One thing I discovered during my experience with digital photography is that it is very well suited for the portrait photographer. So why are they the last to jump on the band wagon? For some reason portrait photographers have been slower to switch to digital cameras than the average commercial photographer has.
My thought is that possibly they are afraid? Afraid of the learning curve and afraid that the quality just isn’t there unless they spend an ungodly amount of hard earned cash on some scary looking gigantic array of confusing and awkward, let alone “how am I going to learn how to use this stuff” equipment.
The truth of the matter is all you really need is a 5MP digital camera. Don’t fear that DSLR’s create lower quality images, I’ve seen amazing work over and over with fantastic results. Yes, even with a 5 megapixel camera.
There are many reasons, here are 5 good ones.
1- Service
These days a real camera repair shop is very hard to fine and service for film cameras is evaporating even more rapidly. Most camera stores will just send your camera to the manufacturer and then charge you more than the flat repair rate that you would get from Sony, Canon or Nikon etc. yourself. If you look online you can still find a real camera repair shop including ones that specialize in digital SLR camera repair and charge much less than the $250-300 flat rate repairs that the manufacturers offer.
Many digital repair parts are replaceable by the consumer such as battery doors, memory card doors and other body parts like zoom switches. There are plenty of people who want to repair their own camera and replace the LCD screen or lens, but many prefer to leave the repair to a professional service instead.
The real problem with finding good Canon digital camera repair for example is lack of knowledge. Unfortunately retail shops are not knowledgeable regarding repair and will tell you that repairing your broken digital camera will cost far more than just buying a new one. A retail store has no idea that there are actual affordable camera repair options available, including parts for the do it yourselfer! A couple simple searches on Google will go a long way to help you find a reputable repair shop for your Sony digital camera repair.
2- Quality
The quality of images captured with a high quality lens, properly exposed and well posed is more than enough, even if you shoot JPEGS. Yes, JPEGS. More than 90% of the photos I take are shot in JPEG instead of RAW. Why would a professional want to take pictures in “low quality” JPEG mode? The answer is simple: It works.
Most of the time the average portrait photographer doesn’t need an extremely high resolution image to work with. If they have in the past, they’ve always degraded the image through retouching and other means. It’s ironic if you think about it? You can still shoot in RAW mode if you wish, but it isn’t really needed.
3- Control
People want their photos fast. We are living in a drive-through culture and every minute counts. In our studio we create a slide presentation for our sessions and we show them to the clients within 20 minutes of every shoot. Our customers love it. Customers get the results instantly. If the customer is there waiting to view the shots from the shoot is already planning on spending money then sales will go up. Their is ample evidence that when you show the images sooner, and you create large projected images, which is a cinch with digital, sales go up. Digital gives the portrait photographer more control over the sales process, and ultimately it means more profits.
4- Retouching
Let’s face it, people want to look good. What used to take hours and whole lot of aggravation with spray booths, smelly and dangerous lacquers, is now possible with absolute ease. Even when I decided to farm out all my retouching because I had had enough, it still took weeks or months, and huge retouching bills.
Not to mention the loss of control I had over the retouching aspects. It was up to the subjective interpretation of the retouching artist to enhance the images the way I wanted them retouched. All the time spent retouching photos in the past has been replaced with only minor Photoshop knowledge and much less time. In mere minutes. With fantastic results. This ultimately translates to satisfying a basic need that needs to satisfied in our clients, their vanity. Customers want to look good and they want to see the results right away.
5- Innovation
I could go on for days when it comes to what new products, ideas, services, sales processes, packages, etc, etc. . . I have been able to create because of digital photography.
I am once again excited about photography and the new possibilities. When you apply the power of digital, and get a handle on it in your workflow, you can create new and exciting products like never before.
I’ve seen it and experience it every week in our busy little small-city studio. The proof ultimately boils down to net profits, doesn’t it?
After all, we are in business first, and creative artists second, right? We are in business to make money and survive. We need new and exciting angles, ways to stay afloat, so we can pay our bills, keep the bankers happy and provide for our families. No one can predict how digital photography will ultimately evolve, but my bet is with it all the way.
Do you remember when color film was first released to consumers? I don’t, I was just a wee lad, but I heard stories about the many studio owners closing their doors and packing it in because they didn’t want to keep up with the demand and latest craze that color film and color paper had created.
Having grown up shooting film I didn’t think I would enjoy digital cameras. Now that I’ve spent some time shooting digital I won’t be going back to film, guaranteed.
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