Flash Photography Workshops and Seminars | The inLIGHTin Workshop

2014-01-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

More great news! The Portrait Photography Inspiration Guide is now on Apple's App Store.

The Portrait Photography Inspiration Guide and it is the best app a portrait photographer could have.

Did you recently purchase a Digital Camera and want to take better photos of your family?
Are you about ready to photograph your first portrait assignment?
Are you a portrait photographer who just wants to step outside your comfort zone?
Are you're a photographer who is stuck in a rut and in desperate need of some inspiration?
Are you a professional photographer looking to find your own style?
Do you own a photography business and want to start charging more money?

If you answered YES to any of the following question then "The Portrait Photography Inspiration Guide" is for you.This app contains nearly 100 Images captured by Michael Alan Bielat, founder of The inLIGHTin Workshop to help get your creative juices flowing.

Michael has also included a Photography 101 and Business of Portrait Photography Document to help you and your business be the best it can.

"The Portrait Photography Inspiration Guide" has a very intuitive User Interface that makes browsing through the images a breeze.

Click on any photo and read little inspirational tips and tricks. Start becoming a better photographer and discover your own voice through your work.
This app has a very intuitive User Interface that makes browsing through the images a breeze. Click on any photo and read some inspirational tips and tricks. Start becoming a better photographer and discover your own voice through your work.

Download it today for your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/portrait-photography-guide/id764586016?ls=1&mt=8

Thanks for all your support everyone!
~ Michael

Light Painting - Example

2013-03-26T08:43:00.001-04:00

I cannot for the life of me think of why I haven't done light painting before. I believe the first time I actually tried it was when I was in Joshua Tree National Park doing some star trails. The foreground needed some light so I used a flash light to expose them. Fast forward to 2012 and I brought it back to the table for some of my wedding clients.

Here's what I used to get this shot:
- Nikon D800 Digital SLR Camera
- Nikon 35mm f/2.0 Lens
- Nikon SB-900 Speedlight
- Tripod (any will do really)
- iPhone & Flashlight Type App.
- A dark place.
- A subject(s) that will stand still.

The camera settings are open to interpretation based on where you are. I played with my ISO between 200-400. My aperture was around f/8 and my shutter speed was very slow, around 10-15 seconds until I had something worth while.

The main concept for properly exposing the shot is:

You need stop down the aperture and low ISO so that the light you paint with just tickles the subject. If you are wide open then one hit of the flash will flood your shot.
You use your speedlight in manual mode off camera and do a "test fire" so the flash hits your subject. Do this to taste.One hit may be all you need while other times you may need. Other times, you can pop a couple behind your subject. f-stops around f/8 and f/16 start to show this awesome starburst effect with light that can be really cool.
The shutter speed needs to be slow so that you can run around and paint with a continuous light source. In my case, I had my iPhone and some flashlight app that changed my screen color. What you see ghosted in the background is just the light emitting from my iPhone as I ran around my bride and groom. The exposure was so long that I didn't get picked up however. Be creative, you can use whatever continuous light source you want. Even rope lights and kid toys.
Always be moving when running through the frame. If you are slow or your flash hits you then you will show up in the shot. Otherwise, with such a long shutter speed you shouldn't even show up.
You need to have your camera on a tripod. I set my camera to a 5 second timer so I can get prepared to run around like a crazed lunatic.
Your subject HAS to be standing still. If they move, that slow shutter speed will surely pick it up and then you have to re-do the shot. Try to shoot while it's warm out because even cold shivers can get picked up.
TRY AND PRACTICE BEFORE YOU TAKE IT TO A SHOOT. No client feels comfortable when you are fiddling with gear and not able to make the shot after you hyped it up.

That should be all. Thanks for your support.
Comment if you have any questions.
~ Michael

inLIGHTin'ed Storefront Updated

2013-03-26T01:25:00.002-04:00

... and look at the prices!!! Consider it a thank you sale for your patience. I've received numerous emails asking about the store and why they can't buy anything from it anymore. Head on over to the Store and pick up whatever you want at ridiculous prices: http://www.inlightinworkshop.com/p/store.html Thanks for your support! ~ Michael

Follow The Wedding Photography Inspration Guide

2013-03-26T00:52:00.001-04:00

Follow The Wedding Photography Inspiration Guide on all the Social Media Outlets for the latest info. Each site will have different freebies, goodies and contests and all that sweetness.

Twitter: Follow @WeddingPhotoApp
Facebook: Wedding Photography Inspiration Guide Fan Page
Google+: Wedding Photography Inspiration Guide on Google+

Thanks for your support. Two more days until it's up on the App Store! Exciting times.
Michael

Store Back Online Soon

2013-03-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

I've been having a bunch of issues with the shopping cart for this site. I'll have it back online soonish with some killer deals and promos. Sorry for the inconvenience. Michael

How To Fake a Backdrop With Flash

2012-12-26T13:53:00.000-05:00

Do you fancy those dim lit portraits with the subject's face lit and surrounded by darkness? I'll be you think you need a professional studio, backdrop and a ton of fancy lighting to achieve that same effect huh?

If you know anything about flash photography then you already know that you an fake a black backdrop... But did you know you can fake it even outdoors on a sunny day?

How to simulate a black backdrop even outdoors on a sunny day.

All you need is your camera, external flash (a speedlight will do) and a light stand.

All you have to do is shut out as much ambient light as humanly possible. Once you have your black ("under exposed") image then you are ready to use your flash to illuminate only what you want to add back in. You are essentially overpowering the ambient light with your flash.

You'll need a camera that has a manual mode. You must be able to control the ISO, shutter speed and aperture to achieve the desired results. Your flash also needs to have manual controls so you can adjust the intensity of the flash.

With the flash being off-camera, you'll also need a way to trigger it... You have a couple options here:
- Hot shoe extension cable.
- Wireless trigger: The PocketWizards are the best money can buy. It opens up a whole new world for you and off-camera flash photography.
- Your Camera & flash's built in slave. That is one of the many reasons I love Nikon. They have made it so easy to fire your Nikon brand flash using only the pop-up flash on your camera to trigger it. My Nikon D800 and Nikon SB-900 work great together.

Now that we have gear covered, let's get into the technique...

First, set your camera's ISO as low as you can. This setting comes from the good ol' film days where you had to buy film with ISOs that were suited for what you were going to take pictures of. ISO 100 was for extreme daylight while higher numbers like ISO 800 or 1600+ were for indoor, dark locations. Using an ISO like 100 means that it will take a lot of light to expose the image. ISO 1600+ need less light to expose the image. For our needs, we want it to be really tough for ambient light to affect our exposure.

the shutter speed needs to play nicely with your flash. Although the two really don't have any effect on one another you do need to be wary of your camera's flash sync speed. This is typically 1/200" or 1/250" on most cameras. Refer to your camera manual for that info. If you go higher than this sync speed then you will notice a black bar affecting your image. This is from the shutter closing before the flash has time to fully fire.

I leave the aperture last because this setting IS something your flash works with. The aperture is the opening in which the light enters while the shutter speed is the duration of how long that light gets let in... The lower the f-stop (f/4, f/2.8), the bigger the opening and thus the more light gets let in. The higher the f-stop (i.e. f/8, f/16) the smaller the opening so less light enters.

I would recommend your camera to be set to ISO 100, 1/200" and f/5.6 as a starting point... This is a definite balancing act. We are probably maxing out the ISO and shutter speed due to camera and flash sync limitations.* The only things we can tweak now are the aperture and flash settings.

* fun fact: The Nikon D70 has a 6mp sensor but has an electronic shutter with a flash sync speed of 1/500"! You better believe I own one of these cameras.

Take a test shot without a flash. If your test shot still shows some background and ambient light then the only thing you can do is raise the aperture to f/8, f/11, f/16, etc. As a last resort you can find a little shadier spot to position your subject in. That little bit of shade could be the difference you need.

Now that you have successfully killed the ambient light, it is time to incorporate the flash. You cannot change the settings of your camera at this point. You have locked down your settings to achieve essentially your black backdrop.

The flash has 4 things that can affect it's impact on an image. Two are camera settings and two are flash settings:
- The ISO
- The Aperture
- The flash's power
- The flash's distance to subject

We have ISO and Aperture locked down so we can only control the flash's power and distance between flash and subject.

Put the flash an arm length or two away from your subject to start and then dial the flash's manual power up or down until you have the right intensity of light. Once again, the flash should be in manual mode and you should be working with flash power that is something like 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc...

You will see in the image above that a soft box was used outdoors to literally soften up the light. This also helps to wrap the light somewhat around your subject's face instead of just being harsh with a hard stop between shadow and highlight.

Also, notice the position of the flash. It is on the opposite side of where I am taking the picture and "fanned" out to help with that wrapping of the light around their face.

Feel free to try the same thing indoors. If you don't have a flash then you could always experiment with window light, reflectors and stuff of that nature...

Thanks for stopping by.
~ Michael

Light Painting

2012-09-10T08:52:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone. I just wanted to share a shot from a recent wedding that I photographed.

This was all done IN CAMERA! No Photoshop has been used.

Can you believe that the cool swirly blue light was made with my iPhone?

Want to know how this photo was taken? Stay tuned...

Ask Me Anything About Photography

2012-07-02T23:28:00.000-04:00

I just found out the Tumblr allows you to ask questions on there and they can even be anonymous if you'd like.

Here is the link to my personal Tumblr account. Ask away...

http://bielat.tumblr.com/ask

Looking forward to it everyone.

Thanks for stopping by

~ Mike

Dad. Husband. Photographer.

2012-06-30T08:00:00.011-04:00

I seen a question from someone online who's fear that having children will stop him for 3 years or so from pursuing his work as a photographer. I thought it was a very awesome question and thought I would indirectly answer it ;)

I think it's pretty relevant since today marks my 5 year wedding anniversary with my wife, Becky.

Five awesome years ago we were married but I started my photography business while we were engaged; She in fact, was my biggest supporter and gave me the kick in the pants to do photography professionally. Having that support is the first thing needed to have a successful photographic career.

Fast forward a couple years to 2008 when we had our son, Cameron. My photography business was finally doing really well for us. I was knee deep in it all! I couldn't be as helpful as I wanted with our son and I thought it sucked. But there my wife was a trooper and taking care of it all.

In 2011 we had our daughter, Addison. I learned this time around that being a photographer was great and all, but absolutely didn't want to miss time away from my little girl. So 2011 was when I fell off the map so to speak. I did my weddings and portraits more selectively and didn't update this site nearly as much as I used to.

I did this 110% voluntarily because I realized that being a good parent and husband is most important. Before I know it, my children will be off to school, college and then moved out so I had better enjoy it while it lasts.

Ironically, 2011 was when I really discovered myself as a photographer. It took me 13+ fricken' years to discover my style and what made me tick as a photographer. I wasn't obsessing over these rockstar photographer blogs, I wasn't on forums anymore and I didn't have anything to distract me from myself and my style. I didn't put any pressure on myself to shoot like so-and-so. I was just shooting a ton of family photos of my children just being kids and I had no pressure whatsoever. I shot what I wanted, when I wanted and, most importantly, how I wanted to.

Here are some examples. These are some snapshots that I took last week just using Instagram on my iPhone:

I am in absolutely in love with these two pics. The first one is of my daughter. Yeah her head is cropped but I know it is her. This was a "daddy" memory. See we just got the kids a swing set in our back yard and her and I were passing the swing back and forth to each other playing. I know it's her. I am capturing the moment and it really encompasses the "mood." It makes me happy when I look at it so that makes it a good photo in my opinion.

The second image was taken a couple weeks ago when we visited Rushford Lake. The kids were about ready for bed so we hung out in the bedroom and watched a DVD on our laptop for a little bit. I snapped this shot real quick, once again using Instagram.

I showcase these two images because years prior, I would have never been caught dead cropping heads or taking dark, ambient lit photos. You know why? Because my "photo journalistic" skills bit the big one. It was only when I second shot for someone I knew or took snapshots that I experimented. As you can see, those are all my favorite shots...

So back from my tangent...

Having a wife and children helped MAKE me the photographer I am today... This is nothing to be feared of but rather embraced. I have never been more excited to shoot for my clients then I am right now.

You know what else I learned? How to do $#!% right in the first place. If I have a family and they need me to be a part of their lives then you better believe I am going to nail the shot so it requires little to no time in post-processing. Wow, I am suddenly an even-better photographer.

I cannot wait to see which child takes a liking to photography. I am like a giddy little school girl thinking about it. But even if they don't have any remote interest in photography I want them to at least see that anything is a possibility and that they can pursue what they love, whatever it is, be their own boss and love what they do for a living...

Teaching him young. Here I am showing my son how to use a camera.
Taken on Father's Day 2012 @ Letchworth State Park

In closing, when all is said and done and your time on this Earth is over, do you really want to be remembered as a rock star photographer for 15 minutes of fame or an amazing husband/wife and father/mother?

~ Mike

BorrowLenses.com Review

2012-06-28T08:27:00.002-04:00

Update: To celebrate their 5th year in business, BorrowLenses.com has a promotion where you can win a Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D800 D-SLR. Click here to enter.

Lately, I have been diving into the commercial and editorial photography business. My personal photography website has started to showcase more and more of this kind of photography.

Now, I am just getting into the business. Not sure how the future will pan out. What I do know is that I don't want to get into debt having to buy myself all new gear. I can just budget into my budget some rental equipment, use it for the shoot and ship it back. Way better than racking up the bills.

Not only is http://www.borrowlenses.com great for commissioned work, it is also great to try new cameras or lenses before you buy. Back in 2008 I made the switch to Nikon from Canon. This was right around when the Canon 1D Mark III was supposedly patched up with the "blue dot" fix and whatnot. I came to a crossroad; buy the Canon flagship model, or jump ship and go to Nikon. Nikon had just released the D3 and it's baby brother, the D700. If I would have known better (hindsight is 20/20) then I would have dropped $200 and tried out a Nikon system through http://www.borrowlenses.com. If I would have done that then I would have saved myself so many headaches.

Maybe 10,000 shutter clicks into the 1D Mark III, it just broke. Nothing worked. To make things worse I was on assignment. So I had to run and get my backup Canon 5D to finish the shoot. Not cool. Canon didn't look out for me (CPS membership and everything) and send me a replacement body until mine was repaired so I just said screw it and jumped ship to a more reliable system.

My first shot with a Nikon D700 was really a "Holy S#!#" moment! I couldn't believe the sharpness and high ISO abilities to shoot in low light. Now if I would have just bucked up $200 and just gone to http://www.borrowlenses.com to try out a D700 before buying that damned 1D Mark III I would have been impressed enough and would have just jumped ship at that point. I could still smack myself because that 1D Mark III was the one piece of equipment that I leased for 5 years. I ended up ditching it in 8 months, still paying for the lease today...

Awesome!

Another example. I have really been into Leica digital cameras as of late. I mean I was drooling over these things. So I smartened up and dropped a couple hundred dollars to rent a Leica M9 from http://www.borrowlenses.com along with a Leica 50mm f/2 lens. Sure enough, the camera wasn't for me. I am so glad I tried it out because I would have been like $10,000 in the hole for something that didn't fit my shooting style.

So if you are considering jumping ship, try before you buy. Maybe you want that new $3,000 lens. Try before you buy. Going on a little vacation for the week and want to bring an astronomically high priced piece of glass? Rent one for the week and ship it back when you are done...

Comment below and feel free to share your dumb photography purchases.

Learn from my mistakes. Thanks for stopping by.
~ Mike

Update: To celebrate their 5th year in business, BorrowLenses.com has a promotion where you can win a Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D800 D-SLR. Click here to enter.

$100 Google Adwords Coupon Codes

2012-06-22T16:49:00.000-04:00

I get stuff from Google all the time. Most recently, they gave me nine $100 Google Adwords coupon codes. These are valid for new Adword accounts only and will expire on June 30th, 2012.

For those who don't know, Google Adwords is a great way for businesses to promote their website on the first page of Google. This is especially beneficial to those who don't have their site on Page 1 of Google yet.

First come first serve for these Adwords Coupons:
LDPN-X6KR-SNUN-FNPQ-SFQ
LDPN-XULK-UA5L-HL7T-748
3USL-4ZAA08YKC-YH2G06BQ
LDPN-XNJU-PP6B-DXSR-HFQ
LDPNNN-XLC8-Y8DF-85PM-2LG
LDPN-XHRAA-CXHQ-2JM7-LE8
3USL-4Y9X-5RMM-M7C3-FEY
LDPN-XC77-WYUB-VPXT-ZDG
LDPN-X9FX-4WZC-5Q3U-NMQ

Remember these will be valid for only one person and only for new Adwords accounts.

Visit www.google.com/adwords to get started.

~ Mike

Back To The Ol' Drawing Board

2012-06-22T14:19:00.000-04:00

Hey, longtime inLIGHTin'ed followers, remember waaaaaayyyyyy back when I said I was going to be publishing some eZines ?

Well good news, I finally got around to do that not too long ago. The only bad news is that I am going back to the drawing board. First, it is taking me forever so a lot of content that was 'new' back then is now sort of irrelevant. Secondly, I am going to be self-publishing the magaizine though Apple's iBookstore.

It will be available for iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch as well as in a PDF format in case you aren't an Apple fanboy (or girl).

Very exciting times are coming for The inLIGHTin Workshop and I look forward to sharing them all with you.

Thanks for stopping by!
~Mike

50% Off At The inLIGHTin'ed Store

2012-06-11T19:58:00.001-04:00

The inLIGHTin Workshop Storefront got a facelift! For a limited time the first 10 people will receive a 50% discount towards ANYTHING and EVERYTHING in the inLIGHTin'ed Store...

Photoshop Actions, Lightroom Presets (LR4 Optimzed) or even my inLIGHin'ed Photography Business Templates.
Are you in Buffalo, NY? If so then you even get 50% off my One-On-One Workshop Tickets!
Use promo code: "INLIGHTIN50OFF" at checkout to claim your discount.

Thanks for your support!
~ Mike

My New Wedding Photography Setup

2012-05-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

I have always wanted to use a mixture of both on and off camera lighting when shooting wedding receptions. However, I never wanted to "experiment" while I was on the clock so I just kept it on the back-burner of something to research...

Then it hit me, I wasn't using my Pocket Wizards to their fullest potential. See, being a Nikon shooter, I have the bonus of all my Nikon-brand speedlights containing a PC sync jack. (Canon users only have it really on the 580EX II and most likely newer speedlights). Before, I was using one Pocket Wizard on camera triggering 1-2 Pocket Wizard equipped studio strobes or speedlights. These strobes / speedlights were mounted to a light stand and helped light up the reception hall. When I snapped a photo, the Pocket Wizard on my camera would wirelessly (via radio waves) trigger the other Pocket Wizards and tell the lights to fire.

The problem with my setup was that every once in a while I would get some bad shadows cast from people dancing and blocking the light from hitting my subject... It was annoying and required me to have a few "choice" places to stand and whatnot.

Then I read the Pocket Wizard manual and noticed that I could easily mount a speedlight on-camera, hook up a Pocket Wizard to that once and be able to fire both my on-camera light AND off-camera lights. I knew it could be done, I just never investigated it enough (Having two kids and crazy work schedule will do that to you).

Products Used:
- 3x Pocket Wizard Plus II Transmitter/Receivers (One for on-camera speedlight, two for off-camera lights)
- 3x PocketWizard PC-1 Miniphone to PC Cables: These connect your Nikon speedlights to the Pocket Wizards
- 2x Impact Sync Cord Male Phono to Male PC (16"): These connect my studio strobes to the Pocket Wizards. Your strobe's input jack may be different.
- Light Stand: Creative¤Light 8' Compact Light Stand
- Light Modifiers: Photoflex Convertible Umbrella-60" / Bare Bulb
- Camera: Nikon D700 SLR Digital Camera
- Lenses: Doesn't matter
- Speedlights: Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight i-TTL Shoe Mount Flash
- Speedlight Accessory for D700 & Nikon SB-900Nikon WG-AS3 Water Guard for D700 Camera's Hot Shoe when used with SB-900 Flash (keeps your flash sturdy when mounted)

RTFM,
Mike

PhotographyBlogSites.com Review

2012-05-22T15:20:00.002-04:00

Well I finally have a brand new website for my wedding and portrait photography business. I have been toying around with getting a "blog-site" (AKA looks like a website but is actually based around a Blogging platform - WordPress most commonly) and finally pulled the trigger on it. I have always had a love-hate relationship with my old Bludomain site (mostly hate). Apple iPads and iPhones don't like Adobe Flash so no one could see my site on a mobile device. Maybe it's just me but I use my iPhone and iPad a ton! Also, all you have is one splash page to try and optimize for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and it just ends up looking like keywords threw up all over it... Not too classy. Lastly, and most importantly, it seems like everyone and their mother has a Bludomain site for their photography business. The result is a whole lot of people with websites that look alike. Not cool. Now I have a programming degree by trade so I was contemplating making a WordPress blog-site theme myself but I never got around to it. I am busy as it is these days so needless to say it never got done. It was then that I found PhotographyBlogSites.com and I was in heaven. Awesomely unique templates and it gave me everything I ever wanted. So I ended up going with them and I couldn't be happier. My content is ridiculously easy to update so there will be no excuse for having old pics from years ago and I the best part is that it is all viewable on mobile devices! Within days I was higher on the Google rankings, getting more inquiries and on my way to getting the right kind of people to view my site.

So if you were like me and are looking to dump your current website, do yourself a favor and check out PhotographyBlogSites.com. Here is a link to my brand new wedding and portrait website: www.Buffalo-Wedding-Photographer.com. So take a minute and check it out. I'd love to hear your feedback! Thanks for stopping by!

~ Mike

The Beauty Of Digital Photography

2012-03-29T21:10:00.000-04:00

There is so much talk these days about the new Canon 5D Mark III, the Nikon D4 and so on... But $6,000 on a camera? Sorry, I can't justify that expense... Just because a new camera has been released then does that mean all other cameras are obsolete?

I have been searching for a backup camera body lately and was debating between another Nikon D700 ($2000 used) or get something else... Maybe a used D3s, D300s? Lot's of choices out there.

It was then that I had an epiphany. It was time to practice what I preach. It's not the camera that makes the photographer, rather it's the photographer who makes the photographer. Unfortunately, I fell into this downward spiral of constantly "needing" the latest and greatest cameras as soon as they are released.

On that note, these same people are practically giving away their old cameras so they can drop some serious coin on the latest and greatest. So what did I decide on for a backup body?

How about a like-new Nikon D70 Digial SLR with under 9,000 actuations for a whopping $213.49!

Plus the D70 has an electronic shutter so I can achieve flash sync speeds of up to 1/500." Not too bad if you ask me. Sure I am spoiled by the large 3" LCD screen but who cares. $200 is $200.

I want to hear all about your "new" old purchase whether it be a camera body, lens or photography gadget. Be sure to leave a comment below.

Thanks for stopping by.
Mike

Site Migration Almost Complete

2012-02-02T07:44:00.000-05:00

Hey folks,
I am almost finished with migrating over the inlightinworkshop.com site over to this one... I got a handful of posts to move over and then we should be all set!

Thanks for your patience!
Mike

New Site for 2012

2012-01-13T14:16:00.000-05:00

The inLIGHTin Workshop is making the move from WordPress over to Blogger. I am taking the next couple days to port everything over from one site to another. Half the WordPress image files were missing anyways so this will give me a chance to re-do some posts the right way and bring back all those images! I mean what good is a photography site without any working photos to show right?

So yeah just give me a couple weeks to move everything over and then we'll take things from there. 2012 is going to be an exciting time for The inLIGHTin Workshop. Keep on checking back for updates.

Thanks for all your support!
Michael

How To Build A Home Photography Studio Cheaply

2011-12-30T07:28:00.000-05:00

Q: What does $93 in flooring get you?
A: A new studio on the cheap.

With two kids and a newly built house, I really had no time (or cash) to buck up and build a brand new home studio immediately. However, the weather outside has been getting colder and my portrait shoots were still booking. No one is interested in freezing their butts off outside so I had to think fast. I was left with little to no options so off to Home Depot for some studio triage. I found some remnant vinyl flooring that came pre-cut in a 12'x8' roll. It looks A LOT like hard wood flooring and but without the hassle of installing it. So I saved myself $30-40 by buying remnant and took it home.
I did try out this setup in my unfinished basement first but didn't like that backdrop a whole lot:

I used some old curtains from our daughter's room as the backdrop and it just screamed "amateur" to me so it was off to Plan B.

I closed off part of our living room just by moving some furniture and laid out the flooring for a second time (how nice is it that this floor is portable):

For reference: To the right of this picture I have some great windows for natural lighting in the mornings, and my trusty JTL Versalight studio strobe that I had since 2002. The set screws are stripped but I love this thing. It has a 60" Photoflex Convertible Umbrella attached to it as well for a nice large, single light source. The light is fired wirelessly through a PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver / Radio Slave.

For my backdrop I just used our walls. How easy is that? The people who built our house put used some matte white paint so that is what is there now. They were also nice enough to install an outlet literallay every 10' so I did have some Photoshop work to take one out of a coupl images but shooting at f/2 with my Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Lens helped a whole lot!
This really did the trick and I like the photos a whole lot more (thanks to my daughter, Addison who was my lovely model - and turning one next week)

All in all, we have a 14'x30' living room that opens up into the dining room so I have some room behind me to step back. The best part is that when the clients leave, then I can just roll up my floor and have my house back. All you really need is about 12'x12' of space and a blank white wall and you should be well underway to making a photo studio on the cheap.

~ Mike

Teaching Photography Classes in Buffalo, NY

2011-12-14T14:17:00.000-05:00

Just a quick reminder to all you local Buffalonians that I am available for one-on-one workshops in and around Buffalo, NY.

My guesses are that a lot of people will be getting some new gadgets and gizmos within the next couple weeks (maybe that Digital camera or Digital SLRs you've been asking Santa for?) and you will probably want to actually learn how to use it properly...

That is where The inLIGHTin Workshop comes in... Simply shoot me an email at inlightinworkshop[at]gmail[dot]com or call me directly at (716) 491-8854 and we can set something up.

These One-on-One Lessons are personalized to meet your particular needs and last two hours. Price: $250 BUY YOUR TICKET HERE

You'll probably end up dropping well over $100 on photography books and magazines that you'll never get around to reading so why not just buck up, spend a little more and get hands-on knowledge that you can apply immediately and take better photographs.

The most common topics include:
- Introduction to Digital photography
- How to use your camera
- Photography 101
- How to take better pictures
- Portfolio Review
- Flash Photography (on and off camera lighting)
- and whatever else crosses your mind...

Take a look at some Testimonials and see for yourself. These classes work and will take your photography to the next level.

Remember, life is too short take crappy pictures. Call today and set up your appointment.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michael

Holiday Gift Ideas For The Photographer

2011-12-08T08:39:00.000-05:00

B&H Photo and Video is the place to go for all your holiday gift ideas for the photographers in your lives. They also carry a wide selection of audio visual and home entertainment products as well.

Check them out today. I always use B&H photo for my photographic needs.
Mike

10 Ways To Boost Your Photography Business

2011-07-28T08:43:00.000-04:00

Ok so listen up! I think all you business owners need to read this top 10 list that I created and apply it to your business. If you actually follow some of these things then I can guarantee that you will notice some amazing results to drum up more business and be even more profitable. I would love to hear your feedback so take a couple minutes out and comment below.

Listen: Ask your clients questions and get feedback. Send out an email blast, call or have them fill out a quick survey. Heck, even take some out for coffee and get an idea of what the industry demands.
Be Speedy: We live in an era where we want everything and we want it yesterday. So figure out creative ways to give your clients immediate gratification and they will be on cloud 9. If you spend an extra couple bucks on shipping then it more important than you think!
Be Original: Be unique AND offer products and services that are unique. Be first or be forgotten!
Create A Website For Your Clients: I think I remember reading that over 50% of couples getting married make their own website. We can take this over and make one for them! My wife even has a blog for our children so this can apply to portrait photographers as well.
Partner Up: Think how you can partner up with other businesses to come up with ways for you both to get more business.
Shave: Give your business' spending a shave. Meet with clients at a home or your studio over a Starbucks. Don't spend so much money on all that damned photo gear. Instead put money towards marketing or here's a crazy thought, start making money! I would also suggest you re-negotiate your contracts and try to save money with the business that you outsource your work to (post processing, album design, etc.). Businesses all across the board are hurting and will probably be able to work for less.
Slideshows: This can be a powerful tool. Try doing a same day slideshow for your wedding clients. Put slideshow up at reception and do the same the night of the wedding or even give a slideshow to past clients and email out for Christmas or their Anniversary!
Tag 'Em: Facebook. Have you heard of it? Why not start using it more for your business? After you shoot a wedding or portrait job, post a couple of your favorites on Facebook and tag everyone in them. It is a great way to be pro-active and tap into your client's network of friends and family. Be sure to watermark your pictures with your logo and website and it will be some very profitable free marketing for your business.
Be Passionate: Re-visit your love for photography and get inspired again. We can all get burned out so it is important to remember why we started our business in the first place.
Share The Love: There are a lot of people out there who aren't as fortunate as us. Be sure to help out in your community and it will go a long way.

Take care!
Michael

Debt... And Other Business Killers

2011-05-09T08:47:00.000-04:00

Being a business owner has both its perks and struggles. I don't think I have felt "relieved" in all my 6 years of owning my business. I never gotten that sense of true freedom. Quite frankly, there are times a week where I wish I was just doing a 9-5 gig and I could leave my work at work instead of taking it home with me.

One of the biggest problems we face, in both in life and business, is debt. Debt is such a bad thing and can really turn you into a totally different person.

I tried my best to stay out of debt for my business. I always wanted to have cash on hand to pay for new gear, client albums, prints, etc... However, the nature of our business (especially in Buffalo) is pretty unreliable. Our long winters and crummy weather makes the wedding season short and jam packed! If I was in California then at least weddings could take place all year round... This means that I have a lot less time to cram in a yearly salary. Debt was something that could have easily crept up on me to cover the slow down times and whatnot. If you are a better photographer than you are a business owner then I totally see how the camera manufacturers and photography magazines can really drive up your "wish list" of gear! Do you need an $8,000 camera??? No, do you want one, YES! If you suck it up and keep your money from burning a hole in your pocket then you will be better off than most up-and-coming professional photographers in your area. The sooner you realize that you are not one of the handful of celebrity professional photographers the better you will be! These few lucky individuals get cameras, lenses and software handed to them to try and use. It's great to shoot for the stars and try to become them one day but face the facts... There are a million other photographers better than you and I who have a bigger following than we can ever imagine so just worry about feeding you and your family first... Nikon and Canon will find you if you are worth something to them. If you are photographing the best you possibly can and are always pushing yourself to the limits then your business will succeed. If you are lucky then someone will notice. Don't get your hopes up.

You also need to get paid if you want to make your business work. My first year or two was a real learning experience because I made just enough to cover my clients albums and products and had enough cash left over to upgrade some camera equipment (thank you photo magazines!). Good thing I had a 9-5 job to fall back on because that would have been pretty really to have made a living on only a couple thousand dollars profit.

Professionals say that it takes anywhere from 3-5 years for your business to start making money... That shouldn't mean that it should take you 3 to 5 years to make money either! You need to get paid! All that these professionals (business professionals and CPAs) are saying is that businesses incur start-up costs and debt which can take roughly 3 to 5 years to pay off in order for your company to be profitable. This has nothing to do with you because you need to make money today... NOT in 3-5 years.

So be sure to price your photography so that you can make money after all your time and effort. I recommend dividing your earnings into three sections. Make 1/3 of the fee cover all expenditures for your client such as wedding albums, prints, canvases, marketing materials, etc... Make the next 1/3 cover any camera equipment, computer equipment that you may need, want or have to upgrade. The last 1/3 will be your profits that go directly to yourself. I do recommend investing some money in learning and education. Do your research and attend a photography seminar or two. Make it beneficial and attend one where you can build your portfolio so find workshops that allow you to shoot. Plus you will probably pick up a lot of helpful pointers that can help you and your business succeed.

If you charge $1,000 for your photography then first smack yourself and then chop up the money you made... Put $333 to cover client products, $333 to cover new camera gear and then pocket the remaining $334. If the client is a shoot-and-burn client then you will obviously have a lot less tangible items to have to purchase (a DVD and CD case) so all that money in the client products can be divided up however you want.

The biggest problem that new business owners don't understand is that you technically need to make double what you "actually" want to make. If you would like health insurance, retirement plan, etc... then you, as a business, need to front that. If it's your goal to make $50,0000 a year as a photographer then you will NEED to make $100,000 a year to cover your insurance, 401k and more.

It's fairly easy to gross $50,000 as a photographer but good luck trying to gross $100,000 at it!!! If you can do this then you are doing something REALLY right! Well done!

This article isn't meant for me to be a Debbie Downer on you. It is a realistic post about what it takes to be a profitable business owner. Don't fall into traps, keep your money in your hands and keep satisfying your clients above and beyond the call of duty and you will be good to go.

Thanks for stopping by,
Michael

inLIGHTin'ed Photoshop Actions

2011-03-28T08:52:00.000-04:00

I am proud to announce the release of our inLIGHTin'ed Photoshop Actions.

I am super excited to unveil something that I have been working on for quite some time now. I've been crafting these Photoshop Actions for well over 2 years and have compiled my favorite 85+ actions to share with everyone. My inLIGHTin'ed Photoshop Actions give you a whole new world of photo editing that is just a mouse click away. I made sure to make these actions as simple and effective as possible thereby being suitable for both beginners and professional photographers alike. My inLIGHTin'ed Actions cover everything from image correction (White Balance Correction, Exposure Correction, Color Correction, Sharpening, Noise Reduction, etc.) to Awesome Black and White conversions as well as a boat load of Image Effects (Film Effects, Nostalgia Effects, Color Enhancements) that will turn your JPEG files from bland to brilliant! Take a look at some sample actions below.

Price: $125

Thanks for your support
~Mike

Nikon Flash And Exposure Compensation

2011-01-14T09:18:00.000-05:00

Just a quick FYI for you Nikon shooters out there. In case you didn't know already, Nikon does something really cool (yet can bite you in the you know what) when you are shooting in Av, Tv or P modes.

Cameras are getting smarter, but they are still stupid. The technology now is better than ever yet the cameras still can (and do) get fooled.

When you set your camera up to shoot in Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv) or Program (P) mode, all that the camera does is set your Shutter and/or Aperture values for 18% gray. Awesome if you are shooting concrete, crummy if you are shooting a bride.

We therefore have to "enlighten" the camera and tell it that what it 'thinks' it knows is wrong and override the settings. This is done via the Exposure Compensation button. Set it to some plus or minus value and the camera will then over/under expose each shot by however many stops you choose...

But how does that work if you have a flash mounted to your camera?

Nikon has the best flash technology that I have seen par none and they thought long and hard about this and came up with the following:

Nikon takes the flash exposure compensation that the speedlight is set to AND THEN factors in what the camera's exposure compensation is. What this means is that if your flash is set to -1 ev (exposure value) while your camera is set to +1 ev then your flash will actually be outputting 0 ev.

If your camera is set to -.3ev and your flash is set to -.7 ev then your flash will actually operate at -1 ev...

If you are studious enough then you may be asking yourself "...but what happens when we switch our camera over to Manual mode?"

Great question and I'm glad you asked that...
When you switch over to Manual mode, the flash exposure compensation will still honor the -.3ev or -.7ev or whatever your exposure compensation (along with flash exposure compensation) is set to.

So make sure your camera's exposure compensation is set to 0ev when you want to make sure that it isn't going to affect anything.

Enjoy!
Michael