Tag Archives: event photographer

The Cost Of Taking Your Photos.

There is lots to say on the subject of the cost to run a photography business so I thought I would share the cost of what I have in front of me.

I am running out of space on my storage and need to buy some more hard drives.  Now the problem is I can not put any more storage in my main PC so I will need to purchase an additional storage unit where I can move the images from my main PC to.  Doing some investigation the unit to do this will cost me anything from 1,000$ that will hold 8 hard drives or around 1,800$ for one that will hold 12 hard drives. The cost of hard drives is around 500$ each.  Yes I can by cheaper drives and a cheaper unit but I value your images more than that so I buy the best equipment to ensure your photos are safe. 🙂

Lets run the figures – If I wanted to buy and fill the 1,000$ unit it would then cost me 4,000$ in drives that makes it a 5,000$ purchase, for the 1,800$ unit it would cost me $7,800. Yay!!!!!!

So when you ask me how much are my photos are, I hope this will gives you some understanding as to why I do not do it for free and why my services do not cost the same as your mate Joe who has a camera and used it once.  🙂

 

I think I need more hard drive space.
I think I need more hard drive space.

What a Colourful Day!

After a late night was up the crack of dawn to attend this years colour run here in Canberra. Last few years I’ve popped out there as a photographer however this she was different. This year I was a participant!

The fun and the joy that is the colour run is always something that brings a smile to my face and every other person that attends. The music and the vibe is upbeat and with volunteers along the way giving everyone words of encouragement it truly is an event for people of all fitness levels and in fact I think they should rename it to – The Colour Walk and Fun!

I’m not sure on the numbers that were there today but I would have a guess it would have been in excess of 20,000 people but it is hard to tell as the run is split over a period of time people get released in blocks to avoid a mad rush at the beginning.

After getting completely covered in coloured cornflower and bubbles I knew that I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by so what better reason to take some more photos.

This I friends is what the colour run looks like at the end!

OMG - That Was Awesome
OMG – That Was Awesome

As part of the the mandatory photography took Kit you need to GoPro and a Seflie stick.. 😉

Mandatory Tools for Colour Run
Mandatory Tools for Colour Run

Why do you need such mandatory tools??????

well it’s so you can capture some really crazy shots from a high of taking in large amounts of your environment because of the ultra wide lens.

This was just one of the stations along the way without a snow/foam making machine that pumped out tons of the stuff…..  Now if I could only get one of these for a photo shoot that would be awesome!!!!

What's a Bit of Snow between Friends
What’s a Bit of Snow between Friends

Now that you have run your ass off on what is the happiest 5 km of your life, you get to have a party and what a party it is….

Disclaimer: ok ok ok no one actually does run the colour run which is why I think they need to re-name it to the colour fun.

If you have some photos of your colour run I would love to see the as I cannot get enough of colour, glitter and the fun that is the colour run!

All that’s it for another year and I can’t wait to photograph all the action next year!

The Mad Party at the End
The Mad Party at the End

 

2015 Will Be Know As The Quite Year

Going through and doing some house cleaning to cut over to a new year, I noticed that in the last year I only kept 75,504 (I delete the photos that don’t make the cut) photos and clearly I take December and January off. hahahahaha

Maybe it is too warm or I just like getting out and about in the summer. 😉

When I conduct classes and workshops people ask me what is the best thing they can do to improve their photography…. My answer is always the same… practice, practice, practice…. On average my students take around 7000 photos a year.  I personally don’t think when you are learning that 7000 a year is enough.  🙂

The more you take the more you learn and the better you become. 🙂

How many photos do you take a year?

2015 the year in review
2015 the year in review

With The Sounds Of Christmas Fading

It makes for a great time to get out and capture all the Christmas lights while they are still around. 🙂

Christmas lights and lights in general can be hard to capture especially if you want to also capture a person or some other subject that is not lit up by the lights.  The resulting images will be that the either the subject will be dark or the lights will be over exposed.

The trick is to use some form of flash to light up the subject so that you can even out the exposure across the entire image and in doing so reduce the contrast between dark and light.  There are lots of ways to do this and some I will go into in the coming weeks.

If you are just out to capture the lights you may not need a tripod but it is a good idea if you are after sharp images due the the camera needing to open the shutter longer than you can hold the camera steady for.

What I tend to do is go out and give it a try.  I start with hand holding and then move toward using other supporting devices if the need arises.

Why?  because then I can travel lite and I have less equipment to get in peoples way.  After all they are also there to experience the joy that is Christmas lights.

So before the lights fade away for another year, grab your camera and head out to capture some lights.  Experiment a little, play with your shutter and aperture and just have a bit of fun.

Out to capture some Christmas lights
Out to capture some Christmas lights

 

Attention All Distinguished Gentleman!

Have you ever wanted to see hundred are so motorcyclists riding their motorcycles while looking all dapper??? Well on the weekend Canberra and around the world held the distinguished gentleman ride in support of research for prostate cancer.

Wow that is shiny
Wow that is shiny

When I was asked if I could photograph this I almost jumped out of my chair as the opportunity to capture such amazing motorcycles with the unique look of massive moustaches and dudes wearing suits was almost too much for me to bear, so goes without saying that I was looking forward to this and I wasn’t disappointed.

How dapper
How dapper

I think it was about 150 registered motorcycles there and what a collection. From the relatively new to the vintage everyone is at have a fantastic time and support a great cause and I must say my little sports bike kind of looked out of place and I think I have more plastic on my bike and the combined plastic of all the other bikes.

The grease monkey was our host the morning breakfast
The grease monkey was our host the morning breakfast

If you are a check out the rest of the images click on the events link from the menu to which you will find the gallery which has all the images. You’re free to use them as you see fit and please share and raise awareness for such a cause so next year we can have an even bigger number.

For more information have a look see at their website www.gentlemansride.com

Each person that attended signed the banner
Each person that attended signed the banner
Some of the bikes making their way down from the Arboretum
Some of the bikes making their way down from the Arboretum