My experience‘s as a photographer.

By Simon Everett- photographer

35mm film

Starting from my latter schools days being given a B&W film camera & told to go off in small groups to the local town to photograph anything of interest, so we did just that, from doorways , passing 80s vehicles to local people walking into shops, we took 36 images of a 35mm of Kodak  roll of film.
After developing them in a dark room to the finished product the smell of the film & to see the hard work that we produced the final images, it was then I was sold to the idea that photography was something that would be a big part of my life.

The digital age.

So many camera’s what do you pick do you go Canon or do you go Nikon, or perhaps another make, for me I chose Canon why, I really couldn’t say perhaps I saw a lot of people with Canons at the time, so opted to go with the flow.
Now what would I take photographs, of  what would I be good at, what would I be bad at, it is a fine balance of what you feel comfortable with, & what you like to shoot, will you shoot weddings, landscapes, portraits, product or even the ever increasing world of street photography, there are many fields to choose from, So many people are put off by wedding photography  they can be stressful & you have little time to relax as the environment is forever changing, but I feel that I wanted to try every form of photography to experience it for myself, at least this would give me an idea of what I liked & didn’t like, As a photographer I can say I love all forms of photography, in all types of conditions & Environments which surprised me at the time, it’s a subject that I enjoy to learn and share with others.

Learning the skills

Learning the skills and aspects of your camera and equipment is key, never be in a rush to learn it all in a small time frame, it can take while, go through so give yourself a schedule of time to cover the area’s you want to learn as well as the general settings of your camera. First your manual will help you, even though I did not readily look to often at my manual I always referred to learning from youtube, from people like Christian at Academy of Photography, the tips,tricks & techniques to achieve better photos. Youtube is a massively useful resource of information.
Photography for me is always about learning something new all the time and above all to practice, practice, practice. If you have the passion of photography you will find that learning it is very enjoyable.

Conclusion

Whether you are new to photography or professional,  there is always something to be learnt, and lots of good people to meet and to share your work and ideas, it is like one big community.
Ranking myself as a photographer was easy enough deciding if I am a professional,  I left to others to give me feedback on how my photographs came across to them. After many years of taking tens of thousands of Photographs, I can say this it can be used not only as a form of making money but a worthwhile and relaxing hobby.
To any photographer I will say this keep going out and taking photographs, find great locations by using google maps, do your research, composition, lighting experiment as much as you can and dedicate some time to learning from Christian, and many other great photographers, by using social media and emails, twitter following and so on, you will find a lot of them willing to help you & advise you on issues you may be having or just to learn better techniques.
These are my experiences so far because like any photographer you are always learning.
Please feel free to contact me via my contact page in the menu bar .

Camera lens Cleaning tips

Camera lens Cleaning tips

Today I am going to talk about General cleaning and care of your all, important Camera lenses.
So where to start, what do you need:
You will need the following items:
Lens Cleaning or micro fibre cloth
Air blower or compressed air
Lens cleaning pen
Cotton buds
Soft microfiber cloth and some warm water or lens cleaning solution
As camera lens cost large amounts of money today it is always important to keep them in good working order, the below techniques can be performed at regular intervals, however as a general rule , if I have used any lens outside I would always give them a clean before packing them away, so they are good to go for the next shoot.
Let’s start with the outer casing of the lens this is the part that see’s most of the grubby hands marks and is open to the elements, so we will need to gently clean off any dirty marks. Using a microfiber cloth which you can pick up from any car accessary shop like Halfords or a DIY shop these are especially good for cleaning general dirt from the casing of the lens, using very small amounts of either warm soapy water but only very small amounts or a lens cleaning solutions gently wipe around the general area where you would normally use the focus ring taking care not to over soak the cloth and have access water or solution running down the lens, continue to change the cloth wiping area as you will notice that this will get increasingly dirty as you clean.

Lens element/ glass cleaning
Caution I would not recommend using any type of solution to wipe over the expensive element –Glass of your lens, for one reason not all lenses are weather sealed, though they can with stand very light rain, and two the lens itself is made with a blend of it’s own chemical mixture when being made, you can tell this as you look at your lens it will have a green, or blue tint to the glass so mixing more chemicals on to it I feel may have a reaction, so I would personally advise against it.
Step one using a lens brush which is very similar to a ladies make up brush lightly brush over the lens to make sure there is no fine particles of grit or sand, as you don’t want to start rubbing a cloth over the lens first as you may be rubbing that grit or sand across the lens which will scratch it.
Baring in mind you may have a UV filter attached this can be the case so using this technique can be done for both UV filter and element glass itself.
Once the brushing is complete you can now use the compressed air to blow anything left of the lens
WARNING: Never use the compressed air can upside down as this will cause the liquid inside to come out and it will instantly freeze to both your lens and your skin causing damage, to both your camera lens and in some cases frost bite. So ensure the can is always upright, and shake well before use, also be warned that prolonged use of the compressed air can it will getting increasingly cold very quickly to the point that you will no longer be able to hold it as it gets to cold, however if you use short controlled bursts of spray you will be fine.

Using a lens cloth
Now that the brushing and air dusting is complete we are ready to clean the glass without water or solution, so what do we use, by simply breathing slowly over the lens it will steam up the lens enough for you to now wipe it over with a lens cleaning cloth, the cloth that I recommend is the Spudz cleaning cloths they come in a couple of different sizes and fold up inside there own little pocket they come with a small belt hook/clip and great for attaching to your camera bag.
Using the cloth to wipe off all the access steam will be all you need to have a nice clean lens.
You can use the same process for cleaning the other end of the element glass also as this end is normally a lot smaller you can use cotton buds but be careful that the cotton does not come off and lay inside the glass area.
Most of these cleaning items are very easy to obtain from your local camera shop, or ebay and very inexpensive.
I hope you found this tip of use I’m Simon Everett
Thanks for reading

You can find out more about me and my work at the following website address
Simoneveretphotographykent.co.uk

Shooting Boudoir Photography

By Simon Everett

Boudoir Photography
Taking Boudoir images is a unique experience for any photographer, and has to prepared very carefully and tactfully, as most boudoir would involve female subjects, and to put them at ease it is wise to be polite and understanding the there needs, as being a male photographer some female models may feel uneasy especially if this is the first time they have modeled for Boudoir.
Keeping the Model relaxed
Its always a good thing to keep the model updated and happy with all what is happening with regards what positions and and look that you are looking for, and more importantly if the model is happy with this. It is wise to have a talk with model before starting the shoot.


The shoot
Explain preciously  to the model at each step of the way to ensure the model if comfortable and happy with the poses and angle at which your shooting.
Your model will become more relaxed and confident as the shoot goes on.

The studio
A typical Boudoir shoot will consist of highkey and lowkey techniques some models will prefer lowkey lighting for there boudoir shoot as this may be there first time etc, however you may have a model who is confident enough to have both lighting techniques, either way these are factors to consider and that you as the photographer are happy and knowledgeable to shoot.

Images and settings
At regular intervals show the model your images on the camera this will also help there confidence during the shoot and will see your results as they happen.
When setting up a studio for Boudoir what is required, for example highkey if your looking for stunning white background and detail looked strobe lighting with good quality softboxes is the first step to success making sure that having a good set of strobe lights will help you in every way. You can use flash speedlights as well however be aware that speedlight do produce a harsh light that may require softening, you can of course use speedlight softboxes to accomplish this.
Camera settings there are several settings you can use I tend to want to cancel out all ambient light in the studio for example the main lights so setting your aperture to f/10 will achieve this it’s a good trick to try grab you camera if your in a room with the light on set your camera f stop t f/10 and take a picture, you should see the result be pretty much all black now take a photo at say f/4 then you will see light in the room as your eyes sees it, i simply trick but works effectively in a studio lighting controlled environment.

Conculsion
Always keep an open mind more for the model needs as well as the results your looking for, have you taken into account a room the model can change in private and that the studio in this case is an enclosed environment so no one can stray pass and see what is going on, this all helps with the model’s confidence.
Be aware that the model will normally be looking for tasteful but classy images as they would either be for several reasons, partners, portfolio, and many others.

Boudoir photography is not your regular studio photography for most however it does come along at times so researching it is as important as shooting a family portrait.

Thanks for reading.

10 things to know about learning photography

10 things to know about learning photography

1. There is nothing like taking your camera outside or indoors and snapping away to what results you get, Understanding the functions and settings of your camera is KEY to successfully creating the images you want.

2. Reading the camera manual is a good place to start as well. If you stuck on some aspects of your camera, for example F/ stops, ISO, White balance and so on.

3. Find the style of Photography that you like, by looking around on the internet or magazines looking at the images that you really like and understanding how these images where taken and how the look was achieved.

3. Finding a great internet source, by looking around on Youtube, or photography websites can be a massive help in learning techniques, styles, and how to do it instructional videos as well as seeing first hand how it’s done.

4. Joining a camera club, can be a great way to learn with others, with demos, and by simply talking to other camera enthusiasts, can be a great way of learning.

5. Workshops, a lot of photographers provide workshop training this can be one on one training or in groups, another great way to learn in the field from beginner to intermediate right through to advanced skills.

6. Entering contests is another good way to learn photography as it is a confidence booster and can provide critique and feedback about your work which is always important.

7. Asking the your family and friends to rate or judge your images is a great idea, once they have finished judging them ask them why they placed your images in the order they selected you may be surprised at the results, this can be similar to wedding photography as your favourite images are never normally the same as what the Bride and Groom select.

8. Try to learn at least one photo technique at least once a week this way your learning skills will improve at a faster rate.

9. Be dedicated if you truly want to learn photography be committed and dedicated to it helps massively, by following the steps above will help to contribute to furthering the knowledge of your photography.

10. Learning photoshop or lightroom or both is the final step in the learning process before the more advanced learning begins, as a very large percentage of images today are edited to a industry standard, so learning editing skills is very important in having your images showcased, whether your selling your images or photographing weddings etc. Learning Photoshop and or Lightroom can take a good few months, in order to learn this process watching learning how to do it videos on youtube is the perfect way to self learn yourself.