following him around an engineering firm in Weymouth and even spent some time with him in the fabulous Ranger vehicle.
Things to learn from such an experience are not just etiquette and preparation for the day itself, much like a wedding. Pricing the job accordingly.
I actually did this job at a much lower price than normal simply to have the experience, get some great shots for my portfolio and the hope of attracting more work from the client in the future…a kind of loss leader!
It is also good to know how to get that kind of job in the first place.
If you are serious about your photography business, you need to network and get yourself out and about amongst the business communities. The more you network and meet people, the better the chances you have of getting the work in, after all, the saying “It’s not what you know but who you know” still stands and always will as far as I am concerned.
You can read more about the business of photography in the book of the same name here: Photography Business
Photoshop Autoloader
If you have Adobe Photoshop CS3, CS4 or CS5 and you don’t yet have a copy of Autoloader by Mike D, you are missing out! Autoloader is one of the best time-saving plug-ins I have ever seen for Photoshop and always use it when processing large batches of images. Read my review here:
Harbor Digital Design - Quick Spot
Harbor Digital Design produced one of the first flash diffusers a few years ago and was incidentally one of the first diffusers I ever used, particularly for weddings. They have now produced the new “Quick Spot” attachment which allows you to add some funky effects to your flash photography.
Read my quick review with a few sample images: Quick Spot Flash Diffuser
Earn Extra $$$’s - Help us to Sell "How to Sell Stock Photos" - Earn 50%
Why not earn some extra cash to kick start the New Year and "re-fill" your coffers after the holiday season. Our book on stock photography has been selling extremely well throughout 2010 and we have a less than one-half percent return rate (in all honesty, only one person has returned the book as they realised the industry wasn’t for them at this time).
Many others (that I know of) have gone on to use the information and made a great start to their stock business by getting accepted at all the major agencies and making sales almost immediately.
If you have read this book and enjoyed it or even if you have yet to read it but want to earn some nice commissions, we are offering a whopping 50% commission on all sales of the eBook. If you have a website, blog, Facebook or Twitter account or indeed any sort of online presence, you can promote this book…
More details on the actual book and sales page here.
More details on how to sell the book here.
Photography Courses
We don't have any courses planned right now but please use the links below for more information.
If you would prefer a one to one day of intensive training, I am now taking on students this year. I have taught quite a few of these courses over the years with great success. On seeing the excellent progress of the students since then, I have decided to continue these in the future.
You can tailor your day to suit exactly what it is you are looking to learn including:
Simply take 1 or 2 elements that you wish to learn and a course will be structured exactly around what you want. If you want to extend your learning, you can add extra days subject to availability.
Prices are £450 for a full day (which includes a preliminary "pre-course" meeting the evening before) or £795 for two full days
Testimonials
"I did a one to one course with Nick Stubbs which was aimed at getting equipped to start the foundations of my photography business. The areas we looked at were stock, business/marketing, weddings, a couple of other opportunities, and work flow.
I found Nick’s enthusiasm infectious and his sense of humour on a par with mine which made an intense day go by like a breeze. We covered all the topics I wanted and have come away inspired, confident and ready to invest my time and effort over the next few years to create a solid photography business.
If you are interested in any of his courses I would highly recommend starting with www.atpmembers.com and then getting in touch with him for a one to one or group course. Thanks Nick and I look forward to seeing you again very soon!"
Todor - London
"Go on, give one-to-one training a try, it worked for me! Having bought a DSLR camera and a selection of lenses last year I have struggled to really maximise their use and understand all the settings or even the basics. I knew I needed help to unveil this mist of confusion and to unlock the mystery of my equipment.
I had tried group training but the group was too big and I got lost in the variety of experience and came away none the wiser; so I opted for one-to-one training with Nick Stubbs, I liked his work and what he had to say about his training. I spent the day really delving into exactly what my issues were and so really felt that the training was bespoke to my actual needs. My goal was to come away clear in the use of my camera and confident enough to shoot good pictures.
The training I received was well paced and matched my learning needs, Nick was observant and responsive to my questions. He showed intuition by spotting when I needed extra time on something in particular or a different explanation. His training style was relaxed and easy to follow with a good ability to adapt and demonstrate points to clearly illustrate them. Additionally there were numerous invaluable hints and tips shared that will no doubt be used to full effect.
Nick is clearly well versed in the professional delivery of various types of photography and was able to use his experience to encourage and inspire me to persevere with hopefully turning a tentative new comer to digital photography into a professional photographer – one day! At the end of the day’s training I came away with the mist lifted, the mystery unlocked and very enthusiastic to practice, practice, practice!
So go on give one-to-one training with Nick a try it really did work for me."
Christine - Sussex
Phew…told you it was a monster! If you have made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you found the newsletter interesting and useful in some way. If you did, please share this page with your friends.
All that leaves me to say now is please have a safe, happy and wonderful Holiday Season and all the best for a prosperous and healthy New Year! If you have any comments you would like to add, please do so below.
Cheers! Nick - All Things Photography