FREE Marketing Webcast Today; New Series: No Excuses For Not Getting The Shot!

Good Morning Everybody,

We spent a great day in the city yesterday ending up our walking tour at Bryant Park, one of the nicest parks in the city.  We spent a little time watching the lawn bowlers finessing their skills for an upcoming tournament and before long I was asked to join in.  The game was Petanque and it was quite fun.

Next it was over to the Bryant Part outdoor reading room to listen to poetry by David Cho.  His poems were almost a verbal “Thank You” to his parents and grandparents for his Korean heritage. It was quite pleasant to hear his story and enjoy the artistry of his poetic words. I did a short video during one of his readings which you can watch right here.

No NYC park experience is complete without the chess players challenging themselves to the mental gymnastics of the game.  We caught the end of one game that did not end happily for either player.  One of the players knocked over a chess piece, delayed the game, and caused the other to lose by 1 second. We wondered off quickly ;~)

My FREE “LIVE” Animoto Webcast Today

Today is the day for my webcast at Animoto [link] - I hope to see you there.  In today's photography market, it's not always about finding new clients but more importantly about keeping the ones you have. 

I remember years ago reading that 80% of our business comes from 20% of our clients, and most of the 20% client base is our current client base!  That's why, when we find and are hired by a new client, we need to know that each and everyone of them are important to our success and we must do our best to keep them in the fold. Please sign in today at 2:00p.m. EDT to hear my key points on how to make that happen.  Here is the link to register right here.

Hey gang, today also marks the beginning of a brand new Photography/Lighting series here at DigitalProTalk.com. I'm calling it "No Excuse For Not Getting The Shot" for the next several weeks. I'll be discussing how to always come home with your best wedding photographs in spite of lousy lighting and/or weather conditions. You know, as a wedding photographer there simply are NEVER any excuses for not getting the shot.  It's what we're hired to do and as professionals, it’s ALWAYS our job to do it, NO excuses excepted.  Let's get to today's post.

No Excuses For Not Getting The Shot: Rainey Day Woes

Probably the weather I dislike photographing in the most is cold, rainy weather.  It's not good for the gear, my suit, or me.  But that still doesn't change the fact that under those circumstances, there are any excuses and you still need to come home with the photographs for your clients.

A few years ago I was photographing a wedding in Canton, Ohio.  The days leading up to the wedding were beautiful sunny summer days but as the big day arrived the clouds gathered in the morning and by the time we arrived at the bride's home the warm drizzle had begun. To the real disappointment of the bride and her mother, that meant no outdoor photographs.  The drizzle would not be good for the bridal gown, the girls' hair, or my gear.

The bride was really hoping to get some beautiful outdoor images on her wedding day so what's a wedding photographer to do?  My plan was quite simple - I could still give the look and feel of outdoor photographs by somehow working the outdoors into the background. 

That's right, if I could find a location to keep the wedding party dry but still have the greenery in the background, I should be able to get some really beautiful images.

Brides and grooms love sunny days - as a photographer, I prefer cloudy overcast days.  Overcast days really work best for photographs - no harsh shadows, soft light - everything I need to capture great images.  A rainy day is nothing more than a wet overcast day.  In fact the wetness saturated the green foliage even more. (At this point of writing the post, I' m humming to myself, "Always look on the bright side of life... ;~)

OK, all joking aside, let's look at a few images taken in the rain.  In all instances, I was able to position the subject on a porch attached to the house or the drop off area of the country club.

All the photographs shown in this post were taken on rainy days.  The first two were taken on the bride’s parents back porch.  The last two were taken under the drop off at the entrance to the country club.

I expose the background to give me good balance and color.  Since the subject’s are positioned on a porch or drive through, the light is both flat and darker than the background.  That means I easily add the light I need by firing my strobe through my Zumbrella to get the beautiful dimensional lighting I strive for as you can see in the images above.

Both clients got exactly what they were expecting in their wedding photography, outdoor photographs, and most importantly they loved the results.  At this point, I should mention that it’s up to you to build the expectation that they ARE going to love the photographs in spite of the weather.  It’s also up to you to make it happen. Get creative, think outside the box, get the shots – there are no excuses!

_____________________________________________________

Hey gang, that's it for me today.  I've got to get across town for my webcast.  I’ll see you shortly "on the air".  I hope to see you tomorrow for another addition of Business Day Thursday..  Because of our early wake up call, we head back home tomorrow, look for the post sometime in the afternoon after we land back home in Kentucky.

See ya' then, David