Los Angeles Photographer and Orange County Photographer Mark Robert Halper » Photography Forum Posts

Playing with Photography — More on Vision

Mark Robert Halper — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:15:59 +0000

My response to a Photographer who talks about playing with photography like a child in her post, which I certainly think also has an important place in the process, but for me it’s about taking the time to discover what you find beautiful, interesting or compelling about your subject and using your technical skills to create an image that communicates your vision to others.

My perspective is that of a commercial photographer, but it works for nearly any kind of portrait, and many wedding photographers have been able to improve what they do by stretching outside of their more photojournalistic ways of seeing. We all learn by stretching – one of my best experiences was doing an improv class.

Forum Post by Mark Robert Halper, a Los angeles and Orange County Photographer

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Importance of Vision in Photography

Mark Robert Halper — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:15:58 +0000

I feel that it really does take a lot of shooting and work to find your own VISION. A vision is about the way you see, while a style is a set of technical parameters that apply to a set of photos (images done with a short lens, in black and white, with hard contrasty lighting, on location, with people in the corners of the image – that’s a style, not a vision).

I believe that the best way to develop one’s vision more quickly is to shoot in a way that makes you very conscious of the choices you make. (Get ready, here comes the plug.) I think that without a formal education many photographers fail to do that, and get lost or hit creative ceilings.

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Orange County Photographer Speaks out About Shopping Price

Mark Robert Halper — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:00:59 +0000

When I speak with clients who are shopping price (those who aren’t seem to be far more likely to work without these strange blinders on), I try to suggest they put my images side by side with the other photographers they are comparing and ask themselves which set of images feels like it belongs to the more established and successful company. I tell them not to worry about being able to understand why, since their clients will have an emotional rather than a logical response to the work.

I also explain what my strengths are. For the portrait world, the question would probably be which images belong to the family with the nicer home.

Los Angeles & Orange County Photographer Mark Robert Halper is based in Los Angeles.

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My Images Should be Good Enough to Hang in Galleries

Mark Robert Halper — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:55:54 +0000

I don’t think only artistic types appreciate good art. Good art evokes emotion and doesn’t require a degree. I don’t think everybody will get my work, however, but if they did then it probably wouldn’t be good. Please keep in mind that I’m in LA, and the motion picture community is well within my reach if I can properly target it.

I don’t know of any specific competitors who shoot like I do, which I consider a huge plus, but I do have a friend who also does strong work and I like her business model and think that I can make it work for me in my own way. On the other hand, I do intend to re-define my market and look for clients who want a family portrait, but also have an art collection and want it to all go together. Most family portraits don’t, in my personal opinion, and I’m there to change that. My images ought to be good enough to hang in galleries – I’m not always hitting that mark, but I always try to. Of course, I have a long road ahead of me, both creatively and in my business development.

Forum Post by Mark Robert Halper, a Los angeles and Orange County based commercial photographer

Technorati Tags: family protrait los angeles, Los Angeles Commercial photographer, Orange County Photographers, photography as art

Being a Photographer is in My Soul – Forum Post

Mark Robert Halper — Sun, 03 May 2009 22:10:12 +0000

I’m a photographer, and have been for the last twenty years, because it is in my soul – it is who and what I am. It is more important to me than what schools I go to, how big my house is, and the neighborhood I live in. It’s certainly more important that the toys I have. I want to leave behind a great body of work, and my bank account (something vastly important to me) runs behind that objective. That difference may explain, in part, why we see this so differently.

I teach workshops, and I’d rather somebody leave a better photographer and hate me, than somebody leave as my friend, but no better at their craft. Ability, to me, counts more than nice, and I’d rather that you think I’m an ass and have you take a second look at where portraiture is headed and what you consider to be the best you can achieve, than to say nothing and be liked. Nice won’t be of much help to either of us if our businesses go south, or if we feel unfulfilled by the work of our lives – I think we’d both rather have had to take a hard look at ourselves earlier on. I did, and I have, which is part of the reason I’m here at all.

Mark Robert Halper is a Los Angeles and Orange county based commercial photographer

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Identifying Good vs Bad Photography

Studio Manager — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:54:15 +0000

There’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed. This applies in the commercial world as well – almost anybody can look through two magazines (one with great photography, one with mediocre photography) and pick out the higher end publication.

Yet, when these same people need to buy photography they can’t tell good work from bad work – the reason, I believe, is that when they select a photographer for themselves they are less willing to trust their gut reactions, and instead limit their analysis to what they can identify and understand. Basically, if they can’t tell exactly what the differences are, they seem to become blind to them.

Most photographers actually see their own work with those same eyes, ironically, and since we can only fix or improve what we see, don’t have much perspective on where we fit.

Taken from Forum post by Mark Robert Halper, Commercial and Advertising Los Angeles and Orange County Photographer.

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Digital Image Pricing – Orange County Photographer Forum advice

Mark Robert Halper — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:15:38 +0000

The idea of pricing images based on usage has nothing to do with the transition to digital photography, but rather is a function of a completely different business model where we charge based on the many thousands, tens of thousands, or millions of times the image will be reproduced. It also takes into account the benefit accrued to person who licenses the imagery.

Professionally, this gets complicated enough that every time somebody on my commercial board asks for specific guidelines everybody gets kind of quiet. However, it is easy to get suggestions based on specific projects.

Commercial photographers price based on:

The way in which the images will be used (and they are only licensed for that specific use)

The time involved in creating the imagery
The difficulty of the project (which also accounts for the number of images)

The experience and talent of the photographer

Oh, and how soon their rent is due, but I prefer to leave that one out since those shooters don’t last long.

Halper is a Los Angeles and Orange County based commercial photographer.

Technorati Tags: image licenses, image use pricing, los angeles photographers images, Orange County Photographers