Spicing up the bland

Huujuu

Huujuu

Messages
601
Name
Ian
Edit My Images
Yes
Hello,

I am in the process of making a portfolio of garden landscape work that i have done which means that i often have only one chance to take pictures when the work is completed. Obviously i am at the mercy of the weather and the main problems i am encountering are, for example, getting clear definition of stone work against the background, drab colours etc.

I'm thinking that i will have to do more in photoshop to brighten things up a bit but time is quite restrictive when i'm dealing with lots of images.

Any tips about setting up shots that will show my work in a more 'suitable' (i.e advertising for prospective clients) composition would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

ian
 
Select areas you want to emphasize, play in PS to look as good as you can, blur out other areas, add a border to pic, show to clients, bump up your fees and book hol to Barbados.
 
From now on, include a clause in your contract that allows you to return (at the clients' convenience) to photograph the finished garden bothy when freshly completed and after a year or so to mature a little. A print or two for the customer should keep them sweet and you may even get them to write a testimonial for you. As for work you've already completed but not got good photos of, get on the phone and ask if you can visit to see how the gardens are doing and take a few pics - again, a print as a sweetener may help.
 
Nod said:
From now on, include a clause in your contract that allows you to return (at the clients' convenience) to photograph the finished garden bothy when freshly completed and after a year or so to mature a little. A print or two for the customer should keep them sweet and you may even get them to write a testimonial for you. As for work you've already completed but not got good photos of, get on the phone and ask if you can visit to see how the gardens are doing and take a few pics - again, a print as a sweetener may help.
Click to expand...

Nice one! As it happens ive decided to take the next week off, just to go around taking snaps so i'll be on the phone first thing.........just watch the weather change again!

Anyone passing through Denholme with tips will be rewarded with tea and bickies

:thumbs:
 
Next week might not be the best time - not much in the way of flowers and few gardens look their best in mid-winter! Fewer distractions from any hard landscaping but spring and summer will show the gardens off to best advantage.
 
I always find that a happy and well looked after client is a client for life and they remain in contact with you.

I would always speak to the client about coming back to photograph in suitable weather conditions at the completion of the job, as this also presents an opportunity for you to return in the future to see how they are getting on and maybe even sell them some more of your services :thumbs: as well as you photographing in ideal conditions. Would have thought this would be more beneficial to your relationship with them than relying on a contract, as most people would tell you to get on your bike if you started quoting clauses in your contract to push them into letting you come back.

In terms of processing, I would spend some time considering your entire workflow process, from initial capture of the image, to organising your prints to processing them and final presentation. I have just done this over the weekend, and now have lots of actions stored in photoshop that will enable me to do an initial process of multiple images, adding borders, etc etc it is well worth spending the time doing this, especially if you are taking a lot of photos of the same sort of subject.

I found a link in one of the link forums on here to this site.

www.thedigitalphotographyconnection.com

which has helped me a lot with photoshop and lightroom.
 
Nod said:
Next week might not be the best time - not much in the way of flowers and few gardens look their best in mid-winter! Fewer distractions from any hard landscaping but spring and summer will show the gardens off to best advantage.
Click to expand...

I know, it's snowing already!

I'm more concerned with my hard landscaping than with planting as 80% of my work is drystone walling, rustic materials, follies, patio's and commisioned sculptural designs.

This week is gonna be quite on the work front hence the opportunity to be snap happy. Maybe there will be some good opportunities to ...er.....photograph the rough outlines of things as they lay buried beneath the snow.......!:|
 
Thanks The Bulb,

I think you are quite right. Time spent on presentation will be just as well spent when it comes to advertising myself. The portfolio i have been working on is just a good quality blank book with photos that have been printed at (ahem) Tesco's etc. I like the personal feel of it but i do think that planning out something, utilising borders etc would also be an effective method.

Thanks for the link, the tips look excellent.
 
Day 1. Partial success. Ive discovered black and white.........what......it's already been discovered?

Dull days not so much of a bind after all and it makes my walls look cool
 
If it's textures and details you want to bring out then maybe HDR is a worthy option
 
A bit of fill-in flash on small to medium sized areas can often help. But then that depends on if you have a sizeable one to use.
 
Did a quick check on HDR, not quite sure i understood the blurb or how to achieve it although it sounds like it may be useful. Will do some more checking. Thanks
 
Thanks, yup, ive also been using my built in flash but not achieved any results i'm happy with yet although i think i understand the principles. So much to learn....hooray
 
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