Life

Is Professional Photography Dead?

Here is the reality: as I write this almost 30 million Americans are unemployed. Will they get their jobs back? Time will tell, but I’m sure we can agree that 30 million people will not go back to work immediately. Some businesses will never recover. There will be long-term unemployment. That news alone is concerning to any business owner. If your customers are unemployed, how will they afford your products or services? Fair question. So, that leads us right back to the headline. Is professional photography dead?

06/01/2020

Shutter Magazine

How to Get Your Photography Published in a Magazine

Magazine publishers will have you know that print as a medium is changing: there are more localized and niche magazines than ever. If you are paying close attention to your market, you’ll see that while the industry has changed to accommodate the growth of online journalism and other publications, it isn’t gone! Don’t give up on the possibility of being published, but also don’t discount highly-popular blogs, online magazines, and other publications. They vary in their reach and shelf life, but there’s no reason to ignore the power of print.

06/01/2020

Children

8 Tips to Create Fairytale Styled Child Portraits That Sell

Because I loved the magic and storytelling of child portraits, I decided to focus on that genre as a specialty. I began to focus on creating a story within my images, and I quickly realized that the more I focused on building that story by supplying the wardrobe, building a set, and focusing on a theme, the more interest I received for my sessions. This was a win-win for me! I was able to create what I wanted to for my creative soul, all the while having parents pay top dollar for it.

06/01/2020

Post Production

How to Face Swap in Photoshop

When it comes to portraits of children, we all struggle to balance capturing their energy and personality while getting in-focus images. Not to mention ones with kids with eyes open, looking and smiling at the camera. Of course, the parents are going to love almost every image, and this makes the photographer’s job easy, right? Well, you need to get the safe image they expect with their kids somewhat facing the camera, eyes open, and smiling. That moment isn’t easy to capture in one shot, so what we are going to create is the perfect portrait by swapping heads in Photoshop. Doing a bit of Photoshop does not mean you aren’t a good photographer. We can only control so much and are still required to deliver a somewhat perfect portrait.

06/01/2020

Shutter Magazine

What I’ve Learned in My Nearly 35-Year Career

At the start of my journey, I stumbled and made mistakes as we all do… but those mistakes were all part of a steep learning curve. For the first 10 years of my career, I exclusively did private portrait commissions. That experience was invaluable in that it taught me how to deal with children of all ages. It’s difficult at the best of times to connect with a child who considers you a stranger, and to draw out the uniqueness in each child within a very limited time puts huge extra pressure on that connection.

06/01/2020

Life

3 Beliefs That Are Holding You Back From Reaching Your Full Potential

Not so long ago I was paralyzed by limiting beliefs about my talent, my abilities, and my business as a portrait photographer. I made excuses as to why x photographer was successful, consistently booked, had a greater following, and why I did not. Always finding comfort by filling in the blanks with which obstacles (finances, equipment, knowledge, time restraints, or life circumstances) were holding me back from being the artist, creator, and business owner my heart longed for.

06/01/2020

Business

Dealing With Massive Disruption in Your Photography Business

Out of nowhere, our country was hit with the largest pandemic in over 100 years. The state of California ordered nonessential businesses to shut down, all while encouraging us to maintain our staff. As we went through late March and early April, weddings on our calendar began to eviscerate. Concerned couples started postponing their weddings or canceling altogether. We were prepared for a record year, and a record year is what we are going to get. However, this is likely going to be a record low as opposed to the record high. So with that being said, how does a business immediately shift gears? We have had to deal with ups and downs before, but never a down that was so severe that it literally prohibited the main service that we provide to our clients.

06/01/2020

2-Minute Critique

2-Minute Critiques | Episode 18

Want to learn photography? Want to learn how to be a better photographer? There is no better way to gain valuable photography education than to learn from the mistakes of others.

05/26/2020

Gear

What’s in Sal Cincotta’s Wedding Bag 2020

Having the right gear as a wedding photographer is crucial to getting the right results. In this video, Sal Cincotta, Canon Explorer of Light and Profoto Legend of Light, will walk you through the lenses he chooses for his wedding day coverage.

05/26/2020

2-Minute Critique

2-Minute Critiques | Episode 17

Want to learn photography? Want to learn how to be a better photographer? There is no better way to gain valuable photography education than to learn from the mistakes of others.

05/20/2020

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Behind the Shutter

Photography training and education for the modern photographer

In today’s competitive landscape, quality online photography training and education is priceless to your growth. Unfortunately, most publications contain a ton of fluff. No real meat to their content. Not at Behind the Shutter. We are committed to the photography community and improving professional photography by providing current, insightful, and in-depth educational content.

Training topics include photography lighting techniques, photography off-camera flash tips, photography posing guides, photography business concepts and marketing strategies, Facebook for photographers, boudoir and glamour photography training, high-school senior photography concepts, IPS (In-Person Sales) strategies, family photography, Lightroom tutorials, Photoshop how-tos, and much, much more.

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Photography training and education for the modern photographer