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Disjointed jottings from Terry Hansen - part 2 of 1 2 3

by Terry Hansen Published

Certainly there are lots of opportunities that digital can offer and many amazing pictures will be created, all I am saying is approach digital sensibly and be sure that the route you take is actually going to benefit you and your business.

Talking about insurance. Do you all have Professional Indemnity insurance? If not you are taking a tremendous risk. If you do have a problem on a wedding, in today's litigious society, you could be faced with a big bill for damages etc. The really silly thing about Professional Indemnity insurance is that it would seem that if a bride or groom ask if you have this insurance, you should not admit to it. It seems crazy but a photographer recently had a camera failure on a wedding and lost three rolls of film. To placate the emotional bride, the photographer told her, as any normal person would "Don't worry I have Professional Indemnity insurance, we will be able to re-shoot the pictures".

Unfortunately when a claim was submitted to the Insurers, they said the claim was invalid because the photographer told the bride they had Professional Indemnity Insurance and had therefore admitted liability. Something that should not be done under the terms of the policy. It's a crazy world we live in.

Having just returned from Focus where I was judging Licentiate submissions, I was reminded that there is one reason above all others why photographs fail and that is the lack of control of the light. I am mainly talking here about wedding photographs, when the photographer just accepts the lighting conditions that he or she is presented with and uses it regardless of whether it is suitable or not. It could be harsh direct sun, dappled light through trees, low winter sun etc. We as professional photographers must make an effort to control lighting conditions. Reposition the subjects, shoot against the light and most importantly, get light into the eyes.

Many photographs fail because the eyes are too dark. Use reflectors or fill flash, but in a subtle way so that the casual observer is not even aware of the techniques that have been used. Too often I see pictures over flashed with the backgrounds appearing too dark with black shadows around the subjects. Learn to control your fill flash. Take some test shots and check that the automatic flash settings you use are in, in fact, accurate at close distances. Not all automatic flash guns are as accurate as we would like to believe.

Having just completed a tour of the country with my seminar on making loads of money without a studio I shall soon be starting a tour for the Society on practical portraiture and wedding photography with an emphasis on "hands on" for those delegates attending. The seminar will be covering posing, lighting, props, using light outdoors etc. Delegates can also bring along samples of work which will be critiqued and an indication given as to their quality regarding qualification. This will be done anonymously so no one will be embarrassed. Check the magazine for a venue near you.

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1st Published
last update 09/12/2022 14:53:28

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