A Beginner's

Guide to Photography

The Simple Secrets to Taking and Selling

Better Photos

By Lori Allen And the AWAI Travel Division Staff

A Beginner's Guide to Photography: The Simple Secrets to Taking and Selling Better Photos © Copyright 2010 by American Writers and Artists Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published by: AWAI American Writers & Artists Inc. 245 NE 4th Ave, Ste. 102 Delray Beach, FL. 33483 For more information: www.thetravelwriterslife.com, www.thephotographerslife.com

A Beginner’s Guide to Photography 2

A Beginner's Guide to Photography

The Simple Secrets to Taking and Selling Better Photos

Table of Contents Introduction.....................................................................................4 Chapter 1: Where to Sell Your Photographs ..................................5 Chapter 2: Choosing the Right Camera ......................................... 7 Chapter 3: Finding the Right Lens..................................................12 Chapter 4: The Art of Photography.................................................14 Chapter 5: Editing Your Photos for Sale.........................................15

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Introduction Take a look around you -- at magazines, newspapers, books, trade journals, technical manuals, and almost any published material. Look at the cover and flip through the pages. What do you see? Photographs. Someone has to take those pictures. Why not you? It’s easier to break into this field than you may think. You see, even though a lot of professional photographers went through the system knocking on doors and paying their dues, had they known a very basic fact, they could have saved themselves years of struggling and broken into the profitable business of taking saleable photographs much, much sooner. This guide will help you get your photography off the ground in no time, with the very basics of each step of the way, from deciding where you want to sell your shots to getting the equipment you need to editing your photos so they look their very best. Before we begin, I’d like to mention that all of the articles I link to below are from our e-letter archives at www.thephotographerslife.com. If you like what you see (and I’m pretty sure you will) have a look at the other archived articles on the site... it’s a stockpile of solid information on selling your photos, from professional photographers, magazine editors, art directors, designers, and more. Now let’s get started...

Lori Allen Director, AWAI Travel Division P.S. Take a look at our catalog page for even more resources, including tips you can take with you out in the field, like our pocket-sized, laminated Photo Tip Cards. No need to worry about which camera settings to use. Just pull out the theme appropriate card and it tells you exactly what to do. Cards include instructions for shooting fireworks, beaches, sunsets, food, in the rain, moving water, underwater, Christmas lights, in the dark and more. You’ll find those, alongside our most popular photography guides, books, and programs, here: www.thephotographerslife.com/get_started

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Chapter 1

Where to Sell Your Photographs The first thing you need to know in Saleable Photography 101 is not actually how to take better pictures or manipulate them on your computer. The first thing you need to know is where to sell your images. Knowing that affects the kind of camera you buy and how you use it. It also affects how you develop your pictures on your computer. Processing photos for magazines is a lot different than processing your photos for stock or fine art. So let’s start with selling your photos. Here are seven articles from our archives on selling your photos to different markets... 1. How to Launch a Photography Career from Home

People buy photos that mean something to them. If you live in Paris and you can sell to Paris residents and visiting tourists, then your photos of the Eiffel Tower could prove quite lucrative. But if you live in Idaho, the likelihood of your next-door neighbor buying a Paris shot is pretty slim. On the other hand, he's much more likely to buy from you a photo of a local downtown landmark to give to his son who's leaving for college…. Read more here.

2. Turn Your Family into Cash (Without Selling the Kids)

People sell. People doing everyday things like laughing, hugging, and shaking hands. And they don’t have to be model-perfect either. In all likelihood, you have right there in your family the makings of some fast cash (and you don’t have to sell your children to get it)…Read more here.

3. Stock Photography Tip: What Stock Agencies Pay and How to Break In

A radical shift is underway in the world of stock photography today. Some argue it represents the death of professional photography as we know it. Others are embracing the changing market and finding ways to thrive in it…Read more here.

4. Selling Photos to Local and Regional Magazines

Many newspaper and magazine editors are consistently in need of good photos that they just can’t find ... But if you can provide an editor with the photos he or she is looking for, then you can easily send them along in an email, get published, and make some fast cash… Read more here.

5. How to Send Photos to a Magazine

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Editorial photographer Pat Stevens typically shoots anywhere from 30-100 photos to illustrate just one travel article. From those, he submits for publication three times the number of photos the editor needs (in other words, if the editor says she wants 4 photos, he sends her 12 to choose from).Here's how Pat chooses what to send… Video clip here.

6. How to Publish Photos in Magazines - Interview

A former planetary cartographer Ray Batson now spends his retirement with his wife traveling the world. Having just returned from a safari trip in Africa, they took lots of photos and sold them with an article about their trip. Here’s how he did it…Read more here.

7. Pricing Photos to Sell: From Waiter to Photographer in 6 Weeks

Today, if I could offer up one piece of advice for new photographers, it’s this – don’t underestimate yourself and sell yourself short. If I can do it with a cheap, plastic camera and no formal training, you can certainly do it with the auto-everything cameras on the market today and the training you’re getting here at AWAI… Read more here.

These articles will give you an idea of the kinds of photographs you want to take and where you might be able to sell them – the first step in becoming a travel photographer! Once you know that, you can concentrate on what kind of equipment you need.

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Chapter 2

Choosing The Right Camera As I mentioned in Chapter 1, where you sell your images affects the kind of camera you buy and how you develop your pictures. You’ll find a very good camera buying guide on our website for free (see link below). It basically goes into more detail than this chapter. For now, here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know, along with two more articles about other things you should think about when considering equipment. How to Buy a Camera First, let’s talk about the difference between a point-and-shoot camera, an SLR and a DSLR... For the most part, point-and-shoots are compact, lightweight, and easy to travel with. And, if you're just starting out, the camera you most likely already own, or the camera you'll probably buy first, will fall into this category. SLRs - In addition to having lenses that are removable and interchangeable, SLRs usually offer many more options for controlling the camera, including the ability to change your aperture and shutter speed settings as well as shoot in "full manual." (A DSLR camera is nothing more than a “digital” SLR camera.) The biggest (and probably most important) difference that distinguishes a digital point-and-shoot from a digital SLR lies in the quality of the pictures each is capable of making. While point-and-shoot cameras have their own advantages (they're compact, easy to travel with, usually cheaper, and they auto-adjust almost everything to help you get the best picture possible), they cannot compete with SLRs in terms of image quality. That is because digital SLRs have much larger image sensors. This larger sensor size produces a much higher quality image and, therefore, the pictures you produce with an SLR will be saleable in many more markets than those taken with a point-and-shoot. In addition, the DSLR will do several things much faster, allowing you to capture the image at the “decisive moment.” For one, they are much faster at auto-focus than point-and-shoots. They also likely have 3 to 15 times more auto-focus points on the sensor. Moreover, the inner computer chips react much faster. It’s possible to capture a fast-moving soccer or basketball match accurately -- a feat out of reach for the point-and-shoot camera. It will also

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process the shots and store them to the card faster. This allows you to keep shooting image after image in fast succession. Also, top-of-the-line pro cameras have weather seals to let you shoot in difficult conditions, including snow and modest rain. The build quality makes them a more rugged piece of equipment for hard use. How to Choose the Camera That's Best for You Most professional photographers own a compact point-and-shoot camera they can easily slip into their bag or carry in their pocket. Some will tell you they never leave home without it. All agree that a lower quality picture taken with a point-and-shoot is better than no picture at all. And sometimes, it's just not prudent to carry around bigger equipment. This is the first level of equipment you should have in your kit. At times, it'll be the only equipment you carry. When you're buying a compact point-and-shoot, try to get one that has at least five megapixels. (We’ll talk more about megapixels in a minute.) Nikon, Canon, Panasonic and Olympus make great point-and-shoot cameras. They're usually at the top of the line. Sony has great point-and-shoots, too, but all their equipment is proprietary -- it doesn't mix well with equipment and accessories of other brands. If all you have in your camera bag is a digital point-and-shoot camera, here are the markets you can consider when it comes time to sell your images:

Online stock agencies (though you'll have a lot more images turned down for image quality and size than you will with an SLR and you’ll make far less money because your images can not be enlarged to meet the requirements of many photo buyers)...

Supporting photos to go with a travel article on the web... Most newspapers... Fine art for pieces 8 x 10 and smaller.

SLR markets have no limits (and by the way, we use SLR and DSLR interchangeably when we talk about cameras in The Right Way to Travel newsletter. Whenever we say SLR we usually mean a digital SLR camera or DSLR). With an SLR, you can sell to:

Stock agencies (both print and online)... Travel magazines... Newspapers... Text books... Fine art...

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Galleries... Web markets... Portraits...

DSLRs have an image sensor that's significantly larger than those of point-and-shoot cameras and can produce a much higher-quality image. Camera makers have led us to believe that a camera with more megapixels is a better camera. But that doesn't always hold true. When you pack more pixels on a small image sensor, you tend to lose image quality. So when you see a point-and-shoot camera with a higher megapixel count than a DSLR, it doesn't mean that the quality is going to be better. The pixels on a DSLR sensor are themselves bigger, yielding a better image. Choosing the Right Brand Most professional photographers will tell you that their preferences in camera brands are largely dependent on how the camera feels and handles, not just on how many pixels or special features it has. The major players in digital SLR photography today are Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Olympus, with Canon and Nikon in the lead. The major advantage to sticking with these brands is that these companies have been at this for a long time. They're not likely to go out of business (leaving you with a bunch of equipment you can't sell off, upgrade, or repair). And if you stick with Canon or Nikon, you'll have the largest selection of accessories from which to choose. The rest comes down to price. Typically, more expensive cameras buy you more durability and larger sensor sizes. More expensive cameras also tend to take better pictures at night with less "noise" in your shadows and faster ISO speeds. That said, every camera comes with a learning curve and while professional-grade cameras come with extra features, that’s just more you need to learn. And when something goes wrong and your pictures aren’t turning out right, you’ll have to experiment with more buttons and screens to find the problem. If you’re starting out, I recommend you purchase an entry-level SLR and use it for a couple of years. When you're ready to upgrade, you can place your old equipment on consignment at a professional camera store or sell it to a mail-order outlet such as Adorama or KEH Camera. SLR Models for Beginners The Canon Rebel XSi is a great starter SLR camera for beginners. It has 12 Megapixels, and you can find it online for about $579 with a standard, normal lens.

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The Canon Rebel XS is nice, too, (and typically sells for a little cheaper as it only has 10 megapixels) but you'll save less than $100 by choosing this model over the XSi and if you're interested in selling your photos as stock, those extra two megapixels can be enough to move your images up a notch on the online stock photography scale. The Nikon D3000 and D5000 have a similar story. But the D5000 will cost you an extra $200 to $300 for those extra two megapixels (and an articulated screen) so it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. The D3000 is an excellent starter camera. SLRs for the More Advanced Shooter Everything more expensive than the Canon Rebel XSi and the Nikon D3000 is best purchased by considering the price you're willing to pay and what that price buys you - faster ISO speeds, more durability, a larger sensor size, and potentially newer technology. Your best bet is to figure out how much you're willing to spend and then go into a store to look at your options. Price alone will narrow your search dramatically. And brand will help you narrow them even further. Again, Nikon and Canon are the biggest players. Both make really great cameras. And both will be easy to resell when you're ready to upgrade. And beware of Sony. Sony cameras need special adapters when you want to use anything that's not made by the Sony brand -- studio lights, external flashes, etc. It's generally not worth the hassle to start down that road. So which is right for you: Point-and-shoot or SLR? The truth is, point-and-shoots are great cameras for learning because they don't typically have all the bells and whistles of an SLR. That means you can master basic photography techniques without getting bogged down in the technical specifics of your camera. (They're also great on trips where a bulkier camera might be more of a hindrance than a help.) Besides that, almost all of the techniques in our e-letter archives and our Turn Your Pictures into Cash Program can be practiced on a point-and-shoot. Selective focus (where you select one part of your image to be in focus and blur the other elements in the photo) will be an exception left mostly to SLRs. Other than that, their main drawback is when it comes to selling your work. They don't produce images of a high enough quality for most publications. If you're technically savvy enough to jump straight into an SLR camera, and you want to sell your photos (not just take great pictures for your scrapbook), then you might be better off starting right out of the gate with an SLR. Below is an article from our archives written just last year about a higher quality point-and-shoot -- the Canon G10 which has now been upgraded to the Canon G11. And an entry-level SLR, the Panasonic Lumix G1. The Panasonic G1 is also much a much smaller SLR due to the fact that they’ve replaced the mirror box with an electronic finder, and the sensor is

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slightly smaller than the cameras made by Nikon and Canon. As a result, you have a smaller body and smaller lenses. If you’re not quite ready to make the jump to an SLR (because remember, SLR cameras come with a larger learning curve) or you don’t want to carry around a big piece of equipment, perhaps the Canon G11 will fit the bill. Here is our full Camera Buying Guide, which you can read for free on our website: Camera Buying Guide And here’s a 3-Step Camera Set-Up for getting started. Here, too, are two articles about point-and-shoot cameras, written during last year’s Paris workshop. One is an article about the Panasonic Lumix G1 (now available as the Panasonic Lumix GH1 with the ability to take short videos). Nikon and Canon are good brands to get into. But Olympus is also a good brand and Panasonic and Olympus cameras can share lenses… 1. You Don't Need a Lot of Fancy Equipment

I’m six months pregnant... since I didn’t want to lug my big camera around my neck all day, I shot this entire trip with a digital point-and-shoot. Here is a list of what I missed most about my fancy equipment... and what I like best about this little point-and-shoot I’ve been using this week… Read more here.

2. Better Photographs without Walking

Rich traditionally carries a Nikon d700, which today is priced at just under $3,000 without a lens (just over $4,500 if you include his lens). But when I told him I was going to shoot the workshop with a point-and-shoot, he went out and bought an entry level digital SLR, the Panasonic G1, to test out on this trip... Read more here.

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Chapter 3

Finding the Right Lens Travel stock photographer Holger Mette – a guest speaker we invited to our Nashville photo workshop – thinks a good lens is just as important as (if not more than) a good camera body. Holger recommends starting out with a simple entry-level SLR camera, like the Canon XSi or the Nikon D3000, and putting the money saved into a better lens, rather than a more sophisticated body. Professional photographer Rich Wagner agrees. He says that most pros buy a lens and use it for decades. Camera bodies, on the other hand, are exchanged and upgraded as often as yearly. I agree, too. My first camera was a cheap point-and-shoot. I don’t even think they make models of that poor quality anymore. My second was a more sophisticated point-and-shoot that looked like an SLR and came with an adapter that allowed me to add filters and lenses, but it was still a point-and-shoot (though, today, you can get the Canon XSi, Nikon D3000, or Panasonic Lumix G1, all for less than what I paid back then, so maybe you want to skip this step). And my third camera was the Canon Rebel XT. Today, I shoot with the Nikon D200. But my point in telling you all that is simply to show my progression. And also to note that my favorite upgrade was not the jump from point-and-shoot to SLR. Nor my jump from entry-level SLR to something more sophisticated. No. My favorite upgrade was when I put the lens that came with my Canon Rebel XT back in the box and purchased a used 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 lens like this one. Because I bought the lens used, I think it cost me about $250 to $300 which is still pretty steep. But I’ve never looked back. I love this lens. And I shot with it exclusively for two or three years. Now that I have the Nikon D200, I gave this camera (and the lens) to my husband and he shoots with it exclusively. Here are a few articles on lenses that might help you understand a little bit more about what you’re buying… 1. Fast Lenses: What it Means When You Have a Fast Lens

Fast lenses are great for portraits and for photographing things in low light. Here's what that means... Read more here.

2. Photographer Gift Guide: Lenses, and Flashes, and Cases -- Oh My!

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With photography, the basic gear remains the same from year to year -- a camera and accessories including lenses, flashes, bags, tripods, straps and so on. But each year there are a few new twists that come on the market, and some are worth a second look. You’ll find a few of those... as well as some basic items to consider, here... Read more here.

3. How to Use Selective Focus in Photos

This technique can be used in a variety of ways and helps to bring a sense of depth and interest to your photos. It’s very useful with close-up photos and, when done right, can give your shots a more professional feel… Read more here.

TIP: If you want to buy a used lens, I recommend BHPhotovideo.com, Adorama.com or KEH Camera. Or check out your local pro camera store. I also recommend going with a used quality lens over a cheap knock-off of a no-name brand. And, in case you are not already aware – Canon lenses will not fit on Nikon bodies and vice-versa. If your camera body is made by one brand, your lens must match. I chose the 28-135mm lens because it was the best-value used lens offered at the time I was looking. When you buy used equipment, you can’t always find everything that’s on the market. But I found this and it’s worked well for me in Paris, London, Ecuador, San Francisco, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Dubai, Milan, and more. It’s certainly earned its miles. Now that you know what market you’re most interested in selling to and what kind of camera gear is best for you at this stage, let’s talk about the art of photography -- that is, the bare-bones essentials of a saleable shot…

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Chapter 4

The Art of Photography Composition, Exposure and Light

The first thing you need to understand about taking “saleable” pictures is light. Here are two articles from our archives that I think address the two biggest issues you’ll face… 1. The most important thing you need to know about the flash on your camera

It's true that flash is often needed and many shots can't be taken without it -- but too much flash is a disaster. If you don't know what you're doing, you're much more likely to ruin a photo with flash than you are to miss the shot completely. Read more here.

2. Understanding How Your Camera Reads Light

Knowing what your camera is looking for and how it does its calculations will help you “fool the camera” and fix the light in your photos when you want to have control over the final results… Read more here.

After light, composition should be your main focus. Here are essential composition tips on the Rule of Thirds, Framing and Leading Lines:

Rule of Thirds Good composition is a key ingredient in a saleable photograph. And using The Rule of Thirds is one of the first tricks new photographers should learn. Read more here.

Framing It's true -- if you can make your photographs more distinctive, you'll make them more saleable. There are millions of pictures of the Eiffel Tower for sale, for instance, so if you want yours to stand out among them, you'll have to find a distinctive way of shooting the Eiffel Tower. Framing is one way to do that. Read more here.

Leading lines

Lines are useful -- they provide order and forward motion. And they are, it turns out, just as useful in photography. Read more here.

More on composition

The difference between a snapshot and a good photograph is just a little bit of thought. Read more here…

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Chapter 5

Editing Your Photos for Sale Just about every photo you plan to sell should go through at least the very basic edits to correct for color, crop, straighten the horizon, or clean up other issues. You’d be surprised what three minutes of editing can do for your photos (you’ll see examples in the articles below). I do about 98% of my photo editing in Adobe Lightroom. It’s what both professional photographers Rich Wagner and Shelly Perry use, and it’s become the industry standard. I love Lightroom because it’s easy to use, it does everything you need for stock (besides removing logos), and it also acts as a catalog for your photos, for easy sorting and organizing. I sometimes (though rarely) use Adobe Photoshop for removing logos or making other small edits to my photos. But before I get into the specifics of editing, let me back up for a second because one thing you should know about processing is that the process for editing your photos is different for different photo markets. STOCK: All photos that you submit for sale as stock need to be processed. But all of your processing should be kept to a minimum. You'll want to inspect them at 100% before and after processing to make sure that there's no artifacting or degradation in quality -- and that’s what sometimes makes stock photography frustrating (more on that in a minute). FINE ART: For fine art prints, you can edit them however you want. Get creative or simply correct for color. It’s up to you. If you like the end result, and want to hang the photo on your wall at home, then it’s likely someone else will want to, too. EDITORIAL: Editorial is tricky because you can’t alter the inherent "truth" of the photo. You can’t remove street signs, trash or logos. And you shouldn’t alter colors or change anything else that makes the photo different from what your eyes saw when you took it. That said, your camera isn’t really capable of capturing colors in their true vibrancy straight from the scene, so you should do a little processing to recreate the image as you saw it. Especially if you're doing a travel story for a big, colorful glossy magazine. You’ll want your colors to pop, so you’ll most likely need some touch-ups. Here are a few articles to help you get up and running with processing... If you're not yet familiar with Lightroom, here’s a video that’ll give you a good introduction. It’s from a couple of years ago -- you’ll notice that Rich mentions the Ultimate Money-Making Photo Workshop in New Orleans -- but the information is still relevant.

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When you’re ready to start editing your photos, here are some articles that will help you get started quickly and easily. TIPS FOR EDITING PHOTOS WITH LIGHTROOM

Here’s an article on sorting your images using Lightroom... the first step, even before you start editing.

Here’s an article from professional photographer Shelly Perry, with her basic, three-minute

editing in Lightroom.

Here are tips on how to remove small issues like dust specks in Lightroom.

Here’s how to get creative effects in your photos with a simple mouse-click using Lightroom Presets.

TIPS FOR EDITING PHOTOS WITH PHOTOSHOP

When you shoot photos for stock, they have to be completely “clean.” What that means is stock agencies won’t take any photos with logos in them. Here’s how to use Photoshop to “remove” logos and other things from your photos.

Remember: Removing logos and otherwise altering photos is acceptable for stock and fine art, but not for editorial images.

If you don't have Lightroom, but you do have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, here’s a “basic editing” process that should work for you.

You can color-correct much easier in Lightroom, but again, if you only have Photoshop,

here’s an article on color-correction.

And one on correcting over-exposed photos in Photoshop (again, this is easier to do in Lightroom).

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I hope you found this e-book helpful in getting your photography off the ground. If you have any outstanding questions or just want to drop me a note if I said something that really struck a chord with you, you can find me at lori@thetravelwriterslife.com. I’d love to hear from you. If you think you’d like to try another great way to pay for your travels -- travel writing, and/or adding travel stories to your photos so that you can sell them to magazines and newspapers -- you might consider joining us in Chicago this August 4-6. Efrain Padro will be there to talk about taking the kinds of pictures that sell best to magazines. But the majority of the class time will be spent working on a travel article you can sell when you return home and getting step-by-step advice about how to approach editors with your stories. It’s a crash course in travel writing because you’ll learn in three days what it takes others months to research and test on their own. It’s a lot of fun, too. More details, here: http://www.thetravelwriterslife.com/tww/chicago/beg.