Digital Camera Reviews Repair Help and Photography News

One discovery I have made is that DSLRs are perfect for portrait photographers and wedding photographers. Why is it that they don’t jump on the digital band wagon? Many commercial shooters have known about and mastered the use of digital in their business’s for far longer than the portrait photographer.
My guess is that maybe they’re afraid? Afraid of the learning curve and afraid that the quality just isn’t there unless they spend an ungodly amount of hard earned cash on some scary looking gigantic array of confusing and awkward, let alone “how am I going to learn how to use this stuff” equipment.

Truth is, you can easily get away with as little as a 6 megapixel camera. Don’t fear that DSLR’s create lower quality images, I’ve seen amazing work over and over with fantastic results. Yes, even with a 6 megapixel camera.

There are many reasons, here are 5 good ones.

1- Service

These days a real camera repair shop is very hard to fine and service for film cameras is evaporating even more rapidly. Most camera stores will just send your camera to the manufacturer and then charge you more than the flat repair rate that you would get from Sony, Canon or Nikon etc. yourself. If you look online you can still find a real digital camera repair shop including ones that specialize in digital SLR camera repair and charge much less than the $250-300 flat rate repairs that the manufacturers offer.

There are many repairs that the consumer can do themselves including replacing battery doors, memory card doors and parts like the zoom switch. Some consumers do replace their own broken LCD screens and lenses, but many still leave that to a professional.

The real problem with finding good Sony digital camera repair for example is lack of knowledge. Most any store you go to and ask about repair will tell you to throw the camera in the garbage and buy a new one. A retail store has no idea that there are actual affordable camera repair options available, including parts for the do it yourselfer! A couple simple searches on Google will go a long way to help you find a reputable repair shop for your Sony, Nikon or Canon digital camera repair.

2- Quality

The quality of images captured with a high quality lens, properly exposed and well posed is more than enough, even if you shoot JPEGS. Yes, JPEGS. Over 90% of the more than 30-40,000 exposures I put through my camera every year is shot in JPEG mode. Why would a professional want to take pictures in “low quality” JPEG mode? The reason is simply because it works.

Portrait photographers do not need to create the very sharpest, highest resolution images available. If they have in the past, they’ve always degraded the image through retouching and other means. Yes of course you can shoot in RAW if you prefer, but it’s not always required.

3- Control

People want their photos fast. We live in a drive-through world and minutes count. Even a studio can create a slide presentation for sessions and show them to the clients within 30 minutes of every shoot. Customers will love it, they get to see the results instantly. The client is already in the studio ready to see the images, and ready to spend, so sales go up. Their is ample evidence that when you show the images sooner, and you create large projected images, which is a cinch with digital, sales go up. Digital gives the portrait photographer more control over the sales process, and ultimately it means more profits.

4- Retouching

Let’s face it, people want to look good. What used to take hours and whole lot of aggravation with spray booths, smelly and dangerous lacquers, is now possible with absolute ease. Farming out all retouching took weeks and sometimes months to get back and incurred huge retouching bills.

Not to mention the loss of control over the retouching aspects. It was up to the subjective interpretation of the retouching artist to enhance the images the way they wanted them retouched. Now, with a few basic skills, and all those years of retouching experience all transferred over to the new darkroom, my computer, you can easily retouch to any degree you like in mere minutes and with absolutely astounding results. This ultimately translates to satisfying a basic need that needs to satisfied in clients, their vanity. They want to look good, and they want it fast.

5- Innovation

I could go on for days when it comes to what new products, ideas, services, sales processes, packages, etc, etc. . . I have been able to create because of digital photography.

I am once again excited about photography and the new possibilities. When you apply the power of digital, and get a handle on it in your workflow, you can create new and exciting products like never before.
The proof boils down to the quality of the product, which is shown by your net profits.

After all, we are in business first, and creative artists second, right? We are in business to make money and survive. We need new and exciting angles, ways to stay afloat, so we can pay our bills, keep the bankers happy and provide for our families. No one can predict how digital photography will ultimately evolve, but my bet is with it all the way.

Anyone remember when color film and paper was introduced as a mainstream commodity? I don’t, I was just a youngster, but I heard stories about the many studio owners closing their doors and packing it in because they didn’t want to keep up with the demand and latest craze that color film and color paper had created.

Personally I used to love film and thought I would never switch, but I am now a firm believer in digital photography and can’t imagine going back.