The image above was taken in the Raleigh area; however, I have covered a corporate golf outing in Pinehurst.

Corporate event photography is a core part of my/our business (David & Brenda). Corporate golf outings like the one above is just one of the many types of corporate events that I cover. I don’t do any consumer event photography and love being exclusive to the corporate event side of photography which my/our corporate event clients appreciate.

You’ll notice that I am lying on the ground to get the two shots that follow. I will lay on the floor, on the ground, stand on something, use a monopod, move around, go left, go right or whatever it takes to get the shot that I am after which in the end provides much better final images. It’s a style that I have developed to well: It may surprise you to know that clients don’t say I’m in the way but often comment that I am everywhere. I’m a photojournalistic ninja when it comes to covering a corporate event.

Not all photographers will get the same results from the same event. A true professional will bring his or her unique style to the event. That’s why you have to do your homework on the photographer you are considering for your corporate event. In my case, I have lots of corporate event references and will provide contact details upon request.

In closing, weddings are a different type of event with a different style. Everyone knows the STAR (the-Bride) and the supporting minor star (the-Groom). There are several things about weddings that are very predictable. That’s not to say a wedding photographer cannot do a corporate event nor does it mean weddings are easy to shoot, but at the end of the day, what does the photographer shoot the most of Weddings or Corporate Events? I’m not trying to say anything bad about wedding photographers. It’s just that when you are looking for a corporate event photographer, do you really want a photographer that shoots mostly weddings? In my cases, I am exclusively  (100%) corporate events and love shooting them. I am truly passionate about them like a friend of mine that’s truly passionate about wedding photography.

Before you go, please be sure to check out some corporate event images below and call me at 919.723.8453 or fill out the form on the contact page.

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I recently covered a corporate event in Charlotte, North Carolina and wanted to share a few images in this post as well as provide a few additional details that may help you in your search for a corporate focused professional photographer covering the Charlotte area.

Although I am based in Raleigh, NC, I do shoot around the country and internationally. My Charlotte number is 704.918.1522 if you’d like to discuss your upcoming event. My rates are the same within a 3 hour radius of Raleigh for corporate events and on location corporate headshots for 10 or more people. In addition, I do have a friend who is a Charlotte based Professional Photographer should he be a better fit for you. Either way, I can help you get your corporate event covered and provide you with the information you need as it relates to photography coverage.

Corporate event photography is a core part of my business. I don’t do consumer events like weddings. If you are looking for a professional photographer that truly specializes in corporate photography including headshots, commercial, events and more, please include me in your RFP process. You can call my Charlotte number in the previous paragraph or click to visit my online form.

Below you will see several images from the Corporate Event that I covered inside the Marriott City Center Charlotte. If you would like to see more of my portfolio, you may visit my corporate events page.

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In this post, I will share 4 Websites and the You Tube Channels associated with those sites that can help you become a better photographer at any skill level.

QUICK THOUGHT: I am 100% fine with people getting into the photography business. However, I am not OK with people getting into photography simply because they bought a nice camera over the weekend (often high end consumer version), leaving it on auto to shoot everything (because they don’t understand any other settings) and using low prices as their core way of getting business (because that’s the only way they feel they can compete). I think that undermines the industry when those 3 things happen.

No matter what career path someone chooses, we all owe it to ourselves to invest in some level of education / learning / core understanding of that career choice. The 4 websites and the 4 YouTube Channels that go along with them below can make a huge difference if someone has chosen photography as their career.

Please note that NONE of these are affiliate links and that I have received no compensation for listing these sites.

Kelby Training

Kelby Training has a tremendous reputation in the industry.  The training is available as an annual subscription ( under $200 as of this post ) or as a monthly recurring fee.  You may also want to consider a NAPP Membership which is the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.  NAPP is tied to Kelby Training and can save you money on your Kelby Training membership.

Be sure to visit: The YouTube Channel for Kelby Training

Creative Live

Creative Live offers a lot more than just photography training, but since this post is about photography , I’ll stick to that topic.  With Creative Live, you can watch the event online for FREE on the day or days of the event.  You can purchase the event at a discounted rate prior to it starting through the end of the event. Shortly after the event is over, the price will likely go up.  The events are archived and you can purchase them individually at a later date.

Be sure to visit: The YouTube Channel for Creative Live

Karl Taylor Photography Masterclass

Karl Taylor is based in the UK. He has done an amazing job of putting together quality photography training. Karl Taylor offers photography training via DVD with worldwide shipping for Beginner, Advanced and Professional Photographers.  You can get several FREE online videos via email by simply providing your name and email address on this page of Karl’s website.

Be sure to visit: The YouTube Channel for Karl Taylor

Glyn Dewis Photographer, Retoucher, Trainer

Glyn Dewis is based out of the UK.  I am expecting Glyn to comment on this post once I let him know about it.  You see, my connection with Glyn shows how the power of the internet works.

I watched Glyn’s interview on Kelby Training and I highly recommend that you watch it as well once you sign up for Kelby Training.  After watching his interview which was the first time that I had ever heard of Glyn Dewis, I pinged him on Twitter, got a reply, then took that over to Facebook which Glyn and I have communicated on fairly regular since then.  Glyn even LIKED my Facebook page.

Now that my story with Glyn is out of the way, it’s time to talk more specifically about Glyn Dewis:  Based on what I remember from the interview, Glyn was doing retouching for other photographer’s who often asked him to work miracles on not so good photography.  Glyn decided to buy a camera and start doing photography himself.  Fast forward several years later and there you have it: Glyn Dewis Photographer, Retoucher, Trainer.

Speaking of Training, you should visit Glyn’s YouTube Channel.  Glyn conducts workshops in the UK and he has an online store on his website with some of his downloadable paid products.

Live Photography Workshops Around Raleigh NC Including Live One-to-One Photography Training

Now’s as good a time as any to put a quick plug in for my own photography training services.  I do teach live workshops as well as offer one-to-one photography training around the Raleigh NC area.  Travel is no problem either should you be interested in hosting a workshop in your city.  Be sure to visit my workshop page to learn more about the photography workshops that are offered or to contact me for one-to-one photography training.

Sometime in 2014, I hope to have several videos available including both FREE and paid versions.  Please be sure to join my list at the bottom of the workshops page to stay updated.

The post 4 Awesome Photography Websites and YouTube Channels That Will Help You Improve Your Skills first appeared on .

Professional Photographer’s fly all over the world, so hiring David to work on a photography and/or video assignment in Charlotte is not a problem to pull off with the short drive David would have from Raleigh.

David and his wife love getting away to Charlotte. They have been doing that for years from the Raleigh area. Don’t let the short distance from Raleigh to Charlotte discourage you from getting a quote for professional photography and/or corporate videography services.

When searching Professional Photographer and adding the city in like Professional Photographer Charlotte, it is so generic that the result may not fit the exact skill set the searcher wanted to find.  It’s highly likely that 3 or more of the results will be professional wedding photographers which is great if the searcher wanted to find a wedding photographer.  David’s core focus areas are not weddings or the consumer market but corporate, events, commercial and a few other areas.  If you would like to see more of David’s work and areas of focus as a professional photographer and corporate videographer, please visit the home page of David’s website.

Call 704.918.1522 to speak with David.

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As a professional, I’ll admit that I still get some lucky shots like the one at the bottom right which you will learn more about later.  However, I rely mostly on skill because when getting paid to shoot, luck will just not cut it.  The image on the left was skill in knowing how to light the scene and use shallow depth of field.

What about AUTO MODE? Do you still shoot in auto mode on your camera letting that computer in your hand run the show instead of you?  Go ahead, set it on manual and try some new things.  Shoot some shots over exposed and under exposed to see what happens.  One good way to test this out is to put someone in front of a window when indoors.  When the camera does all the thinking, it exposes for the light not the subject.  Try exposing for the subject in manual and watch how the background blows out.  Another thing worth trying in manual mode is playing with your depth of field.  That’s the numbers on the lens.  On a Canon consumer kit lens that’s around f/3.5-5.6.  The lower the number the more the background is out of focus and the higher the number the more the background is in focus.

The image to the right of the mime was LUCK.  Yes, I’ll admit it.  That shot happened when my flash on my professional camera failed to fire.  I’ll take some luck shots every now and then, but at the end of the day, I have to rely on skill.  That’s another reason that I don’t shoot in auto mode:  I want my skill as a photographer to shine through and not let a computer in my hand do all the thinking.

If you are still shooting in auto mode and consider many of your shots luck over skill, you can change that by taking a photography workshop.  I do offer photography workshops in Raleigh or Wake Forest NC or you can find one in your area if you are not local to take one of mine.  At the very least, pick up a book on digital photography like this one by Scott Kelby or sign up for a free online course like this one from Karl Taylor.

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The post Is Your Photography Luck, Skill or Auto Mode? A Photography Workshop in Raleigh or Wake Forest NC Will Make It More Skill first appeared on .

The image that you see to the left was lit with a softbox strobe (flash) boomed in front above the young lady, a second strobe light in the back of her to add hair light and background light, the room lights turned off, the depth of field set to a low number like f/4 to give a soft focus below her face, the composition in a way to have her off centered cut off somewhat by the frame with me, the photographer (me), shooting from above her while having her look up.  In addition, because I have gotten to know her personality and seen other images of her (in some cases it would be seeing images someone likes in advance of the shoot), it makes it easier to produce an image like this by knowing how to have her smile, the direction to look, the position to have her in, etc.  A good photographer should not just snap, snap, snap like some do on a basic headshot shoot, but a good photographer should take the shoot to a completely different level: Professional. The things mentioned in this paragraph are some of the key areas that separate a professional from an amateur or newbie just getting into photography.

Although the image on the right is a headshot, the composition, lighting and angle help make it a more dynamic headshot.  In this case, the young lady is smiling more versus more of a softer smile like the image above on the left which is part of me as the photographer knowing enough about her to provide direction throughout the photo shoot.  This image was lit by constant lighting versus the one above on the left being lit with strobe lighting (flash).

It only takes a few simple adjustments in many cases to go from a good shot to a GREAT shot.  If you are a photographer, I encourage you to try something new and different.  It’s so easy in the digital age.

If you are an individual looking for someone to capture your essence through the lens of a camera, I hope that you will give me the opportunity to speak with you about a lifestyle / personality photo shoot.  You may contact me online or call me at 919.723.8453 whether you or local to the Triangle area or not.

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The post Capturing Your Essence Through Lighting, Composition, Depth of Field and Knowing Your Subject: LIFESTYLE first appeared on .

A lot of Professional Photographer’s feel that many that do photography as a sideline take away from those who do it for a living.  I have mixed emotions about it all but want to share my thoughts in this post because we all have an opinion about something, right?

Here are the core problems that I have with photography as a side business: aka “The Photographer with the Nice Camera.”  FYI, it’s not the individual that I have the problem with.  It’s their approach.

1) Buying a nice camera kit (say the low end of $600 D5100 / T3i to the high end of roughly $1,800 roughly D7100 / 70D ) does not automatically make someone a photographer.  Oh that’s right, owning a nice camera and having a business card does (sarcasm).

2) Giving someone a CD with 100 unedited images from a photo shoot for $100 not only hurts the photography business but the personal brand of the one handing over the CD.  At minimum, edit select images (Lightroom and Photoshop Elements are both affordable), provide the best of the best (not all of them) and raise the price to a respectable market level.

3) Get some training.  Please get some training.  Putting a camera on auto mode and shooting may provide some nice images, but learning how to override the settings can take ones photography to  another level. A great way to start with some training is with the following: Kelby Training, Karl Taylor and FroKnowsPhoto.com Flash Guide.

4) Work your A** off to make it in photography.  Whether it’s part-time or full-time, photography is not the easiest business to be in unless someone is working for free or practically giving their work away (see #2).  Photography not only takes a lot of work to stay busy, but it requires investments in equipment, training, insurance and more.  Personally, I would not recommend anyone hire a photographer for their wedding just because they have one nice camera.  The photographer better have some backup equipment for that special day and some liability insurance.  FYI, I shot my last wedding in 2001.

As for Professional Photographer’s in Raleigh and beyond, they/we have to stay on our game.  One thing that I do like about the side business photographer’s is the desire within in me to make sure my personal work stands out.  As a photographer, either your worked is loved by others or it is not.  I only want to work with people who love my work.  If someone cannot tell a difference in a veteran professional’s work and the $100 CD photographer’s work, I cannot blame someone for focusing on the price.

As Professional’s, we have to do our part in the industry as well.  Whining and complaining is not the way to get things done.  We all have to work together and better the industry as a collaborative effort whether full-time, part-time or wanna be.

My guess is that top photographer’s, like Brett Florens, that get $20,000 for wedding photography are likely not worried about someone who just bought a “nice camera” and will be shooting weddings for $500 or a family CD for $100.  Ah, there’s another thought, “What’s Your Market?”  That may be good title for another blog post.

The post Professional Photographer’s In Raleigh NC Plus “The Photographer with the Nice Camera” first appeared on .

The Complete FroKnowsPhoto 3-Hour Video Guide To Flash Photography

I ran into Jared Polin of  FroKnowsPhoto.com at Allen’s Camera in the Philadelphia area over the Summer when I was visiting the area.  That’s where this photo of the two of us was taken.  

I have not purchased the guide mainly because I started using my first flash over 30 years ago, but I am recommending that ANYONE not familiar with flash photography or needing to improve their skills get this guide purely on the reputation of Jared Polin.

I come in contact with so many photographers in this digital age that DO NOT EVEN OWN a flash. Although that surprised me at first, it’s now less shocking and is likely because of the digital age that so many people do not own a flash. I know a guy that shoots video with a Canon 5D Mark III and doesn’t own a flash for still photography. He called me yesterday to get my advice on flash photography for something that he has coming up.  I no doubt that this guide could make a difference to those not using flash.

The other group of people are the ones that own a flash but either do not really know how to use it or just choose not to use it likely because they really don’t know how to use it.  These folks could also likely learn a thing or two about flash photographer with this guide.

Using a flash, as you can see just in the promo video for the program, can take your photography to another level. There are so many things that you can do with flash photography that will make your images better when flash is used correctly.

Be sure to at least watch the promo video and read about the program by going to this link: The Complete FroKnowsPhoto 3-Hour Video Guide To Flash Photography which again is NOT an affiliate link.

Fro Knows Photo is on Facebook as well.

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