product
Happy Valentine's Day to you. The month of, or the day of Love. For lovers we go out to eat with the one we love. But what does a photographer love? Shooting pictures is what I love to do. I wanted to take some time and do some macro photography along with the product. What better than my wedding band? The setup was easy; I used constant light. I use my Canon R5 with a 90mm macro lens on a tripod. I decided to do focus stacking, and here is what I came up with.
Wedding Band
Photography is everywhere; you never know what you will be called in for. As you know, I recently changed my photography to Freelance Photography and loved the challenges new and old clients have given me. In this case, I was asked if I could take some photos of a couple's home, who was not looking at selling but to be able to rent it out.
I started, in this case, upstairs and worked my way down. Most of these were taken with my 14mm-35mm lens, all done on Tripod. My goal was to show the client what I saw, including all of the trees on this property. You can see that through the windows. Then, to make the place feel like home, I turned on all the lights and did what I was hired for. Make photos of their home. We ended with about 40 pictures to put what they wanted on the website.
I don't know if they have found a renter yet. But based on this lovely place. I don't think it will take them long.
What is commercial work when it comes to photography? For me, it means anytime the work is used for advertising something. This may be a magazine, billboard, or maybe a web page. Since my start in photography, this is an area I have enjoyed. My style is more of a photojournalist like I do for weddings. I guess I like things that appear natural.
I was recently hired to take pictures for a company website. We sit down, and they tell me what they are interested in or have in mind. This could be done verbally, using Instagram pictures they have in mind. After I hear or see, I do what I think they are looking for. Let’s face it, competition is everywhere, and trying to get someone to buy from you may come from on professional picture. Your company is only as good as it looks, and I am sorry, the selfie will most likely not do it. Look at the picture below; what are they trying to sell?
Yes, if you said she was trying to sell her podcast, you would be correct, and I did my job by taking the vision of the podcast. She is not a professional actor, but by having her do what she was comfortable with (podcasting), I waited for moments and then took the pictures.
The reward (other than getting paid) is seeing your work in a magazine or on their web page. Maybe when you are driving and seeing your image on a billboard. That's the reward for me. I did my job, and hopefully, they are making money with the pictures they used. Over the years, I have done a lot of commercial work. I have done Medical, teaching, many products, Political campaigns, and companies. What's next? I don't know, but I look forward to whatever it will be. A boating campaign would be one that I would like to do sometime on my bucket list. I love water and boats or possibly do a vacation spot.
As my business continues to change, so does my learning. This time I wanted to learn more about being better with macro photography. I use this a lot for product and food shooting. I recently attended a workshop put on by Roberts Camera in Indianapolis, In. If you never went to a workshop and you are a photographer who wants to take it to the next level, you should. Not only the learning but other photographers that you will be interacting with. At this workshop, we had a 2-hour talk about idea settings and sharpness.
Next, we got a chance to work for 6 hours in about 20 different setups to practice what we learned. We learned about stack focusing, stack focusing software, using a tripod, which is a must for sharpness.
I took a lot of pictures this day, practicing what we learned. I filled up two cards of photos. I took pictures and retook pictures of a different composition of the subject. It was a day of fun. Oh yes, being a Midwestern, of course, I talked with other photographers that were there that day—so much fun to see and talk about once again. I am a big fan of education. Even when you think you know it, you can always learn. Who knows, you may make a new friend that does what you love.
