My Pre-Photoshoot Checklist

Before I go out to any photoshoot, I make sure I bring everything that I may need. I may need different things depending on the type of shoot, but here is a list of things I always bring with me.

• Camera (duh!)

• Backup camera: you never know when your main camera will break or fail

• Phone: good for framing or getting ideas

• Wide angle lens: 10-20mm

• Prime lens: 35mm

• Telephoto lens: 55-200mm

• Extra SD cards

• Tripod and Gorillapod

• Continuous lighting (and mounts): the lights that are continuously on

• Strobes (and mounts): the lights that “flash”

• Extra batteries: for camera and strobes

• Camera battery charger

• Soft boxes: the square boxes and umbrellas that soften the light

• Diffuser/Reflector: that folding disk thing that has shiny sides and black/white sides

• Extension cord

• Multi-outlet/Power Strip

• Hat and gloves: if it’s an outdoor shoot and it’s cold

• Wraps/blankets/pillows/bean bag: for newborn shoots

• Space heater: also for newborn shoots

• Dog/cat treats: definitely not for newborn shoots, but for pet portraits

• Pocket calendar/planner

• Pen

• Business cards

I try to keep what I bring with me only what I need, because photography equipment can get quite heavy. I tend to find that keeping things simple makes the creative process easier and more fun. Don’t get me wrong, equipment and gear is important, especially with bigger shoots, but don’t overthink or overcomplicate it.

ΔAbbi

What is an LLC?

I recently announced that Abigail Schmidt Photography is now an LLC. I’m going to give a basic explanation for what that means for my business and what it means for me as an individual. I don’t want to get too deep into it or make it too confusing, so I will keep this pretty short.

LLC stands for Limited Liability Company, which is just a type of business entity. Other types of business entities include Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, or Corporations. Larger businesses are typically Corporations whereas small businesses with only a few employees are Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships or LLC’s. Each classification of business entity has its own legal requirements and registration fees involved.

Before I go any farther, I want to emphasize that if you are going to do business that involves any kind of transactions, you really should be registering your business with the county or state and keeping records so you do not get in any legal trouble!

So what are the benefits to becoming an LLC? I am the owner of my photography business, but registering it as an LLC separates me as an individual from my business. This means that my personal assets and the assets of the business are separate. If, for any reason, somebody wanted to press charges against my business, my personal funds and belongings would be safe and they would only be able to have access to what the business owns. As far as functionality goes, an LLC isn’t much different from a Sole Proprietorship. You pay taxes as an LLC pretty much the same way you would as a Sole Proprietor.

If you are a Sole Proprietor, you do not have the protection of being separated from your business. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a Sole Proprietor, but you just need to consider the possible risks if there are any.

My business becoming an LLC, for me, was a satisfying big step! If any of you are considering starting a business, becoming an LLC is a great option!

Have a happy Monday! 

 Δ Abbi

The Exposure Triangle: Explained.

There are three factors you need to assess when shooting in manual mode (if you’re a professional photographer or you want to be a professional, it’s important to know what these things mean). You have to learn how to balance the three of these properly, because if you change one setting, it will affect the exposure of the photo, which means you will have to change another setting.

Aperture

Aperture is my favorite setting to use because it can change so much about the photo. I’ll explain. Aperture works kind of like the pupil of your eye. The wider the aperture (the smaller the number), the more light is let into the camera. The narrower the aperture (the larger the number), the less light is let into the camera. There’s another thing to note about aperture, though. If you set a wide aperture, say f/2.0, fewer things in the image will be in focus; the focal point will be a lot more specific. But if you have a narrower aperture, say f/10, more things in the frame will be in focus.

The photos above show a difference in aperture. The background in the photo to the left is more blown out, or more blurry. This means that the aperture is wider. The photo to the right has a slightly narrower aperture which allows you to see the background a little more clearly.

If you want to take a portrait of somebody, you’ll want to use a wider aperture. This will blow out the background and any foreground, and bring attention to the person.

If you want to take a picture of a beautiful landscape, a narrow aperture will be a better choice.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is basically just the speed at which the photo is taken. The shutter speed is measured in seconds or fractions of a second. So a shutter speed of 1/80 means one-eightieth of a second. 1/500 means one five-hundredth of a second. The slowest shutter speed that most cameras offer is up to 30 seconds, but it’s not often that you would need that kind of exposure.

The photo above shows the same situation at different shutter speeds. The pinwheel to the very left has a fast shutter speed because it froze it in time. The pinwheels to the right were taken using slower shutter speeds which shows the motion of them. Motion blur can be a good thing. Many photographers use slower shutter speeds to make moving water more smooth or to show propeller movement at an air show.

Let’s say you’re taking a photo of a landscape. You will want a narrow aperture. In using the narrow aperture, less light is getting into the camera, so you will want to keep the shutter open for longer. But like I said, the longer you keep the shutter open, though, the more likely you are to get a blurry photo. That is why landscape photographers use tripods and shutter remotes, to reduce the amount of camera shake.

Portrait photography usually doesn’t require such a narrow aperture, which means you can have a faster shutter speed.

ISO

ISO stands for International Organization of Standardization. I don’t know why it’s called ISO instead of IOS, but that’s just how it is. ISO is the sensitivity of your camera’s sensor (the photo above shows what a camera sensor looks like). So a low ISO means that your camera will be less sensitive to light. You want to use a low ISO of 100 in bright situations. An ISO of 800 would be used in a very dark situation.

Warning!! You lose photo quality when you use a higher ISO. That is why you need to use the lowest ISO required for the situation. The two photos below show how you can lose quality when using higher ISO’s. The photo on the top was taken using a lower ISO. It is not as exposed as the photo below it, but you can see the photo below has more noise or grain. A little grain isn’t a bad thing. You just need to decide what works best for you as a photographer.

Higher end cameras can achieve higher ISO’s, but it is still important to use the lowest ISO possible for the situation.

Don’t be scared of using a high ISO. Push your camera to it’s limit to see what it is capable of.

Balancing All Three

Now that we understand all three of the settings, we need to learn how to use all of them together.

Let’s say the sun has set, but there’s still a bit of sunlight left. We want to take a picture of a meadow with some trees. The settings I would use would be as follows: Narrow aperture of f/10, slower shutter speed of 1/30 or even slower, and a medium ISO of 400.

Now let’s say we’re taking a portrait of somebody outside on a sunny day, but the ground is covered in snow. The snow acts as a giant reflector which will allow a lot of light into the camera. My settings would be approximately a wider aperture of f/3, a fast shutter speed 1/500 or faster, and a low ISO of 100.

Of course, these are just approximations. You won’t know the exact settings you need until you’re in the situation.

If you look at these photos here, you can see that the one to the left is under-exposed, the one in the middle is exposed properly and the one to the right is over-exposed. Each setting is unique on its own, but they all play a part in exposing your photo.

If you haven’t starting shooting in manual mode, it’s time you start! Shooting in manual gives you control over the situation. Auto mode in cameras are pretty decent these days, but if you want to take your photography to the next level, practice using your own settings. It’ll be difficult at first, but once you learn, it’ll be second nature!

Δ Abbi

Why Competition is a Good Thing.

You might be a photographer like me, or you might be something completely different. Whatever your profession or hobby, competition exists.

The illusion is that the competition is a bad thing. My message is: don’t be fooled by that!

Competition keeps professionals on the edge. The downside to this, of course, is that somebody is going to fall short, but the beauty is that everybody has a chance to shine! If others are doing better than you, evaluate why that may be the case.

In the case of photography, you have to look not only at the quality of the photos, but also at customer service strategies and activity on social media. There are so many reasons why others might be more successful than you. It’s okay to imitate how others gain success. They’re successful for a reason (don’t plagiarize though, that can get you in trouble)!

In photography, there was film, and then things changed to digital. The photographers who refused to learn digital became irrelevant because they couldn’t offer what the market was demanding. That’s not to say that there is no longer a market for film photography. Sometimes it’s good to be able to offer a variety of services. So if you were someone who preferred film, keep it as a hobby and offer it to clients who may want that option, but don’t forget to evolve with the market!

What I’m trying to say is, if you find that you aren’t gaining success, look to those who are and get inspired by them! Instead of getting discouraged, try celebrating your competitors because there is so much you can learn from them.

If we didn’t have competition in the world, things would never improve and there’d be no reason to innovate the industry. You know the saying: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” That doesn’t apply to everything, but I think it applies here!

Let competition be fun! I’d definitely like to hear what you guys have to say about your experiences dealing with competition! Share them in the comments!

I hope your year is going well so far!

Δ Abbi

What is your New Year's resolution?

I’ve made big strides this year. There are many things I achieved that I didn’t think I would, and there were other things on which I fell short. That doesn’t mean I still didn’t improve on those things, it just means that I didn’t get as far as I wanted.

I am so excited for 2019! I have so many ideas and plans for the new year! My new online shop will be debuting in January. I can’t wait to make this big business step. There is so much I can’t wait to learn from this experience.

I also can’t wait to continue my personal improvement. I think we all try to improve ourselves each year but after a while, we get side tracked or we forget our goals. Sometimes we set goals but put them off because we don’t feel like we’re ready. The truth is, we’re never really going to be comfortable making big changes. You just have to do it and learn as you go.

That may seem scary, but if you have the right attitude, it’s not! I encourage you all to make big goals this year and stick to them. Your goals might seem farfetched or impossible, but if you take action, you can do so much more than you think you can.

If you start now, you will be so much farther ahead of yourself than if you were to put it off and start later. You will be glad you did!

Lastly, don’t give up on yourself. You may not have control of everything, but you have control of yourself. If there is something you want, work hard to get it. If you have a dream, settle for nothing less. And encourage others to do the same.

If we’re all a little nicer, a little kinder, a little more supportive of each other, this place will be a lot easier to live in.

Okay, I’m done with the cheesy speech. I hope you all enjoy celebrating the new year!

What goals will you be setting for yourself in 2019? I can’t wait to hear them!

Δ Abbi