Here is an exercise you need to go through in order to understand the importance of pricing. Let's start with an engagement session. We shoot our engagement sessions on location and usually spend about an hour and a half with the client. We then edit the images—let's say that takes us an hour. Then, after about two weeks, the client comes in to see their pictures and we spend an additional two hours reviewing and picking their images. At this point, we have 4.5 hours invested in the shoot.

Step #1 - Start the job - Develop the Raw file in Lightroom In order to write about a portrait processing session, you first need a good portrait photo, so I asked my friend and colleague Julia Kuzmenko (www.juliakuzmenko.com) to send me one of her excellent portraits and gladly, she agreed. This photo was taken in very warm lighting conditions, so I decided to cool it. 

As an outdoor photographer, I love the beautiful, sometimes subtle, often bold hues of natural light. After all, there is nothing so magical, wonderful, serene, dramatic, calming, forceful, edgy and peaceful as the diverse illumination that comes from our Sun. The different angles and qualities of light that our setting sun, our rising sun, our partially hidden sun, our totally blocked sun, our mid day sun and our invisible sun give us make for unlimited diversity of photographic opportunities. Our sun provides us with a lifetime of shooting possibilities.

CEO and Co-Founder of PSKiss.com Tal Ninio shares some insight on DNG Camera Profiles and how to use Cross Camera and Creative profiles to bring out the most in your images.

Facebook Groups began before Facebook Fan Pages. I recommend Groups for established business groups or teams. Maybe you have a team of 2nd shooters you want to communicate with, or a project team or networking group. You could use a group for that. If you're looking to attract new clients, a business Page is preferred to a Group.

At some point or another everyone has been on a trip where the weather gods chose not to cooperate with any intended or hopeful plans. In fact, why would it be otherwise? If we plan a trip or vacation, we hope for good weather. But for scenic landscape or nature photographers we often hope for storms. Now granted, none of us may feel like spending day after day stuck in the rain, but sometimes that's the price we pay because we're waiting for the special light which happens with breaks in the storm, or as the storm front is passing. The dramatic light which occurs as a storm is clearing, especially at sunrise or sunset, can create those portfolio-worthy shots that many scenic shooters define as ultimate trophy shot.

The bride and groom have invested thousands of dollars to make sure their wedding venues and details are gorgeous; and it's our job as photographers to make sure we capture it with the same attention to detail that the coordinators and bride had when setting it up. Among other tasks, we need to maintain the natural ambiance with the right lighting techniques. We need to capture each item, from the place settings to the centerpieces, with techniques that show the beauty of the entire scene in some images and show the small detail in others. Here are 10 ways to improve your wedding venue and detail shots.

My photography is changing and my lighting style is changing with it.  I am enjoying the new technologies in the latest hybrid photo+video cameras that allow me to make images - both still and moving - so quickly with rather stunning quality.  But I cannot change my lighting too much from years past because my clients still want that quality "look" to the images I make for them and they really don't care how I create it.  In order to work faster and stay as flexible as possible, I've been using smaller, battery powered flashes in rather creative ways to make the light take the shape I need for the shoots. So what are the big changes?  Well, using more wireless TTL is one, adapting small lights into large light modifiers is another, and still relying on pure horsepower when it's the smart move too.  Here's what I mean...  

Flashing in the street became quite popular over the years, and I'm not talking about the kinky kind utilizing a beige trenchcoat...

The Three-Dimensional Illusion Lighting, when we are referring to photography, helps in the translation process from a three-dimensional subject to a two-dimensional image. For example, the job of the portrait, fashion, or editorial photographer is to reveal the contours of the human face—to use highlights and shadows to create the illusion of roundness. A good photographer, through accurate control of lighting, can reliably produce a sense of depth in the two-dimensional medium of photography.

When reviewing portfolios of students, workshop, or consulting clients, I'd often remark, "There is no excuse for messing up a still life photo." The reason is simple; the photographer is in complete control of every choice needing to be made to get the shot. Yet I've seen countless cases where photographers who are wonderful at studio and still life images fall completely flat when it comes to taking outdoor scenic, nature, or travel photos. On one hand, they produce work in the studio that is beautifully lit with expert control and perfect composition, yet once they step out the front door, their images suddenly lose some of that special character.

It's seems that no matter what you pick up, read or talk about today something about the economy eventually creeps into the conversation. Yes a sluggish economy has left the entire world scratching its head wondering, "What happened?" But more importantly, "What the hell do we do now?" Normally I write about specific marketing strategies and techniques but I want to focus this article on why you should be out there everyday marketing your photography instead of focusing solely on how funky the economy is. For starters like recessions past, this too shall follow suit and while recovery may be slow in coming, it is coming.