Did anyone else sing the little tune from Sound of Music after reading the title of this blog? No…? Me either…
First, and foremost, I could not get very far in my profession without this little beauty. I shoot with the Canon 70D, which has been a very trusty camera for me. I upgraded to this from a Nikon D5200 a couple years back, and would never dream of going back! That’s right…I’ve been converted to Canon for life! You will typically find photographers who are die-hard fans of one brand or the other, and Canon is just my jam. It has been so user friendly, and I have really learned all the ins and outs of portrait photography on this camera. It’s only limitation is that it has a crop sensor, rather than full frame…but that really doesn’t hold me back much! Someday soon I will make the [expensive] switch, but for now I am content with my 70D!
This is by far my most loved and cherished piece of equipment. It is the Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4. That probably sounds like a bunch of giberish to you, but in lamens terms, it was the wisest purchase of my career so far. This lens has completely transformed my photography. It helps me achieve the most beautiful, crisp portraits with a nice, blurred, creamy background. It is amazing what a high end piece of glass can do for a picture. You could even slap this baby on a lower end camera, and be doing very well. It’s not always about having the most expensive camera body. The glass can actually be more important! This one hardly ever leaves my camera.
Next up is the most simple, yet most handy item I have in my routine- a five in one reflector/diffuser. I got this bad boy for $10 on Amazon several years ago, and never show up to a session without it! Out of the box, it has a silver side and a gold side. The gold side obviously gives a warmer reflection, which is great for toning down some of the blues that are typically cast across on cloudy, cool days. The dual shiny cover can be unzipped and reversed, to create a white and black option. The white one is what I use most often. It bounces and distributes an even amount of natural light back onto my subjects. Alternatively. if there is too much light happening…the cover can be taken off completely to reveal a sheer white diffuser. This can be held up to allow some light to come through, but make it appear less harsh.
This one seems silly, but being that I special in child photography…finding this camera buddy was like a jackpot for me. This little monkey is very well loved, and has come in handy more times than I can count. It has a squeaker inside, so when I need to get a little one [or a dog] to look at my camera, this works like a charm. The tail extends a little over a foot, so I can reach it out to give a little tickle, and I almost ALWAYS get a grin or giggle. I will absolutely be investing in different animals, and using them at every child session.
Yes, this baby does happen to be one of my favorites [my niece], but she’s not the purpose for me posting this image. Hard to believe…I know. She’s perfection! However, the background is what I’m focusing on here! This is a paper backdrop that I just recently purchased from Savage Universal. I LOVE it. Something about a clean, solid background takes photography to the next level. It looks very sleek and sophisticated. It comes on a roll that you simply place on a background stand, pull out 4-5 feet at a time, and tape it to the ground. Super easy.
The paper is available in five sizes: 26” x 12yd, 53” x 12yd, 86″ x 12yd, 107” x 12yd, and 107” x 50yd. Select colors are also available in 140″ x 35yd. There are also something like 65 different colors. This particular color pictured is called Bone, and it’s the 53″ roll. It is big enough for 2-3 small children…but probably only one adult. It would be great for headshots. Next time, I will likely purchase the next size up, and I’ve been eyeballing Storm Grey.
I will add that depending on the type of lighting you use, the paper color will look different. This bone color appears more white with the external speed light that I used.
Here we have a Flash Diffuser/ Reflector Kit. It’s really a handy little tool. Sometimes a flash can cause harsh shadows and highlights, which this helps to eliminate. It just velcros onto a speedlite [external flash], and allows the light to bounce more evening. You can even bend it in order to force the light to angle and curve the way that you want! It allows you to create studio quality photos, anywhere you happen to be! The previous photo of my niece was taken with only this and a window for my light sources. We were in a church lobby! I also took this to a charity event, where I provided free headshot for USO members during a Pathfinder meeting. We had typical office lighting, and this reflector allowed me to produce beautiful headshots, in a less than ideal lighting situation.
Once I’ve had all of my fun creating interesting poses and capturing beautiful emotion on location, I get to come home and do what I find to be the best part of my job…edit! I can never wait to upload the images from a session, and spend time doctoring them up. I love to give my portraits some sort of WOW factor, and really make them pop. Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are what allows me to do that! Lightroom makes sorting and culling a breeze! I dump all of the images in there, and quickly delete the unusable ones. Then I can add presets to enhance color and saturation, convert to black and white, you name it. Photoshop is what I use when I need to do more extensive retouching, such as removing objects/people from an image, or fixing acne. This is another one of those items that I don’t think I could do business without! And it’s only $10 a month for both programs!
Here is my newest obsession. I recently stumbled upon an online software called Sprout Studio. This is the snippet description from their website:
“Sprout Studio is the first all-in-one business software made by photographers for photographers, combining studio management software with online galleries, wall portrait sales tools, design proofing, bookkeeping and more!”
It really is just that. It makes my life SO much easier. My clients get their own personal portal where their experience is organized from start to finish. They can sign contracts, make payments, view galleries, everything! It is so professional looking, and I wish I had found it sooner! This is $35 a month.
Acuity Scheduling is also a new love of mine. I am able to create calendars with my availability, and allow clients to schedule themselves. It is especially useful with mini sessions, where there are multiple time slots available in one day. I can integrate it into my existing website, so branding stays consistent, and traffic is directed to my website! Loving it so far. This is $15 a month.
I will admit…I’m hoping and waiting for the day when Sprout Studio adds a similar feature to their software, so I can truly run my entire business from that one platform.