Trying to do something different.

Sometimes you just want to have a go at something new, push the boundaries a little. See what you can do with not only your camera, but with the technology that surrounds it, and you. I was commissioned to produce some product imagery for a wood flooring company a few years ago, and I thought ‘great, I’d love to have a go at some of that 3D modelling that Photoshop can do’.

I was asked to come to the showroom and provide a proof of concept image, before they’d give me the green light, so I set about getting a basic shot ready. They’d already had a guy in a few weeks previous, having flown him in from London but he’d ran out of time to complete the job. Which to my mind was only half way through. Now I’m usually an advocate of the ‘buy local’ mentality, but lets be honest, sometimes skills have to be brought in from further a field if you can’t find the services you require closer to home. So I was excited at being given the chance to finish the job, having been referred on by a local business, who so far has been impressed with the turnaround of my work.

I set up the sample panel on a green background, messing around with the lighting to get the right highlights that I thought I might need, there had to be some level of shadowing for the image to work as a realistic piece for the website it would end up on. I knew I’d be able to remove the Chroma Key Green easily with Photoshop back at the studio.

Everything had to work in a production line style, as the shoot was going to take place where I was taking the sample image, as the warehouse guy knew these woods like the back of his hand, and he’d had to keep me right with what product was called what, and the corresponding product code had to match too, for the website database to match up.

Once back in my studio, I set to work removing the greens, adjusting the image slightly to get the correct colour cast and just a general sharpening touch up here and there, but not much more than that. I did have to adjust the White Balance, as I was dealing with 3 different light sources on site, fluorescent tubes, halogen spots and my own portable studio lights. We’ll go into that later.

What I finally ended up with was a flipped image (as you can see from the sticker residue) with a slight shadowing for effect (more to smooth out the edges than anything else).

The next thing I wanted to do was to make the board much more interesting from an atheistic point of view, as these boards would be going on to an e-commerce website, and I thought jazzing them up a little might improve click through rates, and obviously increase sales for the client.

Out came Photoshop’s  3D wizardry. It’s not easy first time round let me tell you, your hitting functions left, right and centre to see what does what, till you finally hit on something you like, which was this what you see on the left. It’s a little small, but you get the idea.

I loved it, and played around with it some more, put a bit of lens flare on, thinking  ‘yeah, this is what I’m after’. Twisted it a few more times, this way and that to come up with what I thought would do the job nicely. I’d been smart to recorded what I’d been doing using Actions, so knew all I had to do when I got back to the clients premises, was to set all the boards up the same way, with the only manual bit being removing the Green, and the computer would do the rest

What I ended up with was a piece of wood that would appear to almost take your eye out, coming out from the monitor screen screaming “Buy Me..!”

They hated it…

The image had to be as close to the actual product as possible, displaying both the colour and texture to the satisfaction of the guy from the warehouse. As I said, he knew these woods like the back of his hands, and if it could be identifiable on the screen to him, then it was a pass. We finally went with the materials being placed on a table, with angled lighting and a low level shot, which we meticulously replicated with each individual panel to create harmony for the CMS on the website.

Turns out it was faster than messing about in Photoshop (I tell myself that anyway), however the customer was very happy with the result which is the main thing. To get the right White Balance (which was an issue with some of the woods, due to the slight variants, I purchased a Lastolight reflector, which has a white/black/grey reverse, perfect for Custom White Balancing on the camera and on Bridge (one less thing to worry about).

I’ve yet to find a proper use for the Photoshop 3D function within photography, but at least I now know what it can do, shame I never got a chance to take anyone’s eye out though…

“BUY ME..!”

Monkey Photographers

The term ‘Cowboy Builder’ is something we’ve come to recognise as a term for someone who possibly isn’t the best qualified to carry out work on your home, or who might infact just take your money and run, but what term could we use for the photography industry charlatan?

I’ve a suggestion:  ’Monkey Photographer’ 

Since we’re talking in terms, what about the one “You pay peanuts, you should expect monkeys”..? I think this fits in very well with the professional wedding photography industry. There are a lot of ‘bargain’ wedding photographers out there, knocking out cheap wedding books (I refuse to call them albums, due in part to the fact that they’re not anywhere close to being considered an album) passing themselves off as pro’s, this isn’t snobbery by the way, nor me being bitchy, this is defence of the profession that I’m passionate about. However I’m sick and tired of those wedding photographers who come down from the trees at the weekend, with their one body/lens and all the posing techniques of a Mafia execution squad (line ‘em up and shoot) and who charge less than what it takes to actually run my business on a per wedding basis.

I’ve heard what’s been said by these Monkey’s:

“Sure they charge the earth some of these photographers”

“I can do it for a fraction of the cost”

“I don’t see why they think they can charge so much for a wedding”

I understand where they’re coming from, and it’s simple really. Ignorance.

Not having any overheads in their mind means that what they charge is pure profit (aside from the £24.99 photobook). I mean seriously, I’ve heard of monkeys charging £200 for wedding photography services! What galls me most is that these monkeys over time will one day think about going into this profession full time, and this is where it bites them in the arse. It’s only then do they realise that the cost of actually being a photographer is far more expensive than they might have first thought. I’d like to think that some of them take out insurance (a legal requirement), then there’s advertising, marketing (they’re different), hosting, new equipment, equipment upkeep, samples, printing, suppliers, designing, fuel, more insurances, more hosting, more new equipment, contracts, accountants, bookkeepers, accounting software, invoicing, direct debits, etc etc. The list goes on and on.

£200 a wedding isn’t even going to scratch the surface. I’ve nothing against people wanting to become wedding photographers, I really don’t. The more the merrier. What I don’t like is people with little or no experience seeing this industry as a fast and easy way to make a few extra pounds at the weekend. If you want to do that, go do a car boot sale or something else instead. Because if you come into this industry competing on price, then you’ll never ever be able to make a living from it. It’s simply not possible, and if your not doing that, then you can’t focus on your craft and become an inspirational photographer, who produces timeless classics, wedding after wedding.

I love being a wedding photographer, I love the pleasure it gives my customers from seeing my work, I love how on the most amazing day of their lives, I get to share every moment of it with them. Making sure I don’t miss a thing, so that they have a record of it for their rest of their family to see.

So, if your a Monkey reading this, do one of two things. Shadow a professional and learn from him/her. Work out what everything is going to cost you if you decide to go into this sector, charge appropriately and don’t ever compete on price. Or… Fill your boot, take a stall at the car boot sale next Sunday, and leave the photography to the photographers.

Location Location Location

I’ve been getting a whiff of rumours that because of my relocation to the North West, I now don’t cover the South East from where I originally started the business. I would just like to clarify this for the record: I cover the WHOLE of the UK & Ireland.

Granted, there are some associated costs involved when covering areas outside of Northern Ireland, but even with that, I feel I’m a very competitively priced photographer. As far as covering Northern Ireland is concerned, I liken it to the Pizza Delivery theory. The only service that you need to worry about when it comes to location is take-away delivery food. Nobody wants to get a stone cold pizza that took 2 hours to deliver do they?

This is my point! I’m not delivering pizza…

I’m travelling to your wedding venue (or home if you want home coverage) and I’m never late. I’m probably one of the most punctual people I know. It drives my girlfriend bonkers, but when it comes to professionalism, it’s a must.

I take bookings from across the globe, I’m currently in the process of delivering a wedding album to Australia for a lovely couple who were originally from the County of Armagh and who now live on the other side of the planet. I’ve covered weddings in London and Glasgow, I very nearly secured weddings in Spain & Greece, but sadly they didn’t come to fruition, which is a shame, because I’d got my sun factor zero and budgie smugglers sorted.

The point is, when choosing a wedding service provider your only focus should be the quality of the work, not where it’s coming from, and so far, the feedback I have received has been all positive. So if your thinking of booking a wedding photographer for your 2012/13/14 wedding, then look further afield with confidence, because I’ve a tank full of diesel and very loud alarm clock.

For further information on my wedding packages, please follow the link: Darron Mark Photography

Back to Back – Weddings

Having just got through an amazing ‘Sunny’ weekend of photography, I just wanted to let you into a little secret at how easy it can be to keep on top of your image processing when doing back to back weddings.

My Saviour

I’ve been a massive fan of Adobe Bridge since I first ‘discovered’ it in Photoshop CS3, when I bought my first digital camera, and had to try and work out how to open CR2 files in Photoshop. The only way I could seem to preview the RAW files was working through this little add on program called Bridge. Okay, it took a little bit of searching and downloading some important scripting update guff, so that it would work with the latest release of my camera software, and to be honest, I really didn’t like the look of the Canon software that was bundled. I thought it too… Amateurish for my tastes.

So getting back to the origins of the post, speed of editing. Usually after the Best Man has made a hash of his speech, and sat down and took a big gulp of whatever is left in his glass following all the usual toasts and mentions, I’m away to the venue’s restaurant for a bite to eat myself. I usually have to seek out a power point to plug in to first, as this obviously an important element to the up and coming digital jiggery pokery that is about to ensue.

Taking all my closely guarded memory cards out of their concealed compartment, I lay them out next to the laptop, open up a file with today’s date in the following format: yyyy-mm-dd – This means that all my files run in sequential order and conform to my data back up procedure. Which is structured by the year, going back some amount of years I can tell you. Now if your like me, and run around with two cameras on the day, you should have synchronised your camera times to the nearest second. More about why this is important in a moment (bare this in mind when working with a second shooter too!).

So now I’ve created my first folder, I then create disk numbered folders for each of the disks I’m going to transfer my RAW files into. I go through this process first. It doesn’t matter if I’ve not numbered the disks in the right order at this stage (or at any stage for that matter) as I’m more concerned about the time they were took later. With all my files transferred over, with disk numbers up to 6/7 depending on how long a day I’ve been shooting (I only ever shoot with 2Gb & 4Gb cards by the way incase of failure). I then create a new folder with the Bride & Groom’s first name. So for instance Mary & John. So that’s all that done.

Now carefully putting back all my disks safely away upon my person (they’re still precious at this stage until I’m confident everything has been backed up properly back in the office), I open Disk1 using Bridge in Filmstrip mode. Because Bridge is only dealing with a couple of hundred images in each folder, it keeps the processor working at optimum speed, and not dying a death doing the whole cached preview thing for the whole day. I quickly scan through each of the images and STAR RATE them either 1*, 2** or 3*** using CTRL+1 (or 2/3). I’m only going through the ones I think at this early stage are the good ones from the day, or “Album Quality”. Now we all take numerous shots of each setup just incase a child or a Granny decides there’s something a little more interesting going on behind you off camera. So it’s handy to make sure you have at least the majority looking down the lens, and those that aren’t in the selected image can be corrected back at the studio with some eye transplantation using Photoshop, but at this stage, this is less important.

My STAR RATE is pretty simple:

• 1* = Onsite Slide Show
• 2* = Album Filler/Background or ‘too similar’ but not for the Slide Show
• 3* = Needs attention before going for Album Selection (Photoshop)

Now having carried out this rapid rating system in Bridge, it means I’m not having to flick over using my 3″ screen and zooming back and forth and writing numbers down for the slide show. Everything is working smoothly, and Photoshop hasn’t even been opened yet. With all the rated images filtered, I then COPY them into the Mary & John folder. I then repeat this for each of the Disk# folders until I’m happy enough with the quantity I’m aiming for.

Now because I’ve been copying files into the central Mary & John folder, from disks that were used at various parts of the day, the only way they’re sorted is through the camera numbering. To put them into the story line correctly, I batch rename them all with HH:MM:SS-YYYY-MM-DD. Hours, Minutes and Seconds, so you can see why it’s important to sync your camera times right at the get go?

The next stage is the creative stage. Still using Bridge, I then get to work on the Mary & John folder. This time only selecting the 1* files (remaining focussed incase the guests get through their dinner faster than you anticipate) I start to do my colour corrections, exposure tweeks (sometimes even I can under/over expose a little), apply some desaturation on the colours to make a colour image Black & White, or do some tone sliding to make some classic sepias. I like to use vignetting on some of my more landscape shots, as I feel it keeps the focus on the couple. I basically have a play around with the tabs that are available on Bridge to make some minor or huge changes to the RAW file. However, the beauty of Bridge is, it doesn’t do anything to the actual RAW file, it creates a set of instructions in Bridge to present the image to me on the screen and stores those using XML files (you’ll see those in the folder). So if I decide I want to start again, I can just delete the XML file in the folder, and I’m back to square one again.

I’m now happy with all my changes on the 1* images. I quickly check with the venue manager that I’m not missing anything, look through the door, see that the guests are just getting to the end of their main course (yip, it’s that fast). I then nip back  to the restaurant and start to work on the 2** files (the fillers). I do the same again, doing all my editing in Bridge. Sometime a couple of these might get upgraded to 1*. Once all this is done, I then get set up ready for my show. I filter back to 1* images, make sure I’m back to the beginning of the day.

Bridge is open, the projector is about ready to be connected (either the hotel’s or my own), and I hit CTRL+L in Bridge and my picture show begins. I then just sit back and bask in the glory of my awesomeness

All that remains now, is to cover the evening dancing (if I’m contracted to be there), carry out the same process when I get back home, batch rename them all again with just a sequence number and date (example: 001-20111201), write the file name to the Title (there’s a plug in for that) and then batch process the whole lot in HighRES JPEG’s and upload to my website (not forgetting to do the quick Photoshop touch up’s from the 3***, that sort of stuff and there’s only usually a few of those anyway.

I’m then ready for the next days wedding. The couple who are probably still dancing the night away will be able to wake up to their new wedding images already done… Now how is that for service?

QR Codes, what are they good for..?

I’ve seen them around, even seen one in the Daily Telegraph with something to do with Twitter, and I thought, how cool are those, but what the hell are they?

QR Code to a special offer I'm running

They’re QR Codes (or Quick Response), which is a 2 dimensional specific matrix barcode, which can only be scanned by specific (there’s that word again) barcode readers or smart phones (with the right app). I’m using Qrafter for the iPhone, which is a free application (it has some advertising that I never intend on clicking on), which is fast (as it should be) at opening links and reading even the most intense QR Code, even off a laptop screen.

They look really new, but they’re not. They’ve been around since 1994, when they were designed for use by Toyota (would you just know that they came from Japan?). They’re massive in South Korea and Japan, but the uptake has been slow here in the West.

I’ve used the one above to highlight a new photography session I’m running in my local area, but you can create these codes to provide clients with vCard data on your business card, produce codes, or even text right upto 4296 characters long or even just plain old website links. I’ll be using QR codes a whole lot more, though I don’t know what sort of response I’ll get, but you have to highlight the possibilities to create interest. I think only the nerds of us out there will really want to work out how to use them if they’ve never seen them before, as for me… Consider me nerded already.

Dunadry Hotel, County Antrim

Having just posted the images up from my latest wedding photography commission this weekend, I thought I’d guide you through some of the more unusual details I found to be exclusive to the Dunadry Hotel in County Antrim.

They have a very nice (albeit new) tradition of getting the bride and groom to sign the champaign cork that was opened for them upon their arrival. This cork is then placed in a cabinet outside the main banqueting hall, with the date of marriage. I thought this was brilliant, as did the bride and groom.

A memento from a perfect day

There are hundred of these corks in cabinets around the main entrance to the hotel, a rotunda style entrance hall, with exposed beams, which if your an agile wedding photographer like me, and have a lens wide enough, you can get down on the floor and shoot up to get the full effect.

The grounds boast an impressive stream, with a picturesque pathway, which in the full clutches of summer would look amazing, but as our shoot was early spring, I managed to increase the green vibrancy to create a more summery feel to the shots.

The staff at the hotel are very helpful indeed, with Bill the ‘Master of Ceremonies’ taking charge and making sure everything run like a well oiled machine. The evening did run late though, it has to be said, with the first dance not happening until nearer 10pm, for reasons that escape me, but the couple didn’t seem to notice.

It’s a great venue, one in which I hope to work within again soon.

Signed Champagne Cork

Wedding Fairs, The Pitfalls

It’s been suggested (mainly by those who run these shows) that wedding fairs are the best place to find all the wedding service providers together, in one spot, usually offering incentives to ‘lure you in’ (but mainly to keep you away from the other similar exhibitors).

This is all when and good, when those suppliers are reputable, insured (where necessary) and professional, but you’ll also find ‘companies‘ who are just starting out and think a wedding fair is the best place to start advertising.

Hotels for the most part don’t care who takes a stand at their shows. They’re most likely trying to cover the costs involved in running the event (some even pay professional organisers), however, I feel that local venues should be supporting local businesses, and offering the whole thing for free, and I’ll tell you why…

Venues have a marketing budget (or at least should have), and these Spring Time marketing events not only draw in potential brides, but also their friends and family. It’s therefore an opportunity (usually missed) to showcase their premises and facilities. Highlighting any midweek specials, or up and coming social events should also be on the hotels selling agenda. However, us lowly one trick ponies have only ourselves/products to sell, and so long as we’re ALL honest, that shouldn’t be a problem.

The issue I have with venues is when they invite 8/9 other competing businesses along to the same show. I find then the only person who might get a booking is the fella who is just starting out, and offers wedding services at what the majority of established businesses would deem to be loss making prices. This is basically because:

1. They’re not insured
2. Haven’t invested in the latest hardware/software
3. Have a day job and are chancing their arm at earning a few bob from their hobby

As has been seen in both local and national press recently, cheap usually results in disaster. (See: Couples Heartbroken by Wedding Snapper)

Having turned down another wedding fair invite this week, because of already confirmed over subscription from within my sector, with yet more still to RSVP, (plus the £100 attendance fee), I feel being visible at these events does not always mean, profitable.

So my tip for wedding fairs is this:

1. Ask how many other competitors are going to be there
2. Set a maximum budget of what your prepared to pay to take a stand at these shows
3. Do your research (ask people if it would be a place they’ve heard of to have a wedding at)
4. Don’t be afraid to say no, for fear of missing out

My last comment on this subject is this: IF you do decide to attend a wedding fair, get there as early as you can, and make sure you get in to a position (some of these places will let you move your alloted table if nobody else is there) where you can be clearly seen, to get the first stab at the brides, keep standing, and always be smiling.

Darver Castle, Dundalk

Last weekend’s couple who took the plunge to being married had their wedding reception in Darver Castle, Dundalk, which in my opinion was run as slick and smooth operation. Having attended a wedding there in the past as a guest, I was extremely impressed at how things just ‘flowed’, so I was very excited to be able to photograph a wedding there this time, and get a sneak peek behind the curtain. The weather was perfect, with ample cloud cover (a plus considering that during the wedding there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which is perfect for brides, but for a wedding photographer, it’s a nightmare).

The Happy Couple

Upon a arrival, the first thing you’ll notice is a lovely long drive way, with well manicured grounds on either side, a great spot for stopping the wedding cars for a spot of ‘spontaneous’ bridal party photography.

The team handle the couple with professionalism, ensuring that everything is taken care of, so as to allow the newly married couple the chance to enjoy the rest of the celebrations. Even us, the lowly photographer (and videographer) are treated with the utmost respect. I’m a keen stickler for punctuality, right from the start I as I mean to go on. The father is usually my first target of the day. Common is the feeling amongst Dad’s that the following is true:

1. The Church is 10 minutes away
2. It takes me 10 minutes to get ready
3. The service starts at 12:00
4. I’ll get ready at 11:40

However, I’m there from 10:15 and I give the Dad’s 20 minutes grace, before I start getting them ready with this cunning line: “If you get ready now, nobody will disturb you ’cause they’ll not want you to get dirty”. Works everytime. The real reason I want them ready, is because they can tend to be the most disorganised, and I want them ready for the brides photo at the door before they leave. I’ve wrote about this in previous blogs (that’s hint by the way, to read my other stuff).

The main reason I keep any eye on the time is (baring making sure the bride gets to the church on time) the catering. The food for the main part is already plated as the guests come to sit down. The sit down time is gauged on averages, the average being how long it takes for the bride and groom to enter the room, speeches (if they’re pre-meal), the thank you’s (of which the photographer is never mentioned by the way- another blog to come on this lol). My personal stance on this to make sure that I’m not the cause of the food drying out on the hot plate because I couldn’t get my shots in time.

Having chatted to the staff at Darver, they’ve had experience at this sort of delay, with their catering team well rehearsed in delays caused by the lesser observant wedding photographer.

The team at Darver Castle assign the Master of Ceremonies to personally look after the couple, basically to do all the running about for the Bride & Groom, no task to small or great, behind him are the rest of the Castle’s team, looking after guests, seating arrangements, taking drinks orders and making sure everyone is made comfortable and relaxed, there’s nothing they can’t do.

The venue itself is just stunning. Lavish grounds, interesting areas to use for photography, both interior and exterior. Cutting the cake with a 3 foot sword is something to behold, all in keeping with the Castle feel of the place. It’s very clean and both historic and modern in the same instance, and the place is only getting better. They’ve plans to re-generate the ‘Love Tree’  after its over enthusiastic recent ‘trimming’ which has resulted in it being basically turned into a bare trunked structure.

I’m really looking forward to going back to Daver Castle, it’s a great place to photo shoot, and if your a bride thinking of booking this amazing place, I would certainly agree with your choice.

To check out my website, and a direct link to some samples of the bride and groom at Daver, please click on this website link: www.dmfoto.co.uk

Cowboy Photographers… Surely Not..!

During recession times, people try to increase their income by doing jobs that have previously just been their hobbies, trying their hand a wedding photography on the weekends is has always been one of those avenues. You’ve done your research already, and you know that some of those attractive cheap prices are  ’Too good to be true‘ for a reason.

Yes, there are instances where people have a passion for photography and want to get into the (so called) lucrative business of Wedding Photography, but there are major costs involved. If you want to hire a credible wedding photography, in what is already a crowded market, you really should have your wits about you.

 

Something a little different in Darver Castle

Questions you really should be asking a wedding photographer are…

You’ve booked the venue/reception, now what..?

It’s always interested me as to where in the order of things, do us wedding photographers come, when it comes to the rankings of importance for a brides wedding day. Obviously nothing can happen until the church/chapel has been booked, and the reception venue is also high up there too. No point in having a service if you can’t have a meal after it is there?

But what about the rest of the service providers, the table decorators, the seat cover suppliers, the invitation makers. There are a number of suppliers that aren’t date sensitive, they can produce the goods and have them ready weeks / months in advance, but where do brides start their search?

I’m trying to get into the mind of a bride, where is it she takes her influences from when it comes to choosing a wedding photographer, and where is best to position ourselves as photographers when it comes to that all important awareness of our services, ‘First Contact‘. So what better way to find out, than with another poll…