Turn Your Photography in to Some Extra Cash...

Have you ever wondered how you could make some money with your photography? Some budding photographers buy a new camera and expect the jobs to come rolling in... But National Geographic hasn't called yet... so here are some simple ways to pay the water bill with your newly found love of photography. (There are countless blogs out there that promise you fame and riches with the snap of a shutter. We are not one of them.) BUT, in this blog we will walk you through some realistic, simple ideas as to how to turn your hobby in to some extra spending money.

1- PORTRAITS (home studio): This may seem expensive and overwhelming. Don't fret. There are some really attainable ways to create a home studio these days. The best way to start taking portraits and transform any room in to a home studio is a background support system A background support system is the basis of any home studio. I say that because if you are on a really tight budget, you can always take this outside, and use the sunlight to light your subject. A backgound support system with a muslin backdrop is the only thing the picture will reveal. You can get a support system with the essentail backdrops for right around $100 bucks. This is the best way to transform any photo in to a professional portrait. http://www.skaeser.com/servlet/Categories?category=BACKGROUND+SUPPORT+SYSTEMS:KITS

2- PRODUCT: If you want to make a few dollars, and have some extra stuff lying around, a picture is worth a thousand bucks... maybe. A great way to photograph product is using a product photo tent. These work wonderfully for small to medium objects and are really easy to use. The tent itself works as a diffuser- softening the light, and getting rid of any harsh shadows. The best part of about these is you don't need a fancy camera. Any point and shoot camera wil get the job done! We sell complete product tent kits with light stands and daylight balanced fluorescent bulbs for right around $100 too. Check them out here. http://www.skaeser.com/servlet/Categories?category=LIGHTING:LIGHT+TENT

Well, i hope that helps. If you have any ideas for another blog or any questions at all- let us know.

What is an F-Stop? Aperture Explained...

So,

You have been taking pictures for a while, and have always wondered what it actually means when people refer to an F-Stop... right?

The picture above is a great visualization as to what an F-stop can do to an image. The upper left hand corner is shot with an f-stop of f32, and the lower right hand corner with an f5. As you can see, depth of field is the most obvious thing that changes with an F-stop. Pictures taken with a lower F# tend to have only one subject in focus, and a higher f# will have more in focus. (more depth of field)

Now we have to tackle the problem of light. You will quickly notice that as soon as you adjust your f# to a higher number, your pictures will look exponentially darker... (There is something known as reciprocity that explains the relationship between exposure, ISO and F#.)

To combat this problem we must adjust the shutter speed in a corresponding mannner, and luckily for us, on 99% of the cameras out today, shutter speeds are arranged in a similar way, so that one step in the shutter speed scale corresponds to one stop in the F# scale.

So, have fun shooting!

(A rule of thumb for adjusting aperture manually is as follows: doubling the f-number increases the necessary exposure time by a factor of four.)