Autumn Theodore Photography

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  • PORTFOLIO
    • Brand Photography
    • Portrait Photography
    • Product Photography
    • Event Photography
  • BLOGS
    • Processed
    • Focus Friday
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT

Focus Friday

BLOG + VLOG of AUTUMN THEODORE PHOTOGRAPHY

Sticker shock?

3/29/2019

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I was recently talking to Meredith Browning Diamond of Auburn and Ivory. Although she does event planning, styling, and branding (so different from photography!), we realized we have similar feelings about prep and post work.
"You were there for meetings and consultations, planning ahead of the event, etc., but the work afterwards? You weren't there for that."

​-- Meredith Browning Diamond
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Other than consultation meetings and calls, I don't have a TON of prep work before the corporate events I shoot. I need to be sure I have a shot list, that all of my batteries are charged, and that I'm taking the lenses I need. However, the editing afterwards takes just about as much time as it took me to shoot. So for a 2 hour event, I'm likely spending nearly two hours at home editing. Which is why shooting is only half the work.

For Meredith, event work with clients has an insane amount of prep work - she needs to know what they like, what they don't like, work through several iterations of design, details, preferences, etc. TONS of prep work. She's also present at the event, then has work to complete after.

While our work is so different, we both have long lists of things we do that will be forever "behind the scenes." Creating quotes for our work is one of the first steps in a new client relationship. If you've ever gotten sticker shock looking at a service provider's price quote, just remember there's often a lot more work outside of when you're present, and you can ALWAYS ask questions, negotiate, and ask if variations are possible. We are so happy to share our work with you. :)

Happy Friday!
​Autumn
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SEO tips for your website

3/22/2019

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​My name is Krystine Monnett, and I own a digital marketing consulting company in Columbus, called Holistic Marketing LLC. We work with small-to-medium-sized businesses, helping them to streamline their digital efforts and create a unified marketing strategy. 

Prior to launching my business, in 2017, I worked at a digital marketing agency in town and then moved on to The Limited and helped them to develop their SEO department. Those experiences helped me to realize that there is a need within small businesses for digital marketing services, and this is often overlooked. 
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There is no doubt that captivating photography and product imagery can enhance your brand exposure and engagement with your customers, but there are a couple of things that you should consider once your have your final image files prior to adding those beautiful pics to your site to ensure you are maximizing their impact.


Compress Your Images

When your images are delivered to you they are likely going to be full-size. This is great because it allows you to use them how you see fit, however prior to using them on your website, you will want to compress them.

Compressing an image ensures that the file size is as small as possible without sacrificing the quality of the image. Depending on what kind of platform your site is on, there may be some built in tools or plugins that you can use to accomplish this. If not, here are some free online tools that can help you:

https://imagecompressor.com/
https://tinypng.com/
https://compressjpeg.com/

To the naked eye, you will not be able to tell that the image is different. To search engines and user-experience, it means that your site will not be bogged down by large files and it won’t sacrifice site load times.


Name Your Images

Once you have downloaded your new compressed image, you will want to give it a descriptive, yet short file name. File names and another feature called alt tags help search engines to understand what your image is. Search engines currently cannot see images as we do, so we need to provide them with the context necessary to index and rank them accordingly.
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​Take the picture above, a bad image file name would be IMG_367.jpg, instead National-Kitten-Day-Kitten.jpg would be more appropriate and useful. 

Now, on to alt tags, like image file names, alt tags help search engines understand what the image is. Alt tags should be concise and use natural language.

A good example of an alt tag for the above photo would be “Kitten on floor for national kitten day”. Your website platform will determine where you need to add this alt tag, but in HTML, which is not visible to website viewers, it would look like this:

<img src=”https://yoursite.com/National-Kitten-Day-Kitten.jpg” alt=”Kitten on floor for national kitten day”/>


Support the Image

Now that your image is compressed and optimized, you need to support it. The content on the page that this picture is featured on should be relevant to what the picture is. Search engines use context clues to not only understand images, but to rank pages for relevant keywords. 

So if you added the picture to a page about engineering, then it would not make sense for search engines to rank that page highly for National Kitten Day. If the content on the page was about the history of National Kitten Day and the celebrations through the years, it would be appropriate for that page to rank well when individuals are searching terms related to National Kitten Day. 

Search engines use multiple site components to determine which pages are most relevant to respective keywords, this creates a better user-experience when it comes to finding exactly what you are looking for when you Google it.

By following the suggestions laid out, this will help your site rank better for relevant keywords in both traditional and image searches, and it will ensure your wonderful images are not slowing your site down. To learn more about SEO considerations for your website, reach out to us at https://www.holisticmarketingllc.com/
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RAW vs. JPEG images

3/15/2019

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RAW and JPEG are two different image file types. When you shoot in RAW, more file information is stored on your camera's memory card, and shooting in JPEG compresses a lot of that file information. (Your DSLR camera likely allows you to shoot images in both formats at the same time.) So what do you do? I'm here to help.
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Let's consider  the differences between RAW and JPEG.

RAW
  • Lots of file information is stored, meaning you have a lot more control when editing the photos on your computer
  • Because more information is stored per file, these files are often huge and take up lots of room on your computer or wherever you store files

JPEG
  • Less file information is stored, meaning you have less control when editing on your computer
  • Because less information is stored per file, these files are smaller than RAW images, and take up less storage space

I have always shot in JPEG. While I do love how much storage space I save by not shooting in RAW, I also feel comfortable  shooting in JPEG since I do a lot of "editing in camera." What does that mean? When I take a photo, I look at it - if I don't like it (too light, too dark, etc.), I change my settings and keep shooting until it's right. When I edit on my computer later, it takes much less time than if I just shot a bunch of images without checking the quality in the moment. This gives me control over how much editing I have to do later. (Cons? I have less control over editing since less info is stored on a JPEG file - but like I said, I'm comfortable with this!)

If you're shooting for fun, your options are up to you. If you're shooting for a client, they might ask which format you're using. You may have to have a conversation with them about which format(s) you use and why.

Just remember - weigh the pros and cons since it is UP TO YOU.

Happy Friday!
Autumn
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How to use a reflector instead of flash

3/8/2019

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​If you're indoors and feel like you can't get great natural lighting, head to a window and use a reflector - no flash involved!
Reflectors make a HUGE difference - and are a cheap way to achieve lighting needs.
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Without a reflector
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With a reflector

​If you're looking for a reflector, you've got options!
  • 60"x40" reflector for $100 (the one in this video)
  • 30" reflector for $30

A big thanks to Megan, owner of Studio 614 (where we shot the video!), for being a model and helping create the video. :)

If I can answer any questions, feel free to email me or comment below!

Happy Friday!
Autumn
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A weird thing photographers have to know

3/1/2019

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I love learning about others' professional experiences - everything from the macro to the micro details of their day-to-day work. Lots of things are more obvious (teachers teach, doctors see patients, attorneys work with clients), but there are always little details we never quite imagined certain professionals would have to practice on a frequent (and sometimes daily!) basis.

In case you also like to learn more about others' professional lives, I thought I'd share the least obvious thing photographers have to know when photographing people, products, or events.
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​We MUST have a sense of direction.

Why the heck would a photographer have to have a sense of direction? Well, there are a few reasons:
  1. One of my clients likes me to take headshots of new hires within the first week or two of their start date. Their office faces east, and the specific location (near the windows) of the headshots matters since they need to look consistent with the rest of the team's headshots. The first shoot was done in the afternoon, when sunlight (hello, it rises in the east!) was not shining in through the windows. Sun on the walls/floor of a space makes a huge difference in what the photos look like especially if you're using natural light and not a flash setup.
  2. Product photography functions in the same way. If a client wants lifestyle/brand photography for use on their website, social media, etc., we need to consider the shoot location and what direction it faces. If they want an indoor location in a building facing west, we need to do the shoot in the morning to avoid direct sunlight. Unless of course they want direct sunlight!
  3. Event photography depends on sunlight as well, but this shoot (and its location) is much more about client education. If a client is having a lovely outdoor summer event on the west side of a building, I educate them on the fact that sun may be in people's eyes (causing squinting and strain) since the sun will be setting at that time. If a client is having a daytime outdoor event, I always recommend the north side of a building if they have control over the location (since the sun flows a bit to the south during midday here in Columbus).

​Happy Friday!
​Autumn
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