#9. Move Around.

2010.06.16
Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Event, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

Move Around. Crouch and look up. Stand on a ladder & look down. Put your subjects above you. Put them below you. Get real close. Provide your viewers a look, an angle, different than the one they see in everyday life.

Look around at a wedding. 99% of the people with cameras are either standing or sitting, taking their photo with the same view one sees by just standing there.

Normal people taking photos at a wedding
Normal people taking photos at a wedding

Move around and suddenly your photos look different, you’re *making* photos.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Event, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings | Tagged |

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#8. Shoot Into the Sun.

Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

If you don’t have off-camera strobes or don’t know how to use them [see #4], turn your subjects’ backs to the sun, shoot in manual mode and expose for your subjects’ faces. Your photos will immediately be better than any point-and-shoot civilian who tries this. Their photos will be dark and underexposed.

Turn your subjects backs to the sun.

Turn your subjects' backs to the sun.

Yours will be high-key, with long stabby shadows, and maybe some of those cool hexagonal jewel light-sabers.

Shoot into the sun. Flare is pretty.

Shoot into the sun. Flare is pretty.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings | Tagged , , |

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#7. Say “Thank you”.

Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Event, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

I’m shocked to learn how seldom people say “Thank you.” I recently moved my family to Las Vegas from out of state. Many people made time to meet with me as I was scouting Vegas, and I tried to send thank you notes, and often little gifts, to all of them. Once I moved here, many told me how unusual it was for them to hear any sort of thanks. My “thank you”s stood out. Many of these people have since referred work to me. Say “thank you”.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Event, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings |

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#6. Ya Gotta Serve Somebody.

Posted in B&G, Bridal, Event, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

Offer to help those around you with your photography. Venues need good photography of their rooms, their gorgeous landscaping, their events in progress, their food. Friends need headshots. Friends need family shots. Spread the love (i.e., do these things for free) and the love comes back.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in B&G, Bridal, Event, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings |

Comments: 1    leave a comment

  1. Yes yes yes it does! (06.16.2010 at 10:21 pm)  

    Love your photography and this post! thanks for sharing

#5. Get Closer. Get Further Away.

Posted in Giving Back, Teaching

Seems everybody’s got a camera at weddings nowadays.

One way to make your pictures look different than everybody else’s is to get up real close, and to pull way back.

Use a long lens (200mm) to get in real close.

Use a long lens (200mm) to get in real close.

Get close with a long lens, or by walking right into the action (not advised during the ceremony!) You’ll have captured the feelings of the moment, and your brides will be forever grateful when she looks at your photos.

Step Outside of the Action. Capture the Big Picture.

Step Outside of the Action. Capture the Big Picture.

Get far away to take in the big picture, the cityscape, the landscape, the drive into town, the outside of the reception hall, the whole room.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in Giving Back, Teaching |

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#4. Invest In Yourself. Take Workshops.

Posted in Giving Back, Teaching

Invest in Yourself. Take Workshops. All clichés aside, you’re worth it! If the workshop is good, and you put that learning into practice, then you’ll quickly earn back its cost with your next several shoots. If you don’t have $1,000 or $500 to go sit at the feet of someone you consider a master, then you’re not trying hard enough, and you’re not serious about becoming a better photographer. Sell your couch. Sell your TV. Have a yard sale.

If you don’t take workshops because you think you have nothing to learn then you have bigger problems ;-) and you may want to consult a member of the psychology profession ;-) Please note, that last comment is not directed at Joe McNally or his peers ;-)

Following are some of the workshops I’ve taken that have moved my photography forward:

  1. Doug Merriam, Studio Lighting, The Santa Fe Workshops
  2. Joe McNally, Location Lighting with Small Flash, The Santa Fe Workshops
  3. Matthew Jordan Smith, Glamour Portraits, The Santa Fe Workshop
  4. Denis Reggie, 3 Day Wedding Conclave, Atlanta, GA
  5. Nate Kaiser, Shoot Shop, Oceanside, CA
By Steve Fogarty | Posted in Giving Back, Teaching | Tagged , |

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#3. Hire An Assistant. Keep the Vision Flowing.

Posted in Giving Back, Teaching

Hire an Assistant. Once you’ve learned to notice reflected light and distracting objects etc., and once you start using off-camera lights and reflectors and you understand how to use a Key and a Fill and a Kicker light, it’s better to hire someone who will execute your thoughts while you’re shooting, rather than interrupt yourself. Hire help and keep the vision flowing.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in Giving Back, Teaching |

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#2. Seek Out your Betters, Shut Up, Listen, Learn.

Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

I’m embarrassed to remember how many of my mentors I’ve disrespected by being a know-it-all around them. Photographers by nature are independent risk-takers. But displaying your own vast knowledge instead of listening to someone with something to teach you, who is willing to teach you, is to squander a gift. [Sorry Derek! Sorry Brian!] Find someone whose work blows you away – a mentor – then shut up, listen, watch and learn.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings |

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1. Shoot Ordinary People.

2010.06.15
Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

When starting out in portrait photography, I strove to shoot with the best looking people I could find, preferably members of that human minority who enjoy being in front of a lens. It took me a while to realize that my beautiful models were carrying my bad photography.  Better to shoot average, awkward people as you strive to improve your lighting, composition, story-telling, scouting, banter, post-processing. Then when you get a photo that you and everyone else loves, the love you’re feeling is about your photo, and not your model.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in B&G, Bridal, Engagement, Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings | Tagged , , |

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10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Photography

Posted in Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings

I have a long way to go before my photography and my photography career are where I want them to be.

Even though I have met with a relative torrent of success since moving from Utah to Las Vegas, I am not a successful photographer.

However, I have learned a few things since I started seriously shooting five or six years ago.

To re-launch my blog, I am posting “10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Photography”.

I will expound a bit on each one over the next week or so. For now, here they are, in teaser format:

1. Shoot Ordinary People.

2. Seek Out Your Betters, Shut Up and Listen.

3. Hire an Assistant.

4. Invest in Yourself. Take a Workshop.

5. Get Closer. Get Away.

6. Ya Gotta Serve Somebody.

7. Say “Thank You.”

8. Shoot Into the Sun.

9. Move Around.

10. Never Go Full Retard.

By Steve Fogarty | Posted in Giving Back, Teaching, Weddings | Tagged , , |

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