Photography

My brother and his wife are expecting and for Christmas I’d like to get them a gift certificate for a photographer to get pictures taken of the three of them and the baby once the baby is born. My problem is that I live in IL and they live in St. Paul MN so I’m not sure where to get the certificate for? I was hoping for a nicer place than a Sears or something. If you were expecting would you like it if someone gave you that?? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

What a great gift. I think any new parent would love it!!

J C PENNEY PORTRAIT STUDIO
952-544-0086
12421 Wayzata Blvd
Minnetonka, MN 55305
3.1MI from Saint Paul

There are a lot of them listed here, but unless you can get a few really good reviews on one of them, sticking with a well known company is a good bet.

http://www.magicyellow.com/category/Portrait_Photographers/Saint_Paul_MN.html

I have a 50+ person family portrait that I need to make perfect. I have several pictures where different people are smiling and looking at the camera how do I combine pictures to make everyone smiling and looking at the camera? Also we have some missing family we want to add to the picture is this possible? It’s what we think will be our last picture with grandpa so it would be nice to have one grand picture we can all have hanging in our house. I’m at a loss at where to turn, help please=) thank you!

This certainly will require a lot of time and skill to do some serious cloning in Photoshop. You might have to do dodge and burn some parts of the pictures to make it match the light.
Quite a challenge you got in your hands so if you don’t have the skillset it might be worth considering hiring a professional to combine all the pictures together into a single file

so basically, i have to do 20 A4 pages in my sketch book about portraiture as my art work (im doing my igcses).
I’m kind of stuck on how to present my writing etc. nicely but without spending too much time on just presentation.

so if you have any ideas for backgrounds, or any other presentation ideas, please let me know

thanks a lot!

you could present your writing on various materials, and tear neatley around your writing then glue it on to your A4s, you could use materials such as, envolopes, tracing paper, coloured card, sugar paper, cardboard, and any other materials, even of which link into your subject, i always filled my pages to the maximum and didnt leave any gaps, u need to put everything relevant on your pages even if you dont think its that good, it shows u have tried various ideas, and dont forget to include other famous artists in your course work x

I have been taking quite a few classes on photography and I have a nice camera and lenses, but this would only be my third group photo shoot. I plan on just giving them a CD with all the good pictures on it and they may do what they please with it.
** They are using them for Christmas card pictures, so that’s why I thought of the CD, and I did think of putting a small thing in the corner saying it’s my work in some way.

You shouldn’t charge. Since you are only a beginner without any real experience. I recommend just asking for a "donation."

They just give you whatever they want to give you, based on your service and the quality of your pictures.

Kind of like a tip, per say.

I already have a website and cost is not a factor for not registering a new domain, i still might, but i was wondering how many people would recommend using a subdomain as oppose to a direct URL to showcase their photography.

eg. photography.valeriemorrison.net or valeriemorrison.net/photography or some other photography. pros/cons?

it really does not matter if you are getting a new domain or a sub domain for promoting your products.

in fact having a sub domain might be beneficial in some cases.
because you already have some visitors to the primary site, and you can put a link on the site to get to your new photography page.
it’s infinitely difficult to get visitor to new sites.

My friend and his wife got married in Europe and my husband and I could not go to the wedding. They were at our wedding two years ago and I have no idea what is the appropriate wedding gift? Do I give them half of what they gave us since they did not have to pay for us at their wedding? Should I send a check or get a few remaining items from their registry? I don’t want to offend them but have no idea what I am supposed to spend, please help.

Just spend what you can and want to spend. A gift card or a check would suffice. Or, find their registry and get what is within your budget. I never looked at my gifts and thought "Wow, I’m offended that they didn’t spend more on me." I was just very thankful.

This is going to be my first time doing senior portraits. It’s for a friend of mine who is graduating from college. She wants to do some cap & gown photos of her, her and her mom, her and her sister, and all three of them. She doesn’t want to do anything in a studio and wants them to look cutesy and not posed.

How much should I charge her?
Also, got any location ideas?
(Southern California)

Thanks!

charge about $150

and go to victoria beach in orange county!!!! it is GORGEOUS! its a secluded beach that is amazing!

What sort of form should I send photographs to magazines? Is it best to send prints via postal mail? How many should be in any given set and is it proper to do this unsolicited? Do I include a letter? How much should I expect to be paid for using my photographs?

You look at the magazines you would like to be published in, find out the picture editors name and contact details then send an introductory letter outlining the type of pictures you have for sale/publication and ask what their submission requirements are.
You should include a contact sheet at least of what you have on offer.

Better yet would be to try and make an appointment to go and see them to show your portfolio.

Paid – depends on the magazine and usage, varies from a few pounds/dollars through to potentially hundreds (or thousands if it is a gossip rag and unique pap shot).

I’m curious what it’s like to be a professional photographer, and how you get prepared for a career in photography.
Is there a special school you go to to become a photographer?
What exactly does a professional photographer DO?
Is there a job you can get when you’re young to get prepared for a career in photography?
What is the average pay of a professional photographer?

Thanks for answers to any or all questions!

What’s it like – great, terrible, frustrating, interesting, busy, you name it.

How to prepare – learn photography and business.

Special school – not necessary to get any specific qualifications for the vast majority of pro photography work

What does a pro do – whatever they are required to do. There are quite a number of different "specialities" and there are general practices. What you do depends on what you are shooting.

Job to prepare – photographers assistant, gofer in a decent studio

Average pay – no such thing as average pay. Some earn millions some earn very little. It depends on what field you are in and how hard you are prepared to work amongst other things.

GHJ – And people think I am rude.!!! The question was asking relevant things and not the normal – I am going to be pro what do I do. So your response was unwarranted.

Obviously the photographer is needed to take the picture, but as things digitize it seems the photographer looses some of their usefulness. Take fashion photography, the setting is already there, the makeup and clothing is already there too, the taking of the picture seems quite mechanical at this point.

As an ameteur photographer, I think patience plays a large part of my ‘job’. The patience to look for worthy material and to wait for the right moment to take the picture. Editing software can take care of any small tweaks that are needed…so besides patience, what else is needed in order to take a great photo these days? and is the photographers usefulness diminishing?

No matter how complex cameras become, they cannot make the photograph. take for instance, fashion photography. Yes, the sets and makeup are there, but the photographerr had some say in the overall design.
wildlife photography, on the other hand, is all about the photographe. The6 photographer has to know when and where his subject will be. he has to know how to position and conceal himself. It is he that makes the decisions as to what piece of equipment will do the job.
The photojournalist has to look at the human side of every photograph he takes. A digital camera, no matter how sophisticated, cannot know what will bring out the emotion of an audience. Likewise, a sports photographer has to have the instinct to catch that perfect moment of an event.
In short, the camera has very little to do with how good a picture is. A bad photograph can be taken with a$10,000 camera. A great photo, however, can be produced using a $10 "throw away."