The professional photographer can have very varied missions and specialties related to his sector: fashion photographer, press photographer, wildlife photographer, reporter photographer for a magazine, photographer for events (weddings, birthdays, family photo, etc.), or portrait and headshot photography in LA. Whether he tracks down personalities as the paparazzi do or whether he works for town halls to immortalize historical monuments or the typical landscapes of the place, the photographer will have very different missions depending on the profession he chooses.
The main missions of a professional photographer, whatever his specialty, consist of:
- Taking pictures: this mission is of course preceded by a preparatory work which can be more or less long depending on the subject of the photograph in portrait and headshot photography in LA. The photographer searches for the best viewing angle, observes the light, prepares the framing, etc. For outdoor photos, it sometimes makes sense to work with early morning light or evening light depending on the desired effect and the desired brightness.
- Developing the photos, making the photo printing, and selling are other tasks carried out by the professional photographer.
- Digital retouching is now one of the important tasks of a photographer’s job. Knowledge of certain software such as Photoshop or Indesign is essential for this. For certain types of photography like portrait and headshot photography in LA and fashion or cosmetic advertisements, retouching of the faces or bodies of models in France must be the subject of a special mention written clear on the advertisement.
Here Are Some Tips To Master Photography Like A Pro
1. Sort Out Images Quickly
The most important type of post-processing is timely sorting. If you see your photos promptly on the computer screen, you still know how a picture was created. This is the best way to learn from successes and mistakes. If you look through thousands of pictures weeks later, you will learn a lot less and it is not fun either.
Mercilessly delete pictures that are technically, compositionally, and subject to questionable. Half of my photos end up in the trash.
2. Learn The Basics Of Image Editing
You should learn the basics of image processing sooner rather than later: reducing image noise, lightening the overall image, lightening targeted shadows/middle/highlights, improving white balance, improving saturation/colors, improving contrast, sharpening, aligning, and cropping.
These are all simple global changes. Local changes take up time and are more for advanced users.
3. Good Photo Editing Software
You don’t need expensive software like Photoshop * or Lightroom * for image processing. Most image editing programs can do the basics, the online editor Pixlr. An equivalent and cheaper Lightroom alternative is Affinity Photo.
4. RAW Format Or JPEG Files?
When editing images, it is sometimes better to work with an image in RAW format. A JPEG forgives you only small mistakes in exposure and white balance, RAW offers more leeway. But don’t let yourself be unsettled: In the vast majority of situations, JPEG is completely sufficient. You have to find out for yourself whether the small differences are worth the extra effort.
With the automatic contrast correction of modern cameras, you can save most of the image editing with JPEG. Warning, the auto contrast correction often only works in JPEG mode, not in JPEG + RAW mode.
5. Backup: Back-Up Often And Multiple Times
Always try to have 2 or 3 current backups. Use several not too large memory cards alternately. Put the memory cards in different places and don’t delete the photos until you have to. Copy all new photos to your hard drive every day. In addition, copy to an external hard drive at regular intervals, e.g. once a week.
