3 Reasons I Love Being a Photographer

My Time

I love the fact that I can take photos whenever it's convenient for me. I also get to decide where, when and how long I want to take photos for. I also can get the shots I need and take less photos to save me time to go through them. This past winter I did a photography section and I took about 206 photos. I just did a section this last Friday and I only took 153 photos. I looked through the 153 photos fast than the 206 photos and I still go the same amount of photos I liked. Then today I was checking out this blog Click It Up A Notch and I happened to run around and article called Think Before You Click. I really liked the article and it was very helpful. 

Unique

Being a photographer, makes me unique because my photos are different than other photographers. Every photographer is unique, every one has their own style and way they like to take their photos. Just like every photographer likes to take photos of different subjects. Some people also like a dark themes over a lighter theme. Editing is a big factor too. I don't like to do a lot of editing on my photos. 

Relaxing

Photography is very calming for me. The job I have now is very demanding and can be stress but when I take photos, I feel like I'm at home. When I go take photos of nature, I like to go somewhere quiet and take photos while enjoying the sounds and view of the nature. When I take photos of people, I feel relaxed because I am confident that I will do a good job and they will love the photos. 

My Favorite Apps for Photographers- Part 2

If you have read part one of my favorite apps for photographers, I talked about Lightroom, Light Meter and Instagram. This post I will be showing four more apps that I love.

The first app that I have been using and I love is 1967: Retro Filters & Effects. This is a great app if you love retro photos and the way retro looks. On the app you choose which photo you want to use and add any retro filter you like. once you have a filter applied you can hit the same filter again and it changes the photo just a little. 

Photo before Retro Filter

Photo after Retro Filter

If you love taking photos of sunsets this next app is for you. The next app is Magic Hour.  Magic hour is a very simple app. You click on it then it just shows you the countdown for when the sunset starts. It also gives you an exact time of when the sunset begins, sunset and ends. The app also tells the weather and how long sunset is. 

What the app looks like

The third app that I like is Black and White Photo Editor. You select the photo you want to edit and they start it out in black and white. Then you choose where you want to bring the color out of it and apply the color in places that you want it to be the objective. The only thing I don't like is the fact that the offset is already set to 100 and it's easier to edit it with the offset on 0 or 1.

Photo using the Black and White Editor

The last app that I like is the Releases app. I like this app because it's easier than having papers on hand. If you have your phone on you, you will have all of your agreements for your clients on you. In the app you add a new release and you can decide from many different options. After you select the option you want, you fill out all the information you need. Then you just sign it and send the person the form through email and have them sign it.

Options of Releases

Example of a Release form

About Me

Hi! My name is Sierra Brungard and I live in Pennsylvania. I am a student at South Hills School of Business and Technology. I am studying Business Management and Marketing. I started this blog because of a class I’m in but I’m having fun and hoping that I continue to blog after this class. I am hoping that one day after I graduate from South Hills I will start a photography business .I have been doing photography for about one and a half years.  I love to take photos of nature, pets, friends, family and man made buildings. Photography has always been a passion for me but, I didn't realize that until a few years ago. If you want to know more about me or have any question, please feel free to comment. 

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How to protect yourself from legal issues

A lot of people don't know the legal aspect of taking photos and a photography business. Even myself don't know all the laws and what a photographer can and can't photography. So when I have a question about whether I can take that photograph or if I'm going to offend someone, I go to another blog to see what her input is. Her name is Rachel Brenke, she went to school and graduated with a degree in law. She post blogs about contracts, copyrights, marketing, etc;. I absolutely love reading her posts. Rachel has an answer for every question I can think of and her blog is a very simple and easy to follow layout.

Rachel Brenke

Simple Family Photography Contract

Favorite Apps for Photographers

When it comes to editing every one's first thought is Photoshop. I have used Photoshop and I still do. It's a great editing software if you know exactly what you are doing or just like to play around with it. Recently I have discovered Lightroom and it is a free app but you can also buy the premium version. You can also use the app offline. Lightroom is pretty much like Photoshop, but I like Lightroom more because it has an auto button that edits it to make it look better. If you still don't like the way the photo looks after you hit the auto button you can still edit it manual without it reverting back to the original image.

Photo before I used Lightroom

Photo after I used Lightroom

The next app I would recommend, if you are a beginner, is Light Meter. Light Meter is also free simple to use and able to use without internet. Once you download and open the app a screen will pop up and it looks like you are going to be taking a photo. Instead of taking a photo, it tells you what settings in manual mode you should use. So when you point the app camera at the object/objects, you want to take a photo of, the app shows what setting the Time, Aperture and ISO should be on to take a great photo. It also has a hold and a log button on the app. The hold button freezes the screen so that you can set down you device and change the camera settings and get the photo. The log button is like the hold button but you can save the photo and the settings you need.

Photos I took using the Light Meter app

Another app that I would recommend and you probably already have is Instagram. A lot of people have Instagram to post about stuff they have done or just because they want to. I would recommend making a photography account on Instagram and post your photography work. I would also recommend adding hashtags and to make your account not private to allow you to get more views and likes.

My Photography Instagram account.

Why I love Manual Mode

At the beginning of my photography career, I would use the automatic modes on the camera. The automatic modes are portrait, Macro, Sports, Landscape, Night and Movie Mode. They are great modes for just starting out and for just taking photos of family events, but almost all of those modes use flash. Flash isn't always the right way to go because flash makes the objects that are lighter colored, close to a white color and the darker objects/background, black and hard to see. Manual mode is a great tool to know how to do especially if you are a wedding photographer or want to have professional photos. In manual mode you have control over all of the camera settings like: flash, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, etc. Being able to have full control on all the settings is an advantage to being a great photographer because you will be able to get the "perfect" photos. The photos you take in the automatic mode are okay but unless you don’t know how to edit them with programs like Photoshop, they won’t look “perfect.” I would highly recommend learning and practice in manual mode or if you are not comfortable with that, I would learn how to Photoshop your photos so that they look more professional. 

Photo before Photoshop

Photo after Photoshop

Photo taken in manual mode, and not edited.

Photography Challenge For You

Becoming a better photographer means practicing and figuring out what you are best at. The best way to do that is a photography, so I came up with a 30 day challenge for you to do. If you do the challenge please share them with me, I would love to see your creativity. 

Day 1: Light
Day 2: Something that makes you happy
Day 3: Something delicious
Day 4: Blue
Day 5: Old
Day 6: Black & White
Day 7: Technology
Day 8: Flower
Day 9: Macro (Close up)
Day 10: Water
Day 11: Animal Love
Day 12: Texture
Day 13: Morning Shot
Day 14: The letter T
Day 15: Something you want
Day 16: Sunset
Day 17: A sign
Day 18: Shoes
Day 19: Couples
Day 20: A street
Day 21: Something sweet
Day 22: Night Shot
Day 23: Family
Day 24: Something funny
Day 25: A mess
Day 26: Luxury
Day 27: Time
Day 28: New
Day 29: Duck(s)
Day 30: Bench

There is many different photography challenges that you could do, like the 52 challenge. The 52 challenge is where you take a photo every week.