One discovery I have made is that DSLRs are perfect for portrait photographers and wedding photographers. 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.
Truth is, you can easily get away with as little as a 5 megapixel camera. Digital SLR’s have the quality needed and I’ve seen many photographers with amazing results. Yes, even if you have only a 5 or 6 MP 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 digital 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.
There are many repairs that the consumer can do themselves including replacing battery doors, memory card doors and parts like the zoom switch. Some consumers do replace their own broken LCD screens and lenses, but many still leave that to a professional.
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. The reason they tell you this is because they have no idea that affordable digital camera repair and do it yourself options actually exist! 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.
Portrait photographers do not need to create the very sharpest, highest resolution images available. If they have in the past, they’ve always degraded the image through retouching and other means. It’s kind of ironic don’t you think? Yes of course you can shoot in RAW if you prefer, but it’s not always required.
3- Control
People want their photos fast. We live in a drive-through world and minutes count. Even a small studio can create a slide show of the clients session within half an hour of taking the pictures. Clients love it. The client can see the result right away. The client is already in the studio ready to see the images, and ready to spend, so sales 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. Using a DSLR it gives portrait photographers greater control over the sales flow and this means and increase in 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. Farming out all retouching took weeks and sometimes months to get back and we incurred 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 absolute astounding 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 boils down to the quality of the product, which is shown by your net profits?
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.
Anyone remember when color film and paper was introduced as a mainstream commodity? 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.
Personally I used to love film and thought I would never switch, but I am now a firm believer in digital photography and can’t imagine going back.
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