It has been ages since my last post on this subject.

I have been getting so many emails with blog reader's questions and have been collecting them all an email folder waiting for the moment I can respond to each one. I hate the idea that someone out there has not received a response from me. I know I always feel a little upset when I don't get a response from someone when I email them, so I truly feel guilty when I can't respond.

If you are reading this blog and you happen to be one of the folks I haven't responded to, I am posting this blog for YOU! :)

Let me just say that if you have a very specific question and would like a fast response the BEST way to ask me is by becoming a fan of audreyhannahphoto on Facebook and posting your questions there. I usually am able to respond to short and direct questions pretty quickly... its the "How did you get started in photography" questions that require a bit more than a couple sentences to answer. I did write a post a few months back about my beginnings in photography, you can read it here.

So on to the  goods. These are the most common questions I am asked.

1."I would love to pursue a photography career but am currently going to school for _____ (fill in blank) and am not sure I want to continue on the career path I am headed down. Should I leave college to study photography?"

Whatever you do DO NOT drop out of college! A full education is always a plus to ANY career path you so choose to journey down. 

But on that same note, you do not necessarily NEED to have gone to school for photography to be a successful photographer. I for one, have no formal photography schooling. I taught myself on a Canon A-1 film camera when I was 15. I just carried that thing around everywhere. Through trial and error, I began to understand manual photo skills such as matching f-stop to shutter depending on the given lighting, and eventually moved on to the digital world in which I now currently reside. :)

Here is another thought, if you are currently in school, what about the possibility of changing your major to something art related? If you truly have a passion for Photography, an art degree of some sort can do nothing but help... actually it will open doors to more creative outlets, thinking and social connections.

In the meantime, pick up your camera and shoot shoot shoot... trial and error, the best education.

2. "What is your post production workflow? The photos on your website/blog obviously don't come out of camera looking the way they do". Do you use Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture?"

I absolutely credit the audreyhannahphoto "look" to Photoshop- the Lord of Digital Photography. :)

Now, of course photography itself will always be separate from Photoshop and post production editing. You absolutely can be a phenomenal photographer using only the light in the room and camera in your hand. 

However, I personally love working in post production and have created my "photo thumbprint" using the tools of the digital editing world. It is my favorite part. I love giving mother nature a bit of an imaginative boost!... plus all the cool kids are doing it. 

I work almost completely in Photoshop, I use Lightroom every once in a while, and have no experience with Aperture.

So here's one of my secrets (if you can call it that)... I shoot in Raw, therefore my first round of editing is done in the RAW editor in photoshop. I then save the final images to a folder as JPGs. I upload those to an online gallery for my clients to view. In that gallery I ask them to choose their top 50 favorites, to those favorites I add my "secret potion" editing I have developed using actions and what not, all strictly in Photoshop. 

I honestly have NO idea what the workflow of other photographers is. I have never attended a photography workshop, so my way might be completely off the wall... but it works for me and I love it. Do whatever works for you.

Now the RAW thing also brings me to another common question...

3. "RAW vs Jpg."

I shoot everything in RAW.

RAW seizes more file information from the situation or subject you are capturing. A jpg is a condensed, compressed version of the moment you capture. It does not contain as much file information as RAW does and can appear to be of less quality, because in all actuality, it is.

Now, the drawback to RAW is that it takes up so much stinking space on your CF card and on your computer. It can be incredibly difficult to sort though thousands of RAW images from a wedding when jpgs would have taken up half the space and made for a more time efficient editing process. However a great little perk to shooting in RAW means that you have more file information to work with as you plug it into photoshop for tweaking... you can literally turn an overshot white, colorless sky into the brilliant blue your eye actually saw, by the slide of your mouse.

My outlook on the whole RAW vs Jpg thing is this- I would rather produce the highest possible quality photo, than save time and energy. 

4. "What is the best time of day for a photoshoot? What is the best possible lighting situation?"

I think the best time for a shoot is 2 hours before sunset. You can utilize the low set sun to create dramatic backlit images, sunflare, or high contrast lighting in certain situations. As the sun sets, you have complete shade for another 30 mins. or so. (at least here in Colorado) Shade is great because the light is completely even everywhere, perfect for classic portraits. 

But, really a few of my favorite lighting scenarios have to do with being completely indoors. Such as window light in a dark room, or in a dark room using a low light lens with NO flash. Just think outside the box when it comes to lighting, and your photos will be much more attractive to stare at.

Now, there is one lighting scenario that annoys me and I try to ALWAYS avoid... blotchy broken light.

This is usually found under trees during a bright day. I am sure in some situations for the sake of art this could work, but usually it doesn't. There is nothing worse than a beautiful face attacked by blotchy light. If you find your subjects in this situation, either find complete shade or turn on your flash.

5. "How do I make sure my photos always come out nice and sharp?"

Other than the use of the all too popular tilt-shift lens (all the cool kids are using these), blurryness can be a no no. Especially when you meant for it to be sharp in the first place. Ok, yes, sometimes blurry photos can be so awesome, such as the shot below which was accidently blurry and I love it. BUT most of the time shooting sharp is the way to go.

A few ways to avoid unintentional blur is to pay attention to a few things.

1. Are you photographing more than one subject? If so, be sure that your aperture is set at 3 or above. If it is set below that, than someone is bound to be out of focus unintentionally. 

2. Is your shutter speed too low? If you are in a low lit situation, instead of lowering your shutter, raise your ISO. Keeping your shutter around 100 (or better 200) in low light will help alleviate camera shake resulting in a blurred image.

3. Give your camera at least a second or two to process the shot you just took before you lower it to take a peek. Sometimes immediately lowering the camera after a shot to look at the image will result in motion blur.

4. Shooting at a very low ISO can do wonders to sharpen an image due to less grain. When outdoors during a sunny day... adjust your ISO to 100. This allows for the sharpest out of camera image to start with. The higher the ISO the more grain and the less crisp your photo will appear.

6. "Where is the line between being inspired and being a copycat?"

I was reading a blog post by the famous Jasmine Star one of the top 10 photographers in the world, and her outlook on this subject was right on. Here it is in my own words and thoughts....

I think inspiration is the key to success. Every single photographer on this planet gains inspiration from someone who is better and more experienced than they are. Nothing is new under the sun and everything has been done before somewhere somehow, so taking ownership of a pose or editing style is ridiculous! I don't own the poses I put my clients in nor can I take %100 credit for the locations I choose or the photoshop editing I do. It is presumptuous to think someone is stealing from you poses and editing styles- because lets face it, there are THOUSANDS of photographers these days all doing similar things. So when I see someone who's style I think is similar to mine, I chose to be blessed that I may be their inspiration rather than get angry and point fingers.

Yes, there are times when I strive so hard to come up with something new and different only to see it has already been done before. But I think the key here is that at least I tried to be different, I tried to be original, even if it turned out some big wig in Cali had already thought of the same thing. Try your best to BE ORIGINAL, even if everything has been done before. 

Did you know there had been many previous "Davids" sculpted before Michelangelo presented his to the world? Painting/sculpting a "David" figure was the trend back then, but his David was spectacular not because it had never been done before, but because of his original interpretation of it.

"David" Sculpted by Donatello circa 1440 on left and "David" sculpted by Michelangelo in 1501 on right

So continue to be inspired by others, but be intentional in creating your own original interpretation of your inspiration.

Well, I hope all this babbling helps at least SOMEONE out there on their photography adventures! Thanks for reading!

Brian came across these guys... wow, I love when new inspiration is found.

These are the most beautiful wedding videos I have ever seen! Mostly shot with the new Canon 5d mark II... which is what I use... maybe I should expand my job title to include wedding videos as well.

I really do enjoy being a part of this industry. 

If you've got $10k just lying around waiting to be spent... spend it here! Incredible...

stillmotion.ca ... click on website, then cinema.