Eric Hamilton – Celebrity / DJ / Nightlife Photographer

In a tough economy, selling pretty pictures to a business person is a hard sell. It calls for a different approach: Don’t focus on selling photography – focus on selling value. It’s all about Return On Investment.

Did you know that quality photography is one of the highest ROI investments for websites? If you’re a product photographer, seek out reports on the ROI of good quality photography, and then go out and pitch companies who could use a facelift. Show them the reports. If you can demonstrate that hiring you will pay for itself, you’re in the door!

I worked for two years as a nightlife photographer. When I started in Salt Lake City, nobody was getting paid to go out and shoot club events. Clubs and promoters traded access for photos. In response, I built a list of fans, and a rolodex of media contacts.

When I was able to show clubs and promoters that I could solve two business problems for them: bring in more fans, and get them press, they stopped laughing at the sticker price and started to hire me – and I earned more revenue licensing the photos to that rolodex of media contacts than I earned selling the service to the clubs and promoters.

Now there are crews of nightlife photographers covering dozens of events every week in Salt Lake City.

Whatever your specialty, somewhere there’s somebody who could use your services to solve their real-world business problems. Find them and when you pitch – don’t pitch photographs. Pitch solutions.

We interviewed DJ Skeet Skeet for some upcoming blog features while he was in Park City December 12. When we got to the hotel, a photographer from Skullcandy was already there setting up lighting for some lifestyle shots. (Skullcandy sponsors Skeet Skeet.) She was clearly planning environmental lifestyle shots (using ceiling bounce with diffuser and a bounce hood), so I went another direction and kept the focus on Skeet, rather than the environment.

Isolating your subject

• Look for sparse backdrops – not an easy thing to do in a cozy hotel room, but if you crop tight and plan the camera angle carefully, you can create isolating backgrounds almost anywhere.
• Light your subject and the background from opposite sides – In these shots, I lit Skeet Skeet and the background in reverse – that is, Skeet Skeet is lit from the left, and the background is lit from the right. This technique serves to distance the subject from the background and emphasize separation.
• Exploit background contrasts – In the top image, there is a black curtain that serves to split the background into two halves – light and dark. I placed the dividing line behind Skeet Skeet so that he would contrast with the background on both sides. Light on the dark background, and shadow on the bright background.
• Light your subject from behind – Light is bouncing off the background, creating glancing highlights on Skeet Skeet’s face, camera right. This technique is particularly important when the subject of your portrait has dark skin – which is more likely to vanish into a dark background.
• Use background elements to frame your subject – Mirrors, picture frames, windows, doorways, corners, you name it. Anywhere there are lines in the background, there is an opportunity to frame your subject with them.
• Create depth with shallow DoF – In the bottom image, there are four distinct levels of clarity visible in the shot. Skeet Skeet is in focus, the chandelier is just out of focus, the lamp is blurry, and the mirror almost looks like a watercolor smudge. The contrast between blurry and sharp is one of the most important clues your brain uses to determine the important part of the image. To achieve this effect, open your aperture wide, use a long focal length, get close to your subject, and create physical distance between your subject and the background.

Strobist Info: SB-600 bounced off umbrella camera left, SB-600 bounced from background camera right (creating right side highlights and background separation).

Check out the full set:

Learn the tricks professionals use to create balanced lighting for both indoor and outdoor photographs. We’ll cover exposing for flash; triggering off-camera flashes; balancing flash with available light; multiple lighting sources; umbrella lighting; controlling light with bounce flash, reflectors, snoots, and gels; and more.

Focus is on portrait photography, though other applications will be covered as desired. This class is designed for serious amateur and aspiring professional photographers. You will need an SLR camera and at least one external flash designed to fit in the camera hot-shoe.

Wednesdays 10/21/09 – 11/18/09 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Price: Tuition: $115.00 + Special Fee: $10.00 = $125.00
Note: See Annex entrance doors for classroom location.

Sorry! The class is packed and registration is closed.