Keep up the excellent work.

From the great white North eh?

Be happy at whatever level you fall into and enjoy photography or find something else to do.

Though I still don’t know what I’ll charge, I will bring along model releases and at least have an idea that photo rights are important

Yeah, light meters. I am usually always setting up before the client arrives and can chimp at it a a bit until I get it right. My lighting set up varies quite a bit on location shoots due to extreme variances in ambient light and I can tell you that I really unfortunately haven’t been able to shoot enough to develop a stronger sense of intuition about my lights. I know that only comes with experience…lots of experience shooting and practicing. Unfortunately, due to the launch of another business this past year I haven’t had the time I would really like to just shoot, and shoot for me, not an assignment. Hopefully, over the Christmas break (under the guise of family holiday portraiture) I can really get some personal time with my camera and speed lights without the pressure of the clock ticking.

Many of the techniques I “know” I learned right here thanks to your posts, Jim and I appreciate all the work that goes into your blog. It really helps someone like me who will never aspire to your depth and level of photography skills and knowledge but still can benefit from great bits of information and insight. However, just knowing stuff is not enough. I need time to go out and practice all these ideas that I’ve learned so it becomes intuitive and not a cerebral undertaking. I’m workin at it…..one day I’ll get the hang of it. Until then, though, I really really really am enjoying all the learning experiences along the way through your site. Thanks for all the great advice and insight, Jim and I wish continued success to your studio and website.

Just one mention and a perspective: I’m not super-familiar with the motion picture industry and directors but, as Adrien said, they don’t just get a paycheck and it’s done. They get paid a fixed amount no matter what the movie does but they also negotiate for “points”. If the movie is successful then they share in a percentage of the distributor’s adjusted gross. If the movie is licensed for television then the directors, actors and writers all share in the residuals. The same goes in the music industry, the writers and musicians get paid when their song is played, in addition to the creative fee.

Here’s where it gets complicated: we recognize the above people as artists. Are advertising photographers artists? Or are we blue collar tradesmen? Some clients treat us like artists, some view as as plumbers there to fix a leak. My studio works for a mix of both and we do treat the situation differently. More on that next week.

Toby…light meters! I really only use a meter for the situations you’ve alluded to, when the client is on the set and it has to be set up correctly the first time. I’ve used my lights so many times there’s an intuition about power settings. But to nail it on the first go ’round, definitely get a meter. My Minolta IV is always in the bag, just in case.

Touche Jim, with the software analogy. We all license the software that we “buy”. I would, however use K Kathman’s argument that the software companies, not us the clients, paid to have that product made and can therefore choose to distribute it however they see fit. As does the movie industry where the movie studio paid to have that product made, not us or even the director. The director who shot the film collected his pay and turned it over to the client….the movie studio…the guys who bankrolled the whole job. I would like to see a movie director tell the studios that they can “use” the movie for a certain length of time but that since he shot the film, the intellectual property belongs to him/her. If, on the other hand, a photographer chose to shoot some micro-stock and put it on, let’s say, istockphoto for the purpose of financial gain, then since the photographer is the one commissioning the art then he/she absolutely should have sole discression over it’s distribution methods.

On another note, having learned many valuable nuggets of information from this blog and Jim, I was wondering, Jim, do you frequently use light meters in your studio & location shoots? I have not purchased a light meter yet. The reason I am interested in doing so now is I’d like to cut down the amount of time it takes to get exposures dialed in. The amount of time it takes me is a minor inconvenience but I would really like some improvement in that area. Sorry to post this question on this thread. Let me know if there is a more appropriate place to ask a question like this. I think I have seen (many times) most if not all of your videos. Have you done any on your methods of light metering?