After discussing marketing plans in the morning, we had the opportunity to photograph our two models around the hotel grounds and part of the old city centre – the Tudor building you see was (sadly) one of the few ancient structures to survive bombing by the Germans during the war.

I always enjoy capturing some images on a compact camera – it’s a really great way of reminding clients that it’s our training and knowledge which gets the shots – not the camera we use. I had my Fuji X 10 with me as usual and the portraits below (and the shots above) were taken with it. I think it’s a great little camera for controlled portraiture, it has all the manual controls a photographer needs and it feels solid and responsive in the hand. The portraits below (and the images above) were all captured with the X10 (by the way, that’s not noise on the background in the picture below – it’s a sort of pebble-dash finish favoured by some hotels).

I’m not suggesting that a compact camera can cover all bases – there are occasions where we have to compress perspective and introduce shallow depth of field (such as when we want to lose cluttered backgrounds) and this is very much the province of larger sensor cameras (ditto we will need recourse to a good DSLR when fast and very accurate auto focus is needed) so for the images below I used the new Canon 5D MkIII.  In fact this was the first time I’d use this camera for portraits, and I have to say the quality of the RAW files is fantastic, and very little work is needed when it comes to processing them. When I first got the camera last month I didn’t have RAW support in the software I was using, so I shot JPEG on my first outing, and I have to say I was disappointed by how soft and lacking in detail those JPEGs were – it was such a relief to see the full beauty of the RAW files, and the lowlight capability of this camera is simply phenomenal. And so it should be, given the price! On a slightly less positive note it is bigger and heavier than its predecessor – and since RSI and joint damage is increasingly common in our profession, that is not particularly good news – and it does explain why I will use the X 10 for all of my informal photography and the less complex portraiture that I do.

“it doesn’t matter how good a photographer you are, if you’re not a brilliant marketer and entrepreneur you’ll never earn a living”

“no matter how small the job, no matter how well you know the client, always have a contract”

“on average photography jobs will take 25% longer than estimated to complete and deliver”

“avoid working for friends and family, they’ll assume your terms and conditions don’t apply to them, they’ll tell you how to do your job, and they’ll rarely appreciate  your efforts”

“a social photographer is usually a photographer less than 5% of the time; the rest of the time they’re marketer, webmaster, accountant, copywriter, graphic designer, choreographer, negotiator, and project manager”

“always pursue Copyright infringement, your images are your property, and they are your livelihood”

“your clients will need to like you as much as they like your work”

“don’t go to bed until you’ve backed up that day’s shoot – even if you’re still in your office at 2am”

“never ask your friends or family for an opinion on your photography, because their reply will say more about the dynamic which exists in your relationship than the quality of the pictures”

“go to the gym regularly, so that you can carry several kilos of equipment for hours at a time”

“educate yourself, then educate your clients”

“you will never be able to please everybody, no matter how hard you try”

“never stop investing in your own training and development, and train with the best you can afford”

“always go that extra mile, even if you think nobody will notice”

“choose your clients carefully”

“clients are usually happiest if your background and aspirations match their own”

“there is no such thing as sick leave when you’re self-employed”

“80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your clients”

“a benefit of the job is that some of your clients will become your friends”

“remember that your clients want to know the advantages of working with you, rather than with your competitors”

“if your client wants you to lower your fees, offer them less of your time and fewer products – never offer a discount, or you’ll soon go bust”

“if you’re classically trained you should be able to cope with anything”

“sometimes saying ‘no’ is the only option”

“learn to cope with the weather”

“always meet your clients’ expectations, then try and exceed them”

“there’s no point having a set of business Terms if you don’t stick to them”

“there are few careers where no two days are ever the same – this is one of them”

“you’ll often hanker after a 9-5 job – that’s normal, but remember how you felt when you had that 9-5 job …”

“have backups of absolutely everything”

“there’s no cookie-cutter approach in photography – every photographer is different to the next one – you can’t base your fees, product pricing, and marketing on somebody else’s”

“estimate what your business will cost you to run, then double it”

“always find time for personal photographic projects”

“always know how much your clients will need to spend before you see a profit – it will be far more than you realise”

“a client who is shopping on price has little or no interest in the quality of your work and the time you will invest in them”

“remember that you’re an ambassador for your industry”

“always have a plan, and be prepared to adjust it when you need to …. then move on to plan c, and plan d”

“every client will be completely different to the last one, so treat them as individuals”

“share your knowledge, and give back what you can”

“a supportive partner is your best asset”

“you may not be able to have a dog until you retire”

“a sense of humour will go a long way”

“never watch the clock”

I love taking photographs whenever I find myself somewhere interesting. I use a compact camera for my personal work, because hauling around heavy professional camera bodies and lenses is the last thing I want on a day off, my poor old body simply will not stand it!  There are plenty of good compact cameras on the market. Professional photographers such as myself and advanced amateurs will want something which gives them full manual control, because any camera switched to auto cannot possibly interpret what you have in your mind – auto settings won’t tell the camera how you want to expose the scene, or how much depth of field you want (or don’t want), or what shutter speed you need for your given subject etc etc. I use a Fuji X 10 because it gives me all the control that I have on a big camera, with a good user interface and more importantly a fast manual focus zoom lens which helps me to react quickly to key moments as they arise. But remember that no compact camera (at least at the time of writing this) will give you the control and the image quality that a good DSLR will provide, because they are two completely different things. But it is possible to buy a compact camera nowadays which will have excellent image quality, ideal for displaying online and for printing to at least A4 size if not larger. The key thing is size and convenience, I can put my compact camera on a strap across my body, under a coat or jacket, and I can forget it’s there – it will also fit in my handbag or in coat pockets quite easily.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, a nice change after all the rain we’ve had recently. But blaring sunlight during the middle hours of the day is usually a photographer’s worst nightmare, because we are at risk of getting blown out highlights and scenes which have too much contrast. There’s nothing we can do about this of course if we’re at an outdoor event, we just need to meter the scene carefully and try and move around to reduce the effects of harsh sun. You will get the odd blown highlight, particularly if you’re shooting JPEG, but on personal outings I wouldn’t worry about this too much.

I’ve photographed Amberley Chalk Pits Museum several times. It can be a real challenge photographing the same place over and over again, so we need to look at new ways of photographing what we see, exploring different angles and viewpoints. If you open your eyes, you’ll always spot something new.

Many of the finest photographers I know get by perfectly well with what might be described as entry-level cameras. They simply don’t want to lug around big heavy bodies, and very sensibly any knowledgeable photographer will understand the importance of putting his or her money where it really matters – good glass. The quality of the lenses you use is far, far more important than the camera body attached to that lens. Put a cheap kit lens on a good camera and if you were to pixel peep a skilled viewer will see that the image will have less detail than if high quality optics had been used.

When I’m asked what cameras I use I rarely have the energy to justify my choices and it’s far easier to simply say “any” or “mostly Canon cameras” with the proviso that I have excellent lenses at my disposal. It makes no difference which brand or manufacturer you favour, you simply need the right tools for the job. I have several cameras and I benefit from kit which serves specific purposes – here are some of my favourite bodies:

• Canon EOS 5dMkIII – this is one heck of a beast and it will set you back a small fortune, but for some assignments the advanced features it provides are a pre-requisite. It’s costly because it has a very sophisticated autofocus system which is vital to the animal portraiture and wildlife photography that I also do (you can see this work on the Pets site, accessed via the top menu bar) and it has a reasonable amount of weather sealing. Importantly, it has very good lowlight capability and most professional photographers will pay a premium for that, since it allows us to get a usable shutter speed in poor conditions. This camera is also quite big and it is heavy, painfully so when a professional grade fast lens is attached to it. So is there any way around this wrist-breaking discomfort? Yes ….
• Canon EOS 550D – this is an absolute cracker of a camera and many of my competition images have been shot with it. It’s small, light, and very affordable. It sits in Canon’s mid-range lineup, but it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. First of all it boasts the same excellent APS-C  sensor found in the 7D (which is the bedrock camera for many portrait and wedding photographers) and it’s pretty fast and impressive in operation. It’s affordable because the body is plastic rather than magnesium alloy, and it lacks some of the programming conveniences of its professional bigger brothers. It won’t last as long as a professional body of course, but that doesn’t stop many professionals from using this camera and others like it. I would not hesitate to use it on any assignment. But we are often judged by our equipment – and we will have to accept that some clients might feel we’re not being professional unless we’re breaking our back carrying the latest 5 or 1 series bodies (though that is largely negated by putting an impressive lens on front of a smaller camera). Many wedding photographers fear that they will be looked down on if the guests have a bigger camera than they do, such is the skewed public perception of what makes a pro shooter.
• Canon EOS 40D – many owners of this camera have elevated it to sainthood because everything about it feels “right”. It’s considered to be older technology, I think it first came out about six years ago or thereabouts, but the low pixel density and the size of the photocells pretty much guarantees very pleasing image quality and pretty good noise control. It’s also fast and responsive and it makes a brilliant second camera or backup.
• Fuji X10 – almost every professional photographer I know has a compact camera of some sort, because there really is nothing worse than finding yourself somewhere beautiful or interesting and having no means of recording what you’re seeing, simply for your own personal enjoyment. And professionals really don’t want to carry their heavy pro kit around on a rare day off, since we are always hurting from our last assignment. You will find a raft of X 10 photographs under the Personal Work section of this blog. This little rangefinder-type camera is a real pleasure to use, it has the necessary characteristics such as full manual control and a fast zoom lens, and it’s pretty good in low light despite the small sensor.

Since lenses are by far and away the most important contents of any photographer’s kitbag, I own a wide selection of Canon’s ‘L’ lenses which are optically superb, however they are extremely large and heavy. I most often use the 24-70 f2.8L, 24-104 f4L, 70-200 f2.8L, and the 16-35 f2.8L. I also highly rate the wonderful Sigma 17-50 f2.8 and the Tamron equivalent.

As the desire for smaller and lighter cameras increases (I know a great deal of injured photographers who suffer tendonitis, RSI, numbness and pretty much every form of back and neck pain) manufacturers are starting to develop some exciting new concepts. For example the Fuji XPro-1 – it is a small rangefinder type body which is currently available with three prime lenses. This kind of camera is quite different to a DSLR, so you won’t get the same speed of operation or frame rate, and therefore it is designed more towards the portrait or even wedding photographer who is seeking a small discrete setup which will leave him or her mercifully free of pain at the end of the day. For that reason alone I’m tempted to consider one of these for my portrait work.

I’ve been in many off-duty situations where a member of the public or a well-equipped amateur photographer has made a typical judgement when we have encountered each other. I might be wandering around an event with my little X 10 and a well-meaning chap will approach me and ask if I’d like some tips on how to use my camera. I sometimes say yes, just to lighten up my mood, and I’ve often made a friend as a result. Ditto when I’m out and about with my 550D, unless I have a big expensive lens stuck to it. As a professional photographer I am not interested in the cameras that the people around me are using – but I do enjoy watching how they take pictures, because that will tell you far more about their competence than their kit ever will.

The key message here is to buy only what you require. Professionals understand this very well but very often amateurs will pay for equipment and features that they simply don’t need (most often because it will look good!). As a general rule if you’re going to be photographing regularly indoors or in dim conditions than a body with good lowlight capability will be your priority. If you’re going to be mainly photographing fast moving subjects then accurate autofocus and focus tracking, combined with a fast enough frame rate will be more important. You can get all of that in the latest consumer grade bodies, however professional photographers usually need rugged cameras capable of withstanding a high number of shutter actuations, and that is where the pro models come in. Professionals also need backup kit, and the less expensive bodies can be perfect in this role because they’re not going to be used as often as the lead camera.

You’ll notice that I mix both FX and APS-C bodies in my kit bag. For the way I work, and the things I photograph, there are real advantages in using both systems. When I need a bit of extra reach from my lenses the 1.6x multiplier of the crop bodies is great to have, and when I want shallower depth of field and creamy ‘bokeh’ nothing beats a fast lens on a full frame 35mm FX sensor. I have large rugged bodies and the odd small light body, depending on how long I’ll be on my feet, weather or not it’s raining, or how far I have to walk with my kit. These are all important judgements that each individual photographer, be they professional or amateur, must make.

• Technical  - an understanding of the relationship between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO/ASA will determine not only your exposure but your depth of field and the creative freezing or enhancement of motion. Your focal point will emphasize or de-emphasize your subject. The focal length/lens used will expand or compress elements of your scene and should also be considered with care.
• Light – light creates shape as it wraps around or bounces off a subject and the environment. Without the right amount of light, and the right quality of light, and the correct direction of light, we don’t really have an image. Being able to see how the light affects a scene is crucial. I’ll often move around my subject until the light which is available to me (we often have to make the best of what we get on our personal outings – and it’s often rubbish) does what I want it to do to the scene.
• Composition – photographs usually consist of a subject, a foreground, a background, and other elements such as secondary subjects, repeating patterns, lead in lines such as roads or paths, negative space, frames within frames, and of course colour. How we place those elements in our frame is vital to creating a balanced scene which will capture the viewer’s eye, and if necessary tell a story. We need to be able to decide which elements are important and which are unnecessary or distracting. Before you press the shutter, look at what you are actually seeing and assess which elements are present and how you can use them – this will often make you move around and change your vantage point, or perhaps abandon the shot altogether and seek a new one.
• Postproduction – every photograph we take whether film or digital will usually require some work during the processing stage. JPEG images are usually very good straight out of the camera providing you have nailed your exposure, made good use of the light, and paid attention to the other bits mentioned above. All my work is processed and converted through Adobe Lightroom. I use Photoshop only for images where detailed retouching and cloning is needed.

I keep my postprocessing very simple indeed, my personal photography is shot mostly in JPEG format (so make sure you don’t blow the highlights, because you won’t be able to recover the lost detail) and these images receive a very subtle curve adjustment to the mid-tones – there’s very little difference between the before and after photographs, but the image just has a little more pop and depth. If I find myself in high contrast situations or mixed lighting indoors, I’ll quickly switch to RAW – these files will need a bit more attention during the post-processing phase, and I’ll give them some extra contrast and usually I’ll add a bit of vibrance. The black and white conversions are a whole different ballgame where the various colour channels are likely to need adjusting depending on the scene. Very occasionally I’ll cross process some of my urban street photography images. On the subject of colour, when shooting JPEG my decisions are usually influenced by which kit I’m using – with my little Fuji X 10 I’ll always use auto white balance because it’s extraordinarily accurate. With my DSLRs I’ll occasionally use auto white balance for JPEGs, otherwise I’ll choose a pre-set. Custom white balance readings and grey cards are the province of my professional assignments, where I’m normally shooting RAW with a fixed Kelvin setting and I may or may not place a grey card in each scene if I need an accurate reference. But for the purpose of this post we’re talking about my habits on personal outings.

I always switch off any in camera noise reduction as this can reduce detail in JPEGs, even at low sensitivities. I also tend to turn down the sharpening, however that is purely personal taste and many photographers will swing in the opposite direction.

On the Fuji X 10 I tend to shoot in Aperture priority (or shutter priority if I’m doing something creative with movement) and I normally have dynamic range set to auto, and quite often simply for convenience I’ll use auto ISO if I’m going back and forth between outside areas and interiors (on a personal outing the last thing I want to be doing is constantly fiddling with my camera settings and these are two elements which the Fuji handles very well). The Fuji meters differently to a DSLR and in general less exposure compensation is needed when I’m faced with either a very bright scene or a scene with predominantly dark tones (where we normally underexpose accordingly). Given the size of the X 10 sensor, depth of field will be greater than that of a larger sensor which can be an advantage when we’re forced to shoot wide open in dim conditions and most of our scene will remain in focus.

To an extent photography is subjective, but like many professionals who have been classically trained my pet hates include blown highlights, expanses of blocked shadows, too much sharpening, and orange skin tones. I also groan when I see human subjects with their toes or feet cut off (I mean missing off the edge of the photograph). My other gripe is the tendency for new photographers to whack open their aperture to its maximum thinking the results will always be arty. Unfortunately they usually end up with out of focus subjects or simply soft images because a primary subject does not exist in the scene and the point of focus is random. There is no substitute for learning the basics, without an understanding of the elements set out above it will be impossible for any photographer to control the many situations he or she will encounter. Setting your camera on to Auto is often a disaster waiting to happen, the camera cannot know how much depth of field is appropriate, it won’t know if you’re trying to isolate your subject or create a vista where everything is focused, nor will it know if you want to freeze a moving subject. These are all decisions that you, and only you, should make. The basics are very nicely explained in a book called Understanding Exposure by Bryan Petersen – it’s available from Amazon and it’s a great introduction for novices who want to get the best from their camera. For the professionals amongst you, Light Science and Magic is the bedrock recommendation for the ultimate understanding of light and its behaviour.

Lastly, practice practice practice. There is no substitute to getting out there and making yourself try what you’ve learned. We’ve all had to suffer hundreds of bad pictures in our early years, there’s no avoiding that and beating yourself up if you fail to produce professional results is counter-productive. Keep going, you may not be aware of it but you will improve with every photographic outing.

Never let the rain put you off taking pictures. Rain adds atmosphere to photographs and reflections can add interest, even raindrops will add texture. The main consideration is keeping your equipment dry. I kept my camera tucked under my coat until I’d decided on a shot, and I sheltered under an umbrella while the camera was exposed (although this didn’t prevent me, and it, from getting a bit damp at times). When you’ve been in damp conditions always let your camera dry naturally at room temperature once you get home.

There’s a brief write up on my approach to my personal work HERE.

Creating hard, blocked up blacks is something I usually avoid in photography, but the ribs of the pier are just that – inky black, with little detail available as the sun sets in the background.

Petworth House is home to a priceless collection of art – I would encourage anyone to go and see the collection, which is quite breathtaking. Due to the rain I didn’t photograph the many sides of the house – I’ll leave that until the autumn.