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When I was younger I always thought I'd like to be a photographer - taking wedding photos at the weekends, getting invited to all the best social events, free backstage passes, exotic locations and mixing with pretty models. For some reason things didn't quite work out like that. Now I'm in my 40's, married with a daughter, I'm having a second shot at establishing a part-time career in photography. The Bournemouth Photography Blog follows my experiences whilst trying to get a foothold in this very competitive market. I'll include plenty of photos (of dubious quality) and some tips and advice thrown in for good measure. All I say is don't give up the day job! (at least not yet).

Posted on 17/02/2012

Posted on 28/01/2012

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After my 2 hour studio lighting tuition a couple of weeks ago I decided to sign up for a couple of hours photography on a Model Day at DK Capture (next to ToysRUs in Poole). Model days are run every month with a different model each time. As far as I am aware DK Capture is the only studio in Dorset that offers this type of photo session. Basically a Model Day is one of the most economic ways of photographing a professional model since the model is hired by the studio for the full day at a discounted rate. You can then just sign up to book a session for an hour or two. The price is £45 per hour which includes the model, studio hire and lighting assistance provided by Dave King, the owner/photographer. Tea & coffee is also provided. This has to be a bargain as long as you like the model. Looking at the list of models so far I would generally categorize the models as "alternative" however this might not be the case all the time. When I say "alternative" I mean fit body, in their 20s, tattoos, body piercings, attitude, possibly leaning towards fetish at times, not exactly Vogue models but attractive and much more interesting to photograph. Maybe the models reflect the taste of the owner and may not be everyone's cup of tea but I think there's quite a good selection of types and looks that offer the potential of some great photos. Nearly all the models work to the level of erotic / glamour nude / artistic nude which means tasteful nude shots are permissible but definitely no adult-type photos (no open legs shots etc). Of course there is no problem taking photos of the models fully clothed so you only have to work at the level you feel comfortable with.

The model on this occasion was Elle Black from Basingstoke. I am no expert in models but she was very polite, professional and chatty. I have to admit I felt a bit nervous about the shoot, I didn't want to show myself up as a complete beginner, but I needn't have worried. The entire shoot felt very relaxed, I didn't feel anyone was judgemental about my abilities, Dave was always to hand to offer advice and help when needed, and Elle needed very little direction and showed interest in viewing the photos I was taking (probably just checking I wasn't just taking photos of her cleavage!). I arrived with a small list of lighting set-up ideas and at the end of the session I was very pleased with the results. I did have a try at art nude which went quite well - shots in focus, not too shaky! but I am sure you'll be disappointed that I haven't included them here. Not that I'm a prude but I don't want the website to suddenly become very popular for the wrong reasons!!!! Maybe later. Overall a great time and some great photos, at least I think so and, at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

Posted on 12/01/2012

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Over Christmas and New Year I didn't get my home studio lighting kit out much as I was busy with other things i.e. friends & family and eating and drinking too much. However I have realised that there is only so much I can do in the limited space of my front lounge so I thought it was time to get some proper photography tuition in a real studio. I contacted Dave King from DK Capture and arranged a couple of hours of one-to-one training (for more details see our Studio Hire page)

The 2 hour studio lighting course cost £120 and included one-to-one training with Dave, studio hire, lighting, a professional female model & coffee.

The course covers the following:
-Studio Flash
-Light modifiers
-Light metering
-Lighting the subject for high key, mid key and low key
-Composition

Just to hire the studio and model would have cost around £100 so I think this tuition offered good value. Dave let me bring my own studio lights along so I could gain experience using my own equipment. This was the first time I've ever been in a photographic studio. It was a big place (1200 sq ft) with a 6m x 5m x 3m white area used for high key photography as well as a blue & plum corner set and various paper & fabric backdrops.

The course was a basic introduction to studio photography with the aim of getting you confident enough to hire the studio with a model in the future. We started with high key lighting (bright white background) using one and then two lights, and moved on to mid key lighting which was basically shooting a model against a white background which was more indirectly lit and looked grey in the photo. We used soft boxes and also a beauty dish to give more harsh shadows.

Overall I think this was a very useful course although the time flew by far too quickly to be able to experiment much. I'll have to save that for another session. Emma, the model, was very nice and easy to talk to. She was a professional model who obviously had experience with people like myself. She didn't need any direction and just went through her repertoire of poses without me having to ask her. At least that part was easy. To remind me where the lights were positioned I took some photos that included the lights - these ended up being some of my favorite photos from the session.

Posted on 23/12/2011 by mike

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Posted on 19/12/2011 by mike

Posted on 17/12/2011 by mike

Posted on 14/12/2011 by mike

Title: Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image
Author: Scott Kelby

Price:  £20.99 on Amazon

I already had The Digital Photography Book Volume 1, 2 & 3 by Scott Kelby which I thought were excellent

Title: Digital Photography Boxed Set: Volumes 1, 2 & 3

Author: Scott Kelby

Price:  £18.70 on Amazon

Posted on 12/12/2011 by mike

 
Having decided not to study photography full time my new plan of action will be to buy some teach-yourself-studio-photography books and buy a basic home studio lighting set up and then go and get some one-to-one lessons with a local photographer. When I start to understand the basics then I'll hire out a studio on an hourly basis when needed and look for some local models willing to give their time in exchange for helping them develop their model portfolio (known as TFP - Time for Prints, or TFCD - Time for a Cd of digital photos). I´ve calculated my overall budget for the first year to be about £4500. This includes about £2500 in new equipment, £1500 in tuition, studio time & models and £500 in advertising and publicity. I plan to make no money from photography at all during this first year and offer my services for free in order to develop a suitable portfolio of work. If anyone really likes the work and wants to pay me something then I'm thinking about donating it to the Macmillan Cancer Support charity as they do so much great work in the area. I won't be needing to buy a new camera for the time being as I already have a fairly new Canon EOS 60D with a 70-200mm EF f/4 L IS lens and a 17-44mm EF f/4 L lens.

Posted on 10/12/2011 by mike

 
Over the last few days I've been looking at photography courses. As far as I can see to be a photographer you don't actually need any formal qualifications. The Arts University College in Bournemouth offer a 3 year BA (Hons) degree in Photography & Commercial Photography but to be honest I haven't got the time to do a full time course or the money. Nowadays getting a degree isn't cheap. Any student thinking of starting a degree course in 2012 will be faced with course fees of £8,600. So for three years you'd be looking at  £25,800!! That doesn't include living expenses or supporting a family! And that doesn't include any camera equipment or a guarantee of a job at the end of it. It's not really surprising that I think I'll stick at my day job and learn about photography in my spare time.

Posted on 09/12/2011 by mike

 
A few weeks ago I decided to write the Bournemouth Photography website after spending the day on the internet trying to find information about local photographers in the Bournemouth and Poole area. If I planned on becoming a photographer then I had better spend some time checking out the competition! The more that I researched the subject the more confused I got. Out of all the professions I thought that photographers' websites would be the most visually spectacular and packed with work that would inspire me. I not only expected photographers to have a great eye for taking photos but I also expected great graphical and artistic presentation. However, on the whole, I was generally disappointed at the quality on show (but who am I to judge). Out of about 70 photographers that I found listed in the Bournemouth & Poole area I found only a handful that had what could be considered professional-looking websites. I realise that a great photographer can probably live off recommendations and probably doesn't need to rely on a website to promote their work but there must be quite a few who need the added business from casual internet browsers. I was also looking for a photography course in the area, somewhere where I could learn about studio lighting and get some basic tuition on taking portraits and possibly wedding photography. Again I couldn't easily find the information that I wanted. Don't get me wrong, I am sure that there are some great photographers out there and probably some good value courses that I can take but I just couldn't find them easily. That's why I've decided to write a guide myself. Well maybe not a guide as such but more of a directory of local photographic services in the hope that I can bring together professional photographers, students, models, model agencies, amateur photographers and potential clients. That's the idea anyway - let's see what happens. At the beginning of December when I was looking for a website name just about every domain name which included any combination of the words Bournemouth, Dorset, wedding photographer, photographer, wedding photography, were already taken. However, for some strange reason, nobody wanted the bournemouthphotography.com domain so it seemed a natural place to start. Thanks for leaving it for me!

Posted on 07/12/2011 by mike

 
This is the blog section of the www.bournemouthphotography.com  website. If you’ve arrived at this page via the link on the main Bournemouth Photography website then you will already have realised that the website is not complete. In fact it is far from complete, I’ve only just started it! Over the next 6 months I plan to develop the website to include useful information about the photography business in the Bournemouth area. Although the website is mainly aimed at amateur photographers (like myself) who are looking to develop their skills, I hope that it will also be useful to members of the public who want to find a reputable local photographer either to photograph their wedding day or to take some great family portraits. The website may also be of interest to people looking for a career in modelling and want to put together a portfolio at a reasonable price or for semi-professional models who are looking for work or just want to promote their talents.

I’ve never blogged before so I’m definitely a newbie at this and will probably end up blogging to myself for a couple of months but that doesn’t matter. If in a couple of years from now I’m a semi-professional photographer with a tidy portfolio of work behind me and I am earning a little bit of money from the business then you will be able to look back and see how I did it. If, however, I’m a top professional earning a fortune then it’s possible that you may have arrived at this page via the Blog “archives” and are looking for the secret of my success. I may have deleted it all by then! Of course if everything goes wrong and my efforts end in miserable failure then you can take comfort in the fact that you decided not to leave you day job!! Hopefully you'll be able to learn from some of my errors and have decided to take a different, more successful route.

Being an amateur photographer I would appreciate any feedback from any of the more professional ones amongst you who can point me in the right direction and keep me on the right track. If anyone requires an assistant when you are taking some wedding photos or help holding a reflector in the studio please think of me.

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