Take & Talk Pics

David & Luke Edmonson © Edmonson Photography David and Luke Edmonson have been called the “Master Photographers to Master Photographers” and with good reason. With over 50 combined years in the industry, the indelible impact the Edmonson’s leave with clients, students and peers around the world is remarkable. No doubt, their signature style is unmistakable. But it’s their “Iron-Sharpens-Iron” philosophy that has fueled their art and professional success. A relentless pursuit of excellence through competition. Selfless mentorship. A hands-on benevolence with their passionate charities.  Simply put, the “Edmonson Way” means that giving is a both a privilege and a path to self-improvement; for themselves and those they encounter. With dozen of awards as Master Photographers, Diamond Awards, Photographers of the Year and numerous other designations, 2015 was the year the Edmonson’s made photography history. David was honored as recipient of the WPPI Lifetime Achievement Award. This father-son duo also be

Light Painting with Harold Ross Harold Ross (b 1956), is an American fine-art photographer who lives and works in southern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Since 1979, Harold has been creating distinctive work in the studio as well as in the night landscape. For 27 years, he has specialized in light painting, a technique involving "painting" the light over a long time exposure. Harold actually refers to his process as “sculpting with light”. He also teaches workshops in his methods and regularly gives lectures on his work. Born into a military family in 1956, Harold grew up in New Mexico and Germany. His parents were adventurous, and took the family on outings almost every weekend... hiking in the desert, horseback riding and camping in the mountains, exploring castles and old gardens in Germany and camping in Italy. These outings, of course, left many lasting impressions. He earned a B.F.A from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), after which he produced fine art and taught photography at the college lev

Make Changes Photo World if you are learning and growing then you are changing. Often it can be difficult to make change and go along with them but it is a necessary practice to improve from where you are. So here we are on the 250th episode on Take & Talk Pics! I have been so blessed to do this podcast and bring this content to you Photo World. However, I have been learning, growing, and yes, changing. I have been finding there are so many things I have planned for my work and businesses and I need to make a few adjustments right here on the podcast and blog. First, the show is going to be on a bit of a break. I can't bring myself to stop because I am far too passionate about what this show means to me and what I want to continue contributing to you Photo World. So being somewhat on the back burner you can expect 2 episodes a month. Once every other week. Ideally these would be interviews with photographers from around the world, but I know there will be a few here and there where I need to share solo fr

Nikon Active D-Lighting Photo World this episode is more proof that you need to know your gear to fully understand the potential you bring to every shoot. Knowing your gear is good but knowing when, where, and how to use the tools effectively is the real test of a pro photographer versus a hobbyist. The Active D-Lighting setting for Nikon cameras is another great example of why it can be important to fully understand your camera. Active D-Lighting is really Active Dynamic Lighting... Dynamic being richer with tonality. Like HDR isn't High Definition Resolution HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Active D-Lighting isn't nearly the tonal range of HDR but it is a step in that direction. Active D-Lighting is also a Nikon specific option. Canon has ALO or Auto Lighting Optimizer, but ALO is only a fraction of the influence as Active D-Lighting ends up being. There are many reasons to use Active D-Lighting but understanding more about how it works will clear up much of the confusion. Active D-Lighting offers the pho

Dust Mapping Photo World we work so hard to have beautiful, clean, well made photographs. We did this back in the film days too, but there was a battle going on against dust and scratches. We still see issues today when it comes to dust. They make air blowers, sensor brushes, lens cleaner fluids, micro fiber cloths, lens tissue, sensor gels, or you can send your equipment out for professional cleaning... There are a lot of options today to ensure that we don't have one spec of dust in an image where we don't want it. However, most of these tools/devices/options are horrible and cause more damage than help solve problems. Often it is user error but I say why take the risk! Now there are many things you can do that are low risk and may clear up those dust spots but every so often there is a spot we can't seem to shake. I give a couple cleaning examples I do but my favorite and most trusted is send it out to a pro who will also assume responsibility. Photo World, if you really can't get the job done or can't get

Time-lapse Photography Photo World I needed a break from all the business talk because at the end of the day my addiction to photography needs some attention as well as my passion for building businesses. Time-lapse Photography is a bit of its own practice. In fact it began mostly by accident and has slowly evolved into spectacular motion pictures. Time-lapse Photography is more simplified than it used to be with the advent of digital. In short it's a series of images being complied into video, for a quick view of an extended time. Hence Time-lapse. There are several ways to make a time-lapse video but the easiest is the automated feature found in most DSLRs and Mirrorless systems. However, the highest quality is making the final video by way of capturing each image individually and edit to your liking. Much more time consuming but the results are stunning. Let's run some numbers: 1 picture every second for 1 minute straight would offer you 60 images to be used as 2 seconds of video at 30 frames per second. 1

Savings Plan Photo World when you run your own business it doesn't matter when it comes up or in what aspect the conversation takes place... most of us, when we start out, do not like to talk money. That could be one of the worst offsets to a secure savings plan for a infant business. When I sit down with clients I have absolutely no fear to talk about how the money works. This confidence emerged after six years in business as a professional. Six years living in fear of that one five letter word. One thing we all want more of, feel we have too little, and can't seem to stretch far enough. Money. There are literally dozens of episodes I could do in highlight money's role in a small business. I tango with several of the topics involved from taxes, to loss, paying your bills, and having a savings plan. Regardless of your photographic genre or even your business for that matter... We must step back and look at the year as a whole before we begin understanding our fiance. This episode may just be the key. Happy Sh

Why Should You Blog Photo World as you can tell by the title I am going to totally sell you on the idea of why should you blog. Okay, not really but I am going to talk about the purpose and operations behind how a blog works. The true conversation is about good business practice, showcasing your talent, and hoe to obtain a free or cheap marketing funnel. It is a lot of information to be crammed in a 10 minute episode but when it comes to blogging it's pretty simple. There are many reasons why you should blog. However, and I know this first hand, there are countless reasons to give up on a blog. It isn't as exciting because the investment of time is greater than most people are willing to give and results are not as instant as most would like. That being said... Blogging is a long term investment but the payoff can be amazing. Listen to the example story of a friend of mine I share in today's episode. She went from doing pictures as a hobby to a six figure business in only one year. Happy Shooting! Get your F

Build Your List That's right Photo World, you need to build your list. That is your email list. Think of the countless emails you receive that are of little to no value for you, but there is one email every so often that keep you as a subscriber to that list. Now, you don't have to bombard people with nonsensical emails day in and day out. However you may find a use for the list over time. Some will tell you to make a few lists that fit into categories like most likely to buy, least likely, and somewhere in the middle. My view is collect all emails and compile a list of possible for sales. At the very least if you build your list you could always come back to it when the time is right. In this episode I discuss when the right time might be to use your list. Anyone and everyone is a candidate to be considered. If you are able to acquire an email at any point then you are a step closer to a possible "yes" for your product or service. You have to consider any contact or inquiry is the halfway point to a "Yes". I

All Work and No Play We often feel like there's too much to do. To many things on our plate and we can't catch up; so much, that it seems our business, our career, our supposed passion is all work and no play. Just like anything else in life there is a time and place for everything. It's my belief that all work and no play should be observed from time to time. However, it's draining on the mind and the body to live life this way.   What is "play"? Well that could be up for debate but the way I view it is: something of interest to you, worth the investment, and worth the time, but shifts your focus away from your work. The average person is asleep for 33% of their life time. The average person is working for nearly 56% of their time during a 45 year span, but averaging another 33% of their time thought their life time. That leaves a life time average of 34% of your life time is glued by the other 66% of occupied time. All to have not much more than 1/3 their lives at play. This doesn't account for being sick,

Giving Back Photo World I offer a free coaching call. Scroll to the bottom of this page if you are interested. One thing I do for every call is get to know you and your business. Following the call I give a thank you gift for having done the call. I don't want to share everything, but highlight 1 point on the gift. Giving back to your community. In the episode I read word for word how I view this point and what I include in this gift. In short I have found giving back to your community does many things and it is different for each of us. It can be for a feel goof feeling, maybe to help out for a cause you believe in, or just to show that you are motivated to be a part of your community. Whatever the reason giving back is a beautiful thing. Take it one step further and incorporate your skill, talent, and passion for photography and creatively look for ways to overlap your photography work with community service. Perhaps you could do photos for a local animal shelter so they have quality images. Happy Shooting!

Cost of Doing Business Photo World there is an old saying: It takes money to make money. That saying is so true and truer still when it comes to marketing. Marketing is one of the costs of doing business, in fact, it is the largest cost of doing business. In today's episode I break down three marketing strategies I have tried over the past few years. Admittedly, over one dozen attempts at marketing have taken place for Rob Krueger Photography and most have failed miserably. A few have been successful and have become the new standard for all future marketing. Photo World you have everything to risk when you start marketing your business. It can be costly... at first. Hopefully, those trial and error tests of marketing will open up the opportunity your business needs. One marketing avenue I had used was Google ads. My experience wasn't typical but I confidently feel it is a valuable option for most photography businesses. I have had my own ups and downs when it comes to marketing and today I only discuss the id

Rule of Thirds Pricing Photo World, making up what you do with your pricing is hard enough. I spent years, with trial and error, figuring out an efficient way to make life easier when it comes to talking money. I have created a rule of thirds pricing... Have a set pricing for your customers Define who your customer is and how you would charge them Give appropriate breaks to the right people I have broken my customer base into 3 main categories, hence the rule of thirds. One has three sub categories within it. You'll have to listen to get the who scoop. If you have been having trouble determining your pricing for new customers, family, friends, referrals, or repeat clients maybe this episode will help you. I know when you’re starting out it seems more important to just book the work or sell the art just for the sake of doing so. Newer photographers often make the mistake of taking what they can get and breaking their own pricing rules. These simple rules I have laid out will help guide you to a more successf

People Person There is no rule in business that says you must be a people person but I like to lean on logic when I question these types of things. In a truly logical sense, in every career or job, in every industry, there are people involved. Either you are getting something done/created for other people or you are having work done for you. Your business really revolves around the idea that someone is on the other end of just about everything your do. With that, being a people person could just be the most important skill you develop for your business. I will say when I got started as a photographer people were the one subject I never wanted to deal with. However, I had a benefit most don't get; I was able to watch a pro photographer in action. Not just a pro photographer but one who was already in business for 20 years when I started working for him, one who was an excellent people person, and one who genuinely knew how to interact with others. I learned how to be a people person. Happy Shooting! Get your

Network Time Photo World it is time to get back to business. Admittedly, the show has been struggling these past few weeks and the content has suffered. However, you still mean a great deal to me and I want you to know there are many great things to come. That being said it is time to get back in gear... it is time to talk business. If you recall I had a few episodes focused on the startup of a photography business and how to go about doing that. This is a continuation of that track. When I started I would say my greatest failure was never networking in my industry. I always thought networking was about talking yourself up and trying to impress those around you with your successes. I know now that is a horrible way to network. If you don't believe me, try it. Talk yourself up to everyone around you and then star to listen for everyone talking about you. Not in a good way but talking about how annoyed they are with you. Or look at it from the other side. Think of those people who always have to one up you. Not

Talk Yourself Up Sometimes you need to talk yourself up. Photo World, the way we handle our internal reactions will often determine our external reality. I have spoken about mindset and maintaining professionalism in the past but what about those times when it seems like nothing is going your way? What about when you are feeling a creative block? How about times when rejection clouds your mood? There are plenty of things to think about when something doesn’t go our way. However, it is difficult to maintain a positive attitude. Start with a slight hesitation and replay this thought: When and if you are ever feeling down, do not listen to yourself; but instead, talk to yourself. This isn’t some trick to get yourself feeling better or some roundabout way to talk yourself up. This is a simple statement to remind you of a better approach to improving your thought process. Next episode I will go over a few ways to rethink rejection and how to find the positive moment. Photo World can you think of a time when you ne

What They Did I want to wrap up my thoughts from the last episode… I talks about starting out and there have been a few dedicated episodes with that same idea in mind, but it is really leading us to today’s topic. I had heard, and I don’t know if this is his quote, businessman Dave Ramsey  mention to one of h callers; “When you want to be thinner you talk to thin people, ask them what they did. When you want to be rich you talk to rich people, ask them what they did.” That ignited the exact same principal in me when concerning photography. When you want to be a more successful photographer you talk to successful photographers, ask them what they did. Directly asking someone who they became successful is not really the best strategy, but there are ways of learning the steps those, whose work you admire, did what they did to accomplish for where they are at now. As a good start you should begin with who do you surround yourself with? What are they like? Do you wish you were in the same position they are in? If

Rocky Start Photo World there are always so many things that come across my desk (screen) and I find once in a while, I see things that strike a chord with me. Recently, a story was shared withe me about another "photographer" who borrowed a few pictures to supplement their own portfolio in hopes to sell to new clients. They had said, once they were caught, that they would remove those borrowed images when they built a stronger portfolio. Photo World, if you were ever wondering how to get started in this industry there are hundreds of ways to do it. Some are better than others, but there are an oblivious few that should never be used. On the other end of the spectrum, as a professional, I don't know if there is much I can do if and when I ever come across this situation with my images. Would I be mad, upset, or vengeful? Maybe all three, maybe none at all. This episode isn't meant to be some sort of anti-theft device and I do steer away from the topic a bit but just another one of those things where it has be

Manual Mode Photo World how could I go through each priority mode and not finally speak on Manual Mode. However, I don’t really do that much here. I should have called this episode Rob Mode because I selfishly only talk about how I shoot and how I couple Manual Mode with my Metering. Although, Manual Mode is really “insert name here” Mode every time. If you think about how we create images, and you will hear me speak to the topic of “Style” here today, we will find it all starts from our own understanding of our gear and how we use it to create our looks. Admittedly, some of the thoughts seem disconnected but I do tie up my point in the end and hopefully give you a rough outline to doing what you love for a living. Ultimately, this is a show to help the “enter your current photographic level here” photographer to gain knowledge and experience to move forward and grow toward the next level of their journey. Whatever that may be. We will make our way back to the business stuff soon enough. I wanted to brea

Program Mode Photo World in my opinion Program mode is the transitional mode between auto and manual. Now if you have played with or made some understanding of how to effectively use the shutter priority and aperture priority modes then you are going to feel very comfortable with the Program Mode. Basically the camera will decide for you what the exposure will be with the exception of ISO. However, just like the other two priority modes you can enable that setting as well. Program mode wants good safe exposure for the situation the camera is presented with. Offering you the cleanest images with everything being considered. Now this is where Program mode is actually kind of cool… you may change the shutter or the aperture depending on a sharpness, depth of filed, freezing or blurring motion, and even creative attributes. No matter what you change or how you decide to do so the camera will automatically come up with the equivalent exposure. This is the main feature to Program mode because it acts as an exposure