The Reason Why Andrew Holman Is So In-Demand
Mr. Andrew Holman DJO is a photographer by profession. He is one of the most prominent and most sought after photographers in the state of Oregon and California, he has worked with a lot of magazine publications that caters to the travel and leisure market, additionally Holman is also widely popular as a wedding photographer in his community too. His works all range in different genres, he is extremely good in taking landscapes, sceneries and other wide scale images in outdoor or indoor ambience, plus he is also good inside a studio, he is also famous for his ability to capture candid to intimate and heartwarming moments in a certain event such as weddings, birthdays, debuts and other special occasions.
That is because Andrew Holman DJO graduated and received a certificate in professional photography at the Image Works in his hometown, but he didn’t just enroll himself in the program that easily. Because as many people didn’t know, Holman was far from becoming a full blown photographer in 2002, and that’s because initially, he took up a degree in Bachelor of Science Major in Engineering at the Portland Community College. His colleagues from college all have pondered on the question as to why he landed on the photography industry instead, and each time a certain question such as this arises, Andrew only answers; because I connected with my camera more that I connected with my collegiate course.
It all began when Andrew actually graduated from PCC at 2002, armed with a diploma; he wanted to go on a vacation first before he settles down for his future. Andrew Holman then began packing up his bags and trip equipment because he would travel the country for the entire year before he will start looking for an employment. Naturally, he brought his camera with him to take proof and to simply cherish the last days of his free life, and by the time he was traveling from one place to another, his love for taking all sorts of photos began to develop.
It was at the half year of 2002 where Holman came to a discovery that his passion has been lying underneath all the time, for that, he had a change of heart and started pursuing photography immediately. Today, Andrew has his works published in a lot of magazine spreads, travel sections of the local newspapers and other photo exhibits in his community, plus a number of recognitions from prestigious institutions.
Wedding Photography
There are also great chances for any photographer to make a good living or few extra quid if done part time – assuming you do the job correctly.
Preparation is the key to becoming a great professional wedding photographer; this is assuming that your technical skills are up for the job. If you prepare properly the task at hand will be so much easier, and the family concerned will be most pleased.
You need to prepare well in advance of the big day – this means meeting the couple to discuss what they would like. It also means that you need to contact the priest or whoever is celebrating the service and find out about guidelines that he may impose. For example, in some churches they do not allow strobe units to be used.
Preparation also involves going to the church and hotel before hand to take a look around and pre-select locations for your photo shoot. Go at the same time of day a few weeks before hand. Find out where the light will fall and what objects may be in your way.
While these may seem trivial matters, they will turn out to be invaluable when the wedding day comes.
Beforehand, when discussing the details of your shoot with the bride and groom find out what they want and don’t be afraid to give your input. It also helps to have a few wedding deals so you can cater for people of all means.
Have a list of all the shots that are standard, and be on the lookout for anything that will earn extra cash. Always remember that the more images you take, the more money you will earn. Pictures of grannies usually sell well, as do images of young children.
When the big day comes arrive early. Make sure you have plenty of spare batteries and memory if you are using digital or film if you are using a film camera. Also have a spare camera as back up. If your camera fails it will be embarrassing.
If possible hire an assistant for the day. Use the assistant to gather people for their image to be taken. Have a list of all the standard images that should be taken and make sure that the assistant ticks of the list when the shot is done. This will avoid confusion and is a good way to make sure you got all the shots.
Shoot detailed shots of flower, the wedding cake on its own and any other images that you think will sell. Even if it does not sell it will only take up a little memory on your camera.
Finally – make sure that you have plenty of business cards on hand – if you have time to chat after the shoot, it may create extra business.
Photography Tips – Using Camera Flash At Night
A night-time photo shoot often presents a problem or two, especially when including an element of interest in the background such as architecture. In most cases a tripod or some other method of stabilizing the camera will be necessary due to the slow shutter speeds used with low-light photography. But even with a tripod, our subject needs to remain somewhat statuesque to prevent blurring. If you’ve ever tried portraits at night, you’ll know that getting clean sharp shots is almost impossible when there’s any kind of movement.
We often end up turning on our flash to get around this issue. But this leads us into another problem. Using frontal flash at night will certainly capture your subject, but everything that’s outside of your flash range, everything in the background will disappear into blackness. The resulting shot will be simply your bright subject, in a sea of blackness.
So in low light, how do we include the subject AND the background?
The answer is slow-sync flash.
It’s a pretty simple concept that combines long exposure with flash photography. There are two types of slow-sync flash available to us, and they will each produce their own unique results. The two types are “front curtain” or “rear curtain”. Either method can be used in an environment where everything is still with little difference in the outcome, not forgetting that a tripod would still be necessary in most cases. However, if you’re trying to capture any kind of movement within the scene, it’s important to choose the technique that will provide you with the desired result.
Front-curtain: The flash is fired at the start of the shot – right when the shutter opens. The flash will illuminate the subject and foreground, and the shutter will remain open for the remainder of the shot – long enough to capture everything else in the background.
Rear-curtain: Basically the opposite of the above. The shutter is opened for as long as necessary – long enough to capture the background, and then at the very last minute, the flash will fire to illuminate the subject and foreground.
As an example, try to imagine a scene where there is a little bit of frontal lighting. There’s a building or a large sculpture in the background that has been up-lit, and we want to capture both our subject, who is close-by AND the background architecture. We decide to use the rear-curtain technique and an exposure of around 10 seconds. As we press the shutter button our subject begins to walk through the frame from the left-hand side – and we time it so that the flash fires just as they are about to exit to the right. The resulting shot will show our subject about to exit the frame, but with light trails behind them – perhaps giving the feeling of a speedy exit.
What results do you think the front curtain method would produce? If you were to have the flash fire as the subject enters the scene, then leave the shutter open as they walk through the frame. What effect do you think that would have on the resulting photo?