How to Photograph Lightning

We have had a lot of lightning around South Africa of late and I have seen some excellent lightning photos. I have also seen lots of people asking how they were taken. So I will attempt to explain and at the same time show you some of my lightning photos. But first have a look …

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Dusi Canoe Marathon 2015

Dusi Canoe Marathon 2015

The Dusi Canoe Marathon 2015 is the 64th edition of the epic canoe race. The race is 120km from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. The 3 day event starts on 19 February and concludes on 21 February. I decided to catch the early stages of day 1. So I crawled out of bed really early and scouted …

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The Portrait Photographer – Facing The Biggest Challenge

Portrait Photographer Challenge

The portrait photographer does not have many challenges but there is one big one that affects everyone involved with portrait photography. It’s never about where you focus, lighting setups or poses, it is all about relaxing your client.

Not too many people are natural models that just get in front of a camera and glow. Most people are like me and hide when a camera is pulled out. Most people instinctively become self-conscious when faced with the lens because, face it, we all have our little insecurities.

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A Photographer’s Guide to Rates and Pricing

Getting your Photography Rates Right

If you are a professional photographer or even someone looking for photography services you have, no doubt, checked other photography rates online. You have most likely been faced with a huge range of rates for the same services. Having come from a construction project management environment I know how important it is to take all factors into account and get your price right.

When I started selling my services I also check what other photographers were charging to get an idea of what I should be doing. I soon realised that most of the photographers that I looked at had no idea how to run a business let alone price their services. I’m talking about the people that are at the low end of the rates scale. These are people that make a living from photography? I quickly stopped letting other people’s rates influence me.

There will always be clients searching for and willing to accept the lowest price, no matter how low it is. They are usually also the clients that accept poor quality or are disappointed when they see their photos.

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Pyga Mountain Bikes – Commercial Photography

It’s always nice for a commercial photographer to have a return customer. In this case it was Patrick Morewood from Pyga Mountain Bikes. The first photos that I took on the previous shoot; I used a black background to give the photos a moody atmosphere. The photography was done at Camera Studio in Pietermaritzburg.

This time around we used a white background because the photos are to be used mainly for their new website. Photography on a white background can be pretty challenging for a photographer especially when the subjects of the photos have a glossy finish and thin elements. Another issue to look out for is chromatic aberration that you can encounter due to the bright background contrasting with the darker edges. Initially there was a little aberration which I adjusted for.

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Photography Laws – for Photographers and People Being Photographed

photography laws

I have spent a lot of time researching the laws affecting photographers and the photographed public in South Africa. As it happens there are not that many photography laws to note. I will go through the really important ones that affect photographers and people being photographed. It is really important, especially for South African Photographers, …

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Photographer Pietermaritzburg – All New Website

Photographer Pietermaritzburg. This is my all new website on local South African servers. My international site stevenmcgregor.com will stay on for my oversees clients. I decided to get this website up and running to promote my business locally so feel free to browse around and I will keep adding content to the blog. I am a professional photographer …

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