If you are interested in making money with your camera but do not know where to start, then my photography course could be just what you are looking for. I am often asked by keen photographers how do you start making money with photography. You may have been taking photos for a few years and really enjoy taking and sharing them with friends and family. But how do you start your own business. My photography course can really help get you started.

Wedding photography can be a very lucrative part time of full time option. In money terms, the market for wedding photography is approx. $5billion. You can make some good money with photography if you want. $5 Billion per year. That's a sizable market. A good DSLR, a good flash and a couple of good lenses will enable you to begin a career in photography, But most important is your enjoyment in taking photos. I have designed a course that includes everything you need, including business forms, technical discussions, sample ads and business and even tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture. You can see more information and order at www.howtoshootweddings.net.

One of the first questions I am asked when shooting with a digital camera (after the "which camera do you use, question), is, what format should I shoot? Tiff, High Res JPEG, RAW etc. And the answer is very simple. RAW! There is NO other option. And you need to make sure that you are using the highest resolution (megapixels) available on your camera.

You should only be using a digital SLR (DSLR) camera, with the most powerful (expensive) flash available for your system. When you shoot a wedding, you will need to use flash for basically every shot you take. Indoors and out, even in bright sunlight. The flash will light dark subjects inside and when you are outside, it will fill in the shadows of your subject, and make the resulting photos look their best.

The bride has usually spent a good deal of money buying her dress and you need to ensure that you get some good photos of the dress. You need to be careful and make sure there is lots of detail in the dress. Digital camera sensors are still unable to record as wide a gamut of light compared with traditional film. Digital cameras have a very narrow capability to record the full range from light to dark. This is where you need to be able to balance the flash with the available light to get acceptable results. Otherwise, you may have some angry people calling you after the event. You cannot afford to mess up a wedding, you only get one shot. So, make sure you do lots of practice before your first real, paying event. A good way to practice is to have you wife/girlfriend/kids dress up in white clothes and take lots of shots and note the settings you need to get detail in the dress, and good skin tones on the brides face.

Whenever possible, set up the kids in the bridal party by themselves. Cute photos of the kids will sell many copies to the bride and groom, and all the family members. These photos will also be great for your portfolio. Part of your job is to not just take good photos, but to take photos that will sell and keep you in a job and allow you to buy more equipment as you need it. You should always take individual shots of each kid and have the parents help to get them comfortable so you can get some good shots. Always try to choose an interesting background where possible. In order to focus attention on the kids and not the background, I have made a selection around the kids in Adobe Photoshop, and darkened the background a little, so the kids will stand out and be the attention of the photo.

Copyright (c) 2008 Tom Jackson