Hello! Welcome to my website. Thanks for reading this. I’m Rick.
I am a professionally qualified photographer based in Dorset. I specialise in architectural, commercial, landscape and travel photography.
I have a weekly photography blog. And I am an all round nice chap. Please get in touch so we can create some great photos.
I am going to give you 21 Photography Tips That Will Actually make A Difference in this post. I am talking about things that really work and will genuinley help you. These are things that I have learned over many years as a photographer. These are not quick tips, some of these are ways of thinking about things differently.
Read MoreIn this post I am going to provide advice for clients on how to commission architectural photography. I will share my experiences as a working architectural photographer, which should help you as clients successfully appoint the right photographer for you to photograph your buildings.
Read MoreThis post was republished on Friday 8th March 2019 with a new title and introduction - 21 Photography Tips That WIll Actually Make A Difference.
In this post I will be providing an update on my photography business targets for 2018. We all need to plan our businesses, and also review progress and modify plans when needed, without going all over the place that is!
Anyway, this is all about me and my photography business.
On the 3rd February 2018 I published the targets for my photography business in 2018.
I was going to review progress and provide an update halfway though the year, but forgot. So here we are with my update after 8 months of 2018.
And quite a bit has changed!
Original text in italics.
The average UK salary is £27,600, which equates to £2,300 per month. I want my stock photography to achieve 50% of this monthly level of income by the end of 2018, and 100% by the end of 2019.
Is this achievable?
I’m not sure, but there is one thing I can guarantee – I will not achieve this if I don’t try.
I made about £2 through Adobe Stock in 2017! And cannot tell you how great it was to get an email saying I had sold an image, even if it was for 53p!!
That is very ambitious aim number one.
I have had a complete change of mind and plans on this one. I have created a new website, photos of Santorini. This change of direction was inspired by some information from Jim Harmer, owner of Improve Photography, and also from earning 53p selling an imge on Adobe Stock.
And it goes on. I have joined Income School, and am learning all about niche websites. This is all Jim's fault. This is what I am working on right now. And I mean right now.
It turns out photos of Santorini might be a bit too niche, so I am exploring something a little broader. I hope to have this new website completed by the end of September. I might do the Santorini website later, but for now have a better idea thanks to feedback from the income school community.
So the big change is that I am not targetting stock in any way shape or form, other than selling stuff myself. I have actually removed myself from all the stock sgencies I am registered with.
Funnily enough I am getting more enquiries via my website from people wanting to buy prints from me, that and take photos to order which is good. This is really good news, and I look forward to more growth in this area. I thought that this was a dead sector in the market - I will add this into my targets for 2019, which I have just started working on.
I do not want to sell images for a pittance. In fact I will go further than that - I will not sell images for a pittance.
I want to have one commercial sponsor by the end of 2018. One company, a manufacturer of a product I use and value, whom I can work with promoting their products and at the same time my use of their products.
Another challenging target!”
Unfortunately no further solid news. I have made a few more industry contacts, and am awaiting responses from a number of big companies.
I still need to grow the traffic to my website to make myself more appealling comemrcially.
See 4 below for the news on people visiting my website.
"I already have one freelance writing contract, on the excellent Improve Photography website. I really enjoy this work, as well of course as the massive exposure. Writing for Improve Photography has made me change how I write, and what I write about.
Both in a positive way.
I want one more freelance writing commitment in 2018. Just one."
No progress - I have not looked at this yet with other things going on. I have changed the structure of my blog though, adding one very long post per month, a couple of medium length posts and then shorter daily posts. This has incresaed my workload on the writing front but should help with my website findability.
And with the other things I am looking at I will not be actively pursuing this so this will not be a target for 2019.
I have spent a lot of time and effort on my website in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 I am going to do very little to my website other than the following.
Image refresh – 2 pages per month.
Home page – an update on the text and images.
Travel photographer page – this needs to be produced in February 2018. You will find one image on there at the moment – a photo of Santorini.
And there is the outcome of all this work. By the end of 2018 I want to achieve 1000 visitors per month to my website. I was averaging just over 300 visitors per month before I started my writing on the Improve Photography website in late October 2018.”
Ok - progress update.
And a lot has changed.
My new URL is this.
https://rickmcevoyphotography.com
As a reminder, it was http://www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
Much more global, secure and shorter.
This is the Google Analytics data for August 2018. Well for the first 30 days of August
And this was the Google Analytics data for July 2017 for rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
And this is July 2018 data for rickmcevoyphotography.com
hat does this tell me? The number of visitors, ie sessions, has more than doubled which is of course good. I made the switch from .co.uk to .com just as my web traffic was on the up, not the best time I know, but things look to be back to where they were before I made the change.
I have to give this more time, and will certainly not be unpicking this change of URL.
I will schedule monthly updates on my analytics and see what the long term trends are.
But I have to say that the growth of the traffic to my website is a big disappointment - lets hope that the changes I am working on will bear fruit in the next six months.
I want one source of income achieved solely from my website. This will of course be directly related to the number of visitors to my website, to the value my website has on the World Wide Web.”
See 4 above!
I want to have achieved 10,000 views by the end of 2018. 10,000 views triggers more possibilities in YouTube, which I want to get to. And hopefully the quality of my videos will improve over the course of the year to the point where I am able to produce videos for commercial clients that they want to buy.
And I want a drone too! Just thought I would throw that one into the mix here.”
At the time of writing this post I have managed to get 2430 views. Not good enough progress, but progress all the same. 743 views have come in the last 90 days, 2157 views in the last 12 months.
So the growth is there.
And I have discovered on the app You Tube Studio that you can pull up this information instantly. I had been counting the number of views on each video, adding them to the calculator app on my phone. A very long winded process that was!
And as for the drone, not something I have progressed.
This target stays and will be slowly worked on in the background.
I want a high quality printed portfolio of 30 prints for
Interchangeable in a lovely high quality folio holder.
Actual high quality prints that I can present at meetings.”
Done. Sort of. I have a set of 40 architectural photography prints in a very expensive box. I did not get the landscape and travel folois done, and will not be getting them done.
This target will drop off now.
I want to achieve my ABIPP in 2018. I never submitted my portfolio in 2016 as I was not happy with it, even though my BIPP mentor was happy with it. There is a lesson there in just going for things that I have definitely learnt.”
"Issued: June 2018
For Immediate Release
Local Photographer Gains International Qualification with BIPP
Rick McEvoy ABIPP is a specialist architectural, construction and industrial photographer based in Dorset, who has recently achieved his Associateship (ABIPP) in Commercial Photography.
Rick joined the BIPP in 2013, gaining his Licentiateship in Commercial Photography in 2014. As well as commercial work, Rick is an independent writer on the Improve Photography website, has a daily photography blog, and has been published in a variety of publications in the UK and further afield. He also produces fine art prints that are for sale on his website.
Rick is a keen travel photographer, with examples of his work featuring on his website, with lots of new plans being worked on for 2018.
His portfolio submission consisted of 40 architectural photography images, 20 interior images and 20 exterior images. All bar one of the images were from commercial commissions carried out for architects and property owners.
You can view Rick’s complete portfolio at www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/portfolio
When we asked Rick how he felt about achieving his Associateship, he said: “I feel honored, proud and I don't mind saying relieved that I was successful in achieving my Associateship. It has taken me a couple of years to get together a portfolio that I was happy with. I am pretty much self-taught.”
To see more of Rick’s work please visit – rickmcevoyphotography.com"
##Ends##
"Notes to Editors:
Contact: Jack Goward, 01296 642020, jack@bipp.com
The British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) is an internationally recognised qualifying organisation with over 100 years of experience in qualifying and supporting photographers. The core aims of BIPP are to qualify and support professional photographers, through a network of meetings, awards, training and benefits.
The BIPP is a not for profit body, run by photographers for photographers.
The BIPP has been fighting for and protecting photographers’ rights since 1901.
The BIPP has over 2,800 members worldwide covering all disciplines of photography.
Rick McEvoy ABIPP, sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk , rickmcevoyphotography.com"
I want to achieve one commercial photography booking overseas in 2018.”
This was a bit of a dream job for me - now it is looking like the travel I have done recently is going to form the basis of niche websites in the future, so I will leave this target in and see where other things I have already talked about fit in.
It might be that I produce travel photography websites based on trips abroad - one to think about over the winter.
Last one. I want my work in an actual shop being sold to actual people. I will get my portfolios done and get out there and see who wants to sell my work.”
Not done. I guess I need my portfolios first! OK. I have done my portfolio but have gone down different roads and am focussing on the online market for the reasons highlighted above.
A lot has changed. My plans for stock have been completey overturned, as has my entire business strategy.
This is my end of August update - I am going to start working on my targets for 2018.
I will provide a further update at the end of September 2018 - the next update will include my new targets for 2019 - no point looking at things now if I am not going to be working on them in the future.
How to evolve and grow as a photographer - that was the starting title.
And then I thought – can I put this in a better way?
Same question – so many ways of putting it.
But hopefully you get the point? I will stick with the original title.
I am in the post portfolio reflective period having published those 40 images, 20 interiors, and 20 exteriors, on my photography blog.
Having published those 40 images, and having written about them, I found myself reflecting on where I am as a photographer now compared to where I was when I took the first image in my architectural photography portfolio.
The first image in my architectural photography portfolio was taken in 2011. 7 years ago.
In this post I want to explore the development of my photographic work and business. Hopefully this will help you if you are seeking to progress from amateur to professional photographer.
One thing that this does prove is that it is ever too late to pursue your dream, whatever that may be. Of course it would have been good if I had stuck to my chosen path all those years ago, but my experiences up to now have all made me what I am now.
For those of you who don’t know me I am 50 years old…..
Before I start, I need to go back a bit in time. Well quite a long way to be fair. I am after all quite old now!
I want to quickly take you right back to the beginning of my interest in photography, which started at the age of 13 - 1980 would you believe.
Yes, I am that old. And that sounds like a long long time ago…
My Mum and Dad bought me a Fuji ST SLR camera with kit lens. I seem to think it might have been the STX-1. I had that for a while, before convincing them to treat me to a Canon AL1. This SLR camera was special as it beeped when I got the focus correct! That was the state of technology back then.
I had my own darkroom at 15, with my enlarger in the chest freezer in the utility room in our family home.
I went to Art College at 18, with the intention of studying photography. I got to April of the following year, when I left needing money to live (and spend on beer).
That was the end of my photography aspirations until 2007. I never lost my interest in photography, enjoying taking photos on holidays, but had no serious aspirations until 2007.
I had spinal surgery and left my job.
For the first time in my life I didn’t have a job. Well that lasted until mid February when I was approached and interviewed for a job. And I got the job.
Plans scuppered.
I had two months without a job, in which time I bought and sold lots of gear and lost loads of time in Photoshop. This started the process, which I have been following ever since.
The early days/ years.
This was the beginning. I bought a Canon 5D and Canon 24-105mm lens. This opened my eyes to full frame photography with a professional L series lens. I still have that lens. And I still use that lens.
Camera bodies depreciate with time – lenses hold their value really well. I have actually sold a lens three years after buying it for more than I bought it for – that is like free rental!
In these years I was out and about photographing everything, end loving it. I was completely all over the place, but slowly my photography was developing.
When I say learning curves I am not referring to Photoshop curves - as you will find out later I have no real idea what curves are in Photoshop!
One thing to say here – to find out what you want to do and how you are going to do it you need to go through a learning curve – we all do.
And don’t forget 10,000 hours – it has been said that it takes 10,000 hours to be come truly proficient at something. Now that is obviously a broad-brush statement, but the principle is spot on.
I joined the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers. I was chasing all sorts of work. I was quite frankly all over the place, looking into everything and everything. I went to the SWPP convention in London, which was excellent I have to say. I bought lots of stuff when I was there, and collected lots and lots of information that I never read. I joined the industrial branch of the SWPP.
I went to the convention the next year, and attended an endless number of classes.
I never wanted to be a wedding photographer – well I did at the time but that was something that I learned much later.
I remember sitting in a class on Photoshop at the SWPP convention, and thinking that I didn’t belong – I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. It all felt beyond me. Worst of all I thought I might never belong.
I spent a lot of time trying to learn Photoshop, not getting anywhere. It took me 10 years to work out why I was not getting anywhere – more on that later.
Thankfully this coincided with the introduction by Adobe of Lightroom – designed by photographers for photographers – that was the tag line with version 1 if my memory services me correctly.
I bought Lightroom 1.0, which was ordered online, with a disk being sent in the post in a nice box with a license key on the box.
That was how it was done.
Getting my first version of Lightroom was a big moment for me – I had second hand versions of Photoshop up until that point, and no structure to my image processing. Let’s be honest – my processing before Lightroom was virtually non-existent.
Lightroom gave me some structure – somewhere to put my photos so I could organise them.
I did my first commercial photography job. It was a celebrity chef would you believe. A bona-fide celebrity chef from off the telly.
That was a terrifying experience.
I had more gear with me then than I ever have now. And I did not really know what I was doing.
Everyone starts somewhere. So if you get a commercial job go for it. What is the worst than can happen?
You don’t get paid, and someone thinks you are rubbish.
That’s what I was afraid of, but I got paid for the job by the agency.
And my confidence grew during the shoot. Lesley and her husband even made a comment, which told me that I had convinced them that this was not my first job, and that I did this all the time!
I used Lightroom for that first job.
I got paid by cheque – I took a photo of the cheque. My first professional photography job done and paid for – most excellent!
Without Lightroom I would have been nowhere.
2007 to 2011 were a slow progression without much in the way of structure. Lets just call them the early days! My formative years as a photographer.
I did do quite a few commercial architectural jobs in this period.
Like the new Police Station in Poole.
So lets get to 2011
Private library in Dorset by Rick McEvoy Architectural Photographer
2011 was a bit of a landmark year for me, when I saw a big improvement in my photography. Well the architectural side of things. I had spent a lot of time practicing, doing the odd job here and there. And this photo was created in 2011 for the architect Andrew Stone. The commission was the photographing of an extension to a stunning country residence.
The extension was a private library, and I got lots of interesting photos from this shoot.
And this was where my interest in photographing classic English architecture grew from. I absolutely loved doing that job, even though it was really hard work.
I took too many images, but am glad that I did as this unique space has provided me with lots of different images that I still look back on 7 years on from the shoot.
And to think this was all done using a canon 5D Mk 1!
In 2011 I am still buying gear and not learning how to use it by the way.
Photograph of a refurbished room in a lovely Dorset farmhouse
And I was still not knowing what I wanted to do so, so the focus on my architectural photography, whilst still slowly evolving, was not there.
In development terms 2012 was a year when I seemed to do a lot but not achieve much. Not the most progressive year but formative for that reason.
Lots of things that I picked up went into my head and some of them stuck there, waiting to be applied in future years.
I have not got a lot to say about 2012 – that says a lot!!
Duomo in Florence by Rick McEvoy Photography
This was the year I decided that I wanted to join a professional body that worked for me. I researched all the professional bodies in the UK, and further afield, and settled on the BIPP.
The BIPP is the British Institute of Professional Photography. Sounds good to me.
This was the year that I found my focus, and stopped trying to be all things to all people.
Get your sensor cleaned for free at trade shows/ conventions.
What I have learned from this and the SWPP convention before is that you can get your camera sensor cleaned for free – you drop you camera off and some poor person sat in a small cupboard cleans sensors all day – what an unforgiveable job.
I left my Canon 5D to have the sensor cleaned, then wandered off for the day. I spent a nice day browsing around all the things that are there to be seen.
I spent an age on the Manfrotto stand, buying a new tripod and head. This is the beauty of these shows having the time to speak to an expert about their gear, get the best advice and get the gear that is right for you. I am still using that tripod and head now, since buying them they have served me so well.
And I also got advice on some bits of kit that helped with other things.
And then I went back to pick up my beloved Canon 5D to be given the news that there was something on the sensor that could not be removed!
The next day I was awaiting delivery of a shiny new Canon 6D.
If you are operating professionally you really need a back-up camera.
Chideock Catholic Church by Rick McEvoy
I had finally got a portfolio of a standard together, which Bryn was happy with.
I went to the Photography Show at the NEC this year for the second time. I met Bryn Griffiths for the first time, my BIPP mentor, and a lovely chap as well. We had a good chat about my portfolio.
The meeting appointment made a huge difference – I was going to a show to meet someone prominent in the industry – that made a big difference to how I felt.
I met Bryn, we talked through my portfolio, and then I went off and ate lots, drank lots of coffee, spoke to lots of people and bought some gear.
It was a good, if long day out.
I submitted my portfolio, along with insurances and supporting evidence, then went to BIPP HQ in Aylesbury.
That was nerve wracking I have to say, but happily I was successful. Rick McEvoy LBIPP.
The press release said this. And yes, this was the first press release ever all about me!
“Local Photographer Awarded International Qualification
Poole based photographer, Rick McEvoy LBIPP, has received recognition for his Commercial photography after being awarded a Licentiateship by the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP).
Rick prides himself on producing elegant and uncontrived photographs. He is completely self taught and has developed his own highly effective and efficient work flows enabling him to provide a high quality service alongside the highest standards of imagery. Rick still uses techniques from his days in the darkroom when processing images on his computer, combining these traditional techniques (dodging and burning inter alia) with cutting edge digital processing.
When asked how he felt about achieving his LBIPP, Rick said “I was delighted to be awarded my Licentiateship by the BIPP. This for me was the culmination of many years of hard work spent in the evenings, weekends and very early mornings, working around day jobs and family life. Being completely self-taught I am delighted to achieve this recognition, and consider this a huge stepping stone in my work to become a full time photographer.”
BIPP President, Roy Meiklejon FBIPP, stated “BIPP qualifications are among the most rigorous in the world. Qualification with the BIPP requires hard work, determination, commitment and lots of creativity”.
As the qualifying body of professional photography in the UK, BIPP requires any photographer going for qualification to follow strict criteria and provide a substantial portfolio of commissioned work, together with supporting information about themselves as a professional.
To see more of Rick’s work please visit www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
##Ends##
Notes to Editors:
• Contact: Jack Goward, 01296 642020, jack@bipp.com
• The British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) is an internationally recognised qualifying organisation with over 100 years of experience in qualifying and supporting photographers. The core aims of BIPP are to qualify and support professional photographers, through a network of meetings, awards, training and benefits.
• The BIPP is a not for profit body, run by photographers for photographers.
• The BIPP has been fighting for and protecting photographers’ rights since 1901.
• The BIPP has over 3,000 members worldwide covering all disciplines of photography.
• Rick McEvoy LBIPP, 07772 252186, sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk, www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk”
Blimey. Impressive or what???
Durdle Door by Rick McEvoy Dorset Photographer
2014 image count - 3600 images
The year of the podcast. And photographing Travelodge Hotels.
As well as developing my architectural photography my learning exploded when I discovered podcasts. All of a sudden all the time I spent driving, and that was a lot of time, suddenly was learning time.
I went through every podcast I could find, choosing favourites which I stuck with, some being discarded along the way. And quite a few of my favourites fell by the wayside.
And the progression of my evolution towards a niche. Or two.
2015 was the year I feel like I spent working on my website. I employed an SEO company who did good things and bad things.
I was focusing on my website so much I cannot recall any other significant developments.
Which says a lot……
Image count in 2015 - 6281 images
Winchester School of Art by Rick McEvoy Architectural Photographer.jpg
The year I decided to write a daily photography blog. This was a key year, as it was the start of the process of raising the bar in terms of the standard of my writing.
Like a lot of things the more you practice the better you get. The daily discipline was good for me, forcing me to produce daily output. And when you put that kind of pressure on yourself it focuses the mind.
And I had another surprise when I started writing regularly – writing helped me put things in order, make sense of things, plan and record my thoughts
Writing was becoming a useful tool, and that is a great thing for a photographer to have – a very valuable second string that could be used to expand out the photographs that I have created.
I had a feeling that the writing was taking me to other places, down different avenues, opening up new opportunities.
On the down side I was trying to progress my professional photography qualifications, but was struggling with my portfolio. I could not come up with a set of images that I was happy with. After making my initial enquiries to the BIPP I failed to progress my application.
I had not found that focus that I needed.
Another new thing for me this year was my iPad Pro – a present from the wonderful Mrs M. This opened up lots of new things for me, principally
Last thing for 2016 was the introduction of my new backup strategy. A comprehensive, secure three-point back up using
Image count in 2017 - 6342 images
The wonderful island of Santorini at sunrise
Last year. So much happened last year.
I started off the year having maintained my daily blog output. A full year of daily posts, with only the odd glitch.
I had the Associateship hangover though, sat there in the background irritating me, niggling away.
And then Santorini happened
This has provided me with a fantastic range of over 100 images that I am proud to have captured and produced.
I spent the early mornings capturing the sunrises, the daytime exploring the towns and the evenings capturing the sunsets.
All with a pair of red shoes.
I have written a lot of posts about my photos of Santorini, on my blog and elsewhere. It was the first time that I had a dedicated set of images from one location to work on. Processing these image took from April 2017 to June 2018 – there is a good reason for this.
I wanted to do something different with these images, something useful, of value, and something that I could use as a template for other trips.
When you get to 2018 you will find out what I have done with those photos of Santorini.
Another thing that happened ot me in 2018 was that I secured my biggest commercial commission. I was commissioned to photograph 10 sites by the architects Etchingham Morris Architecture Limited. I met with the two partners, Adrian and Mike, showed them some of the work I have done, and won the commission. My portfolio was in collections in Lightroom Mobile on my iPad Pro.
A wonderul interior photographed for the architect
Interior photography by Rick McEvoy ABIPP
The 10 sites were photographed over a period of 4 months, and form a big part of my portfolio – again check 2018 for more about this.
I have written the following articles in Improve Photography
Want to be an architectural photographer? Read my guide here
10 Tips on getting work as an architectural photographer
5 Photography Mistakes I Keep On Making
10 ways to Improve your Photography in 2018
An Introduction to Lightroom for New Photographers
My Top 20 Photography Tips for Taking Better Photographs
10 tips for planning an architectural photography shoot
My Review of the Rode VideoMic Me
What gear do I use for my architectural photography? Find out here
10 baffling photography acronyms explained in actual English
How I take my architectural photography images – a detailed explanation
How to manage your data in Lightroom securely and efficiently
Santorini sunrise – how I captured and processed the shot
SEO for photographers websites – 10 things to think about
19 things for a client to do before you photograph their house
How I process my architectural photography images
Full frame DSLR photography without breaking the bank – this is how I do it
10 photography things I wish I’d known 10 years ago
These are 5 things I use Photoshop for – no layers required!
Most have been well received, but my article on Photoshop received a bit of criticism. Read that post and then go back to the pre 2011 and you will see what I was struggling with pre 2011, with the realization in 2018/ 2018 of why.
That kind of readership gave me the credibility to ask companies to send me things to review – the first item being the
Which Rode kindly sent me all the way from Australia.
This prompted me to contact other manufacturers and suppliers, and hopefully more product reviews will be forthcoming.
Last thing for 2017 was my intention to significantly improve my video production. I have to be honest and say that I have not managed to do that, although I have invested in the wonderful DJI Osmo Mobile, which I have dabbled with. This is something I need to get stuck into in 2018, although at the time of writing this has still not happened.
Image count in 2017 - 6342 images
I am writing this in June/ July 2018. Yes it took me a while to capture this little lot and make sense of what I am trying to say.
And it feels good doing rather than floundering.
Rick McEvoy ABIPP - Qualified Associate
I am now an ABIPP – Associate of the British Institute of Professional Photography. And I am very very happy with that. And this is why I have posted all 40 images from my portfolio – just because I can and I want to share my portfolio with the whole world.
And here is the press release for this momentous occasion.
“Issued: June 2018
For Immediate Release
Rick McEvoy ABIPP is a specialist architectural, construction and industrial photographer based in Dorset, who has recently achieved his Associateship (ABIPP) in Commercial Photography.
Rick joined the BIPP in 2013, gaining his Licentiateship in Commercial Photography in 2014. As well as commercial work, Rick is an independent writer on the Improve Photography website, has a daily photography blog, and has been published in a variety of publications in the UK and further afield. He also produces fine art prints that are for sale on his website.
Rick is a keen travel photographer, with examples of his work featuring on his website, with lots of new plans being worked on for 2018.
His portfolio submission consisted of 40 architectural photography images, 20 interior images and 20 exterior images. All bar one of the images were from commercial commissions carried out for architects and property owners.
You can view Rick’s complete portfolio at www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/portfolio
When we asked Rick how he felt about achieving his Associateship, he said: “I feel honored, proud and I don't mind saying relieved that I was successful in achieving my Associateship. It has taken me a couple of years to get together a portfolio that I was happy with. I am pretty much self-taught.”
To see more of Rick’s work please visit – rickmcevoyphotography.com
##Ends##
Notes to Editors:
And what next? Fellowship. Hmmmmm – will come back to that one in a couple of years. I do have some ideas of course….
This year I have gone from a website with the URL
Http://www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/
To this
Https://rickmcevoyphotography.com
Why have I done this?
As a writer on Improve Photography I have the luxury of having direct access to the creator of that very successful website, Jim Harmer.
During an exchange of emails Jim suggested that a .com URL was more meaningful than a .co.uk URL. More meaningful to the worldwide photography community that is, which makes perfect sense.
I made the change and watched the web traffic plummet.
So I reverted back to .co.uk. And received further advice, which was this.
Tell Google Search Console about the change and wait and see – the traffic should come back after such a major change.
That is what I did – I am currently waiting for the 6-week recovery period to arrive, which I will write about in two weeks.
Web traffic plummeted. This is after a steady period of growth - a very steady period of growth.
Even worse.
But time will tell....
Photos of Santorini by Rick McEvoy - travel photographer
And now I have my first standalone website which is being gradually populated with images. The website is called
Photos of Santorini - the URL is (imaginatively) www.photosofsantorini.com
I was not expecting to get that URL but there it was for just over £20 for two years!
Time to teach myself Wordpress I guess. This is the next job, getting the website and images onto this brand new website.
Once I have done this, and finished editing the photos of Santorini I am going to leave this and see what happens.
This is my next big evolution, and one that no doubt I will be writing about a lot in the future.
Now that this post is written it is back to my photos of Santorini until they are finished and my Photos of Santorini website is done and put to bed.
I want to continue on the paths I have embarked on in 2019, for now I am going to carry on making 2018 the best I can.
I have heard this referred to as CEO time on some podcasts. The point is this. I have found myself bogged down with all sorts of things all over the place.
I gave myself a break and got things clear in my head and everything structured.
And documented all.
My thinking time has given me a structure where I can organise thoughts and new information without trying to keep it all in my head.
This has freed my thinking to allow me to be much much more productive and effective.
Take time out, take a step back and give yourself time to think about what you are doing.
This really helped me tremendously.
What am I listening to now?
I am now listening to a mix of photography news, cricket and business podcasts. Nowhere near as much photography as I used to listen to – I think I overdid it 2 year ago and am now saturated but informed!
Image count for 2018 - 1526 - well down on 2017!
Keep going with my chosen niche paths.
I would like to summarise this post by saying that we all need to try things to work out what we want to do. It is fine to try things and fail.
And you have to go through the things that are not relevant to find the things that are – that is just the learning curve we all have to go through.
Once you have a plan that is sound and takes account of what you have learnt and where you want to get follow that path consistently Of course things change over time but the main point of this is that I have made the most progress when I have spent time doing the things I have thought long and hard about doing.
What am I focusing on now?
That is it.
I have niched down.
Lets see where this takes me in 2019!
Thank you for reading this post, which I hope you will helpful when thinking how you can evolve as a photographer in the future.
Please ask any questions either in the comments field, or by email
That was the 20 interior images from my architectural photography portfolio – what have I learned?
I was meant to provide a bit of a break after the 20 interior images in my architectural photography portfolio. I missed that but no matter, I will do that just now after image number 25. Lets just pretend that I did this 5 days ago…..
As a reminder, I submitted 40 images to the BIPP to support my application for Associateship Membership, which was successful.
I really enjoy photographing the interiors of buildings and have been very fortunate to photograph some very special buildings for architects and property owners.
There is something about photographing a lovely room in a classic English Country house which I just love. And processing the images is a joy too.
And my recent work gave me plenty of interior photographs to chose from.
I will write a full post about my evolution over the 7 years that it has taken to create the images which constitute my professional architectural photography portfolio. I will do this after I have posted and written about all the 40 images on my photography blog.
For now, I want to focus on the interior images, and give a few thoughts on some of these 20 images.
This was a bit of a landmark image for me. I was commissioned by the architect Andrew Stone to photograph a private library which he designed and oversaw the construction of. The library was an extension to a stunning Dorset country residence.
This shoot, and the set of images that I produced, really got me wanting to do more of this kind of photography work. This was the beginning of me starting to find my way. The beginning of starting.
And this photo was taken with my Canon 5D, still a great camera even now. Don’t forget that if you want a full frame DLSR but are on a budget.
We were waling down one of those lovely streets in Lucca, and I spotted this fantastic wall to wall wine rack, so I walked in, took the photo and walked out!
And this picture was the beginning of another thought about a way I could go forward commercially with my photography.
And this is the only personal shot in this collection of 20 interior photography images – all the rest are paid commercial work.
Well when I say paid commercial work the next image should have been, but things did not work out as planned. I met the agent at this stunning waterside property in Sandbanks in Poole, took a few test shots, discussed the brief then it all went pear shaped.
This photo was taken in 2014, using my recently purchased Canon 6D. I replaced the 5D with the 6D after a problem caused entirely by me with the Canon 5D.
This is a rest area at the University of Southampton. I was photographing two entirely refurbished floors of one of the University’s buildings in Southampton City Centre – this was my favourite shot. I find shots of small parts of a large space are often more interesting than the big open plan wide shots that everyone wants, and indeed needs.
And this is a photo is of a new classroom at a school in Poole, constructed for the client, the Borough of Poole.
I wanted to capture that big bright sun in a shot, which took two return visits to achieve – one of the problems of photographing recently constructed buildings which are rapidly handed back and turned into use within days of completion.
Thankfully I am used to this.
The rest of the images in the interiors half of my photography portfolio are taken from a single commission for the architects Etchingham Morris Architecture Limited. When I first met Adrian and Mike they did not have a website, so they commissioned me to photograph 10 of their projects for them. In the end it was 11 projects – there was a late addition early in 2018.
Again, this commission gave me access to some fantastic, special buildings. I cannot say any more about the properties, as client confidentiality is very important to me, but the images hopefully speak for themselves.
I won’t include all the images in this post – there are in my daily blog posts. You can also view all the images on my portfolio page – insert link
Tomorrow I will be back to my architectural photography posts. I have said it before but I will say it again – I am tremendously proud to have achieved the designation of Associateship in the British Institute of Professional Photography – this is why I am posting my portfolio set in celebration.
I qualified as a Licentiate Member in 2014, and deferred my application for Associateship last year as I was not happy with the set of images.
It was when I set the targets for my photography business for 2018 that I decided to pursue my application again. I cunningly set myself the target of achieving my ABIPP in 2018. That worked, giving me the metaphorical kick up the you know what that I clearly needed.
Well this and the fact that I had lots more images to a much higher standard that I was much happier with.
So that is what I did. Goal achieved – ABIPP. Insert logo to the right
ABIPP is defined by the BIPP as
“A high standard of craftsmanship and creative ability”
Yep – that is me now. How utterly excellent.
OK I will shut up now and tomorrow it is back to the portfolio for another 15 days.
It took me a while to come up with this title. I wanted to encapsulate this entire subject in one line.
Alternative titles were
20 things I wish I had known when I started my journey in photography
20 pieces of advice for new photographers
20 tips for photographers – things I wish I knew
20 things I have learned which will help you grow as a photographer
I went with the title at the top, which I hope explains what I am going to write about in this post.
These are 20 things that I have learned along the way, which I hope will help you in your journey in photography.
These are all my own opinions, based on my experiences in the last 11 years.
I hope you find them helpful.
A lot of these points are interrelated, and things will get a mention more than once, but at the end I will summarise with 10 key points what I have written about in this blog post.
They are in no particular order, just the way things came out of my head.
Don’t worry about the gear
Second hand gear is fine
Learn about composition
Get off the computer and get out there
Take less photos
Take more photos in interesting places.
Forget layers in Photoshop
Start with Lightroom
Learn Lightroom properly (before trying anything else)
Get honest critiques of your work
Join a professional body
Don’t research a location too much before going there
Practice, practice, practice. And fail. Fail lots.
Choose the people whose advice you trust and stick with them
Listen to podcasts
Start a blog
Buy a tripod
Don’t worry about social media
Follow your own mind, dreams and ambitions
Enjoy it
Get the best gear you can, but don’t break the bank. That is the first general point I want to get across to everyone getting started in photography.
And to be honest this applies to all of us at all stages of our journeys. In my humble opinion there is too much talk about photography gear. Much too much.
I have been using my Canon 6D for well over 4 years now, and it still produces great images. I have images in my portfolio that were taken with my 12 mega pixel Canon 5D. And do you know what – you cannot tell that they were taken with a 10-year-old camera.
My clients are not interested in my gear – all they care about is the images that I produce for them. I have never been asked (other than in passing interest) about the cameras and lenses I use. The only time has been when I was with a client who had an interest in photography.
Don’t worry about the gear – get the best you can and use it.
And another point – don’t take all your gear with you wherever you go.
I have my base gear in my Peak Design Everyday Backpack. This is a small 20 litre bag.
It looks like this.
In it I carry the following
A few other bits – memory cards, spare batteries, a Platypod and ball head, a couple of key filters, grey card, colour card, cloths and wipes.
Manfrotto 190 Go tripod (which fits in a side pocket and is strapped in place) with geared head
Not forgetting my Neewer Loupe Viewer.
And that is the base gear I use 95% of the time.
Peak Design Everyday Backpack on location in Santorini
Canon 6D, Canon 17-40mm lens, Platypod Pro
I have just written an article about this which you can read on the Improve Photography website titled Full frame DSLR photography without breaking the bank – this is how I do it
Read this article on Improve Photography
The first full frame DSLR I bought was a Canon 5D. I bought it from a photographer who had not had it long but had a change of heart and decided to stay with medium format.
That camera worked faultlessly for my formative years as a photographer, and I used this great camera on many commercial jobs.
I have lenses that I bought new, and lenses that I bought second hand. And can I tell them apart? Not really no. Of course, I know which are which, but in practical terms they all produce great results.
And a slight aside here but an important point all the same – lenses hold their value incredibly well.
Again, the last article I wrote on the Improve Photography website talks about this as well, and the gear that I use. I have linked to it above.
Classic lines in this compostion for an architect
This is the number 1 mistake I made for years and years. I was too busy looking at what gear to buy next and taking photos without really thinking about composition.
What happened?
I got bored with producing average photos. I bored myself to be honest. And this was when I started to think about my images, what I didn’t like about them, and how I might make them better.
I stopped obsessing about my gear, and instead concentrated on the pictures themselves.
I looked at the work of the best photographers, read books and took the time to critique my work. It was at this time that I submitted my first portfolio submission to the BIPP – that is the British Institute of Professional Photography.
My first submission was a complete revelation – a Hasselblad master called Bryn Griffiths very kindly and patiently critiqued the images I sent him. I had to rethink my submission, and quite a few of the images were removed from my portfolio and replaced with images that worked better.
This was the beginning really of my realisation of what really matters in photography.
Get the composition right and you have a great photo., be it on the best DLSR, a lovely Hasselblad, an iPhone, a point and shoot – any camera.
But a rubbish composition is a rubbish composition, and probably a rubbish photo, whatever the camera.
If you take two things from this I will be happy.
If you are happy to read on, then thank you.
To continue with the portfolio thing and the BIPP, last month I had my second portfolio assessment at the BIPP – this time for my Associateship.
And Associateship is defined by the BIPP as
And all those years on from the initial critique, all I was asked to change by Bryn was the white balance to some of my interior images – that was it.
I have worked very hard on improving the quality of my images, and this is the result.
Composition on a architectural photgraphy shoot
And I got my Associateship – I am now an ABIPP. And one of the points of feedback was the observation that I did not appear to crop many, if any, of the 40 images submitted. I had not thought about this, but it turns out this is the case.
I rarely crop an image. Like I say this is not a deliberate ploy, some attempt at a certain style, trying to be different.
No – this was pointed out to me and is the logical conclusion of the work I have done to date on my composition, and also taking the time and care when capturing images.
I will talk about my professional qualifications later on in this post.
Me on location in Santorini
Another mistake I made. Rather than getting out there taking photos I spent too much time working on photos in Lightroom and then every worse doing nothing with them.
Now I know we all need to practice to learn Lightroom but please give this some thought – apply some structure to your learning and you will progress in leaps and bounds. Do not do what I did, which basically was keep on doing the same things to more and more images, or you will stagnate.
I did.
And whilst learning Lightroom don’t but any plug-ins.
Sunrise on Santorini by Rick McEvoy travel photography
Being out with a camera is a joy that we should all embrace more than we do. I spend more time writing these days than I do taking photos – an occupational hazard – but when I get the opportunity there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting waiting for the sun to rise, or setting up my tripod to take a considered photo of a stunning building.
Even more of a joy when you have a lightweight backpack and are not burdened with 50kgs of back-breaking stuff!
Get out more, take the shots you want, work the scene by all means. And then move on.
It took me a while to realise that I was taking the same scene more than once. On architectural shoots I would work in a logical order around a building, and then at the end if I had time photograph as many things again from the beginning.
I think it was a lack of confidence at the time. And I never used any of the images I took again – the ones I took on the first place were without exception better.
These days when I am working on an architectural shoot I aim to capture as few images as possible. I photographed a very famous persons house the other week, and on the internals I took one or two shots per room.
I took the time to get my composition bang on for the views needed and that was that.
This of course relates back to the point about composition – take the time to get the composition right and you don’t need to move three feet to the left to take the same scene from a very marginally different viewpoint.
And you will thank me when you are going through your photos in Lightroom, or whatever software you might be using.
I love going through an architectural shoot and picking consecutive images as picks to edit. This tells me that I was working at my optimum.
I am not saying get out and photograph the most often photographed locations. For me that would be Durdle Door, which I have photographed twice.
No - get out to interesting places, not necessarily those that would feature in a “Top 10 locations to photograph in Dorset” kind of thing.
Take this shot, which was taken one New Year’s Eve afternoon at my local woods, which to my shame I had never been to before. In that one afternoon I get some really great stuff, and no-one knows or indeed cares where I took the photos. All people care about is the photos themselves.
Delph Woods, Poole - landscape photography in Dorset
But do not restrict yourself to the headline locations. I hear tales of lines of photographers at the headline locations standing shoulder to shoulder all taking the same image!
Go to places others don’t go, find things to photograph. Be original.
Seriously. I don’t use layers. I have a couple of times for sky replacements, which I try to avoid doing, but apart from that I don’t get layers.
I process all my images in Lightroom. I only go into Photoshop to remove things that I can’t remove in Lightroom. I have spent hours and hours trying to learn Photoshop – the problem was that I did not have a need for Photoshop, so I was trying to learn something I did not actually need.
All I use in Photoshop is the following
Clone stamp tool
Patch tool
Healing brush
And I resize images if I need them printing at specific sizes
Here is why I can get away with only doing these things in Photoshop, and why I don’t need layers.
I do as much work as possible in Lightroom – when I need to go into Photoshop I select Edit in Photoshop, and Lightroom sends the image to Photoshop. Once I am done I hit save and the image appears next to the original image sent to Lightroom.
The new file is a brand new Tif file, the original Lightroom file is exactly as it was before being sent to Photoshop.
I therefore do not need to worry about undoing the work I have done in Photoshop, as it is so minimal I can just do it again and produce another new Tif file.
This is why I don’t need layers, and why it doesn’t bother me either.
Adobe Lightroom Classic 7.3 on my PC
Start with Lightroom. Don’t try anything else. Use Lightroom to organise your photos – the Library Module is incredibly powerful, and as far as I am concerned is the best software to use to catalogue your photos. I have been using Lightroom for over 10 years now and can honestly say that the latest version of Lightroom Classic is the best.
And once you have done this why edit your photos anywhere else?
I do as much of my editing as I possibly can in Lightroom – if I can edit an image in Lightroom and not go anywhere else to do more work I am a happy person.
A point of digression here – I have just upgraded the RAM in my Dell PC to 16GB from 8GB and it has made a massive difference to Lightroom. In the Lightroom Classic 7.3 upgrade performance improvements were added, but you needed 12GB or more to benefit from these improvements.
I started using Lightroom, and at the same time discovered the wonderful world of plug-ins. I bought the following
Photomatix Pro
Topaz Labs
On One Perfect Suite
Nik Collection
PT Gui
There are probably some others I bought which I can’t even remember.
And I played around with them, without ever mastering any of them.
And this was at the same time as trying to learn how to use Lightroom.
And when I got an iPad Pro I got even more stuff
Now I am working as a professional photographer what software do I use?
Lightroom
And when needed Photoshop
And Lightroom Mobile
Lightroom Mobile is an essential tool, which syncs with Lightroom Classic on my desktop.
I mean people who know what they are looking at. I don’t think that family members are the best people to critique your work – they love you after all (well I hope that do) and will not give you an honest critique.
Social media is a minefield, and not to be relied on for feedback on images. You have to remember that people scrolling through endless photos are probably liking your photo in the hope that you will see this and like one of theirs. And they have liked many other photos, giving each one equal time, care and attention – a second if you are lucky.
Find someone who you can trust to critique your work. I use the BIPP for this, and I write about this elsewhere in this post.
And when you have had a critique from someone who knows what they are talking about it is very very important to act on that critique.
This is another important point – learn something, then make sure you act on it. If you don’t act on something you learn you might as well have not bothered learning it in the first place!
I am a firm believer in professional bodies and professional qualifications. I have been a Chartered Member of the CIOB, the Chartered Institute of Building - MCIOB. This is the benchmark professional qualification for construction management professionals.
I was a member of the SWPP for some time – this is the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers. Not an obvious choice for me, but this was in the early days of my journey into professional photography.
Now I am sure there is nothing wrong with the SWPP, but I left having not got a lot out of my membership.
I came across the BIPP – the British Institute of Professional Photography. I applied to join the BIPP, and to do this I had to submit a portfolio which was critiqued, rejected and worked on quite a lot before it was of a standard for entry level membership, LBIPP – Licentiate of the British Institute of Professional Photography.
This qualification is described by the BIPP on the qualifications page as
“Entry level qualification, showing an established professional level of skill and competence”
It took me a while to get a set of images to this standard and was the first professional critique I had experienced.
Last month I managed to gain my Associateship, ABIPP. This is defined by the BIPP as
It was much easier to select the images for this submission. I tried to do this a couple of years ago, but I was not happy with the standard of my work.
Not only do I get qualifications and recognition of the level of my work, the BIPP provide great information and the magazine they produce I read cover to cover every month. And I don’t read much else thinking about it.
Join a professional body – one that is relevant to you and the photography work that you want to do or are doing. Embrace that professional body and gain the qualifications available – it pushed me to a higher level of work and can do the same for anyone.
Another controversial point of view. There are many Apps you can get that will show you all the great images from a location, so you know exactly what you are going to get when you arrive at that very spot.
And if you pick a really famous spot when you get there you might be shoulder to shoulder with lots of other photographers.
This sounds like an absolute nightmare to me. So bad I have mentioned this twice in this blog post.
What is the point of going to a location and taking the same photos everyone else already has? And more to the point are doing at the same time as you?
And even worse, do you want to go to a location with photos others have already taken in the back of your mind?
I don’t.
I do not research a location other than the headline research that tells me that there is interesting stuff there to photograph.
I will give you an example here.
I was treated (by the wonderful Mrs. M) to a 5-day photographic trip to the wonderful Greek Island of Santorini. I had wanted to go there for years. I did no research at all.
The only thing I did work out was where the sun rose and set each day, and where that fitted in with the geography of the island. And what time of course.
Apart from that my research was all done out on location. I basically walked around potential locations on arrival and chose my spot for the first sunrise.I didn’t come across another photographer anywhere. Apart from one coach party that arrived too late for the pre-sunrise wonders that I witnessed.
Santorini by Rick McEvoy ABIPP travel photographer
The first sunset was basically us sitting on the terrace at our hotel – it was that easy. But sunrises were about getting out and about early.
Santorini sunset by Rick McEvoy ABIPP - Travel Photographer
OK it was not by luck that this was the view from our room!
This is an easy one. The more you practice the better you get. This is just a fact. There is the 10,000-hour thing – that is the amount of time it takes to become proficient at something.
I have probably spent 10,000 hours in Lightroom – I don’t suggest you do that by the way.
I am taking about getting out and taking photos.
Practice any type of photography that you find interesting. Don’t restrict yourself to landscapes. Try other things. If you don’t like them fine.
Here are 14 quotes about failure from the inspirational James Dyson, which I have extracted from the website Logo Maker
“I could buy companies, tart up their products and put my name on them, but I don’t want to do that. That’s what our competitors do.”
“I made 5,127 prototypes of my vacuum before I got it right. There were 5,126 failures. But I learned from each one. That’s how I came up with a solution. So I don’t mind failure.”
“The key to success is failure… Success is made of 99 percent failure.”
“We’re taught to do things the right way. But if you want to discover something that other people haven’t, you need to do things the wrong way. Initiate a failure by doing something that’s very silly, unthinkable, naughty, dangerous. Watching why that fails can take you on a completely different path. It’s exciting, actually. To me, solving problems is a bit like a drug. You’re on it, and you can’t get off.”
“Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success.”
“Anyone can become an expert at anything in six months, whether it is hydrodynamics for boats or cyclonic systems for vacuum cleaners.”
“You are just as likely to solve a problem by being unconventional and determined as by being brilliant.”
“I learned that the moment you want to slow down is the moment you should accelerate.”
“Everyone gets knocked back, no one rises smoothly to the top without hindrance. The ones who succeed are those who say, right, let’s give it another go.”
“It is said that to be an overnight success takes years of effort. So it has proved with me.”
“We always want to create something new out of nothing, and without research, and without long hard hours of effort. But there is no such things as a quantum leap. There is only dogged persistence—and in the end you make it look like a quantum leap.”
“In business you will be wrong, by and large, 50 percent of the time. The trick is to recognise when you have gone wrong and correct the damage—not to worry, at the moment of making the decision, whether it is the right one.”
“In order to fix [something], you need a passionate anger about something that doesn’t work well.”
“Risk aversion is a hapless approach for a company that’s hoping to develop new technology. It’s tempting in a downturn. But long-term research and development, expensive and often filled with failure as it is, is the only route to discovering it. By taking the cautious path, companies risk a drought of ideas.”
And look what happened to him…..
There are lots of people with lots of opinions and lots of advice. And they are all valid in their own ways.
Problem is that they all say slightly different things. As I said none of them are wrong necessarily, just different.
This piece of advice will hopefully help.
I found myself jumping all over the place, picking up bits of advice here and there and trying to apply them.
And achieving nothing.
I have now narrowed down to a small number of people whose opinions have proved sound and relevant to me over the years.
And as I said somewhere else, if you pick up a piece of advice that is useful to you please use it. That was another mistake I made over and over.
These days I act on things I learn whenever I can.
To digress slightly, I have Post It pads in my car, and always have a notebook with me. Anything that I want to remember I write down, and later add to my iPhone in an App called Wunderlist.
Later I sort all these notes and add them to Evernote.
Check out the book How to be a Productivity Ninja by Graham Allcott
I recommend these. My favourites shift over time, but these are my favourites at the moment
Improve Photography
Peta Pixel
The Togcast
The Grid
This Week in Photo
The No Name Photo Show
RAW Talk
Six Figure Photography
Creative Marketing Show
He Shoots He Draws
The Sprouting Photographer
None photography podcasts that I enjoy
Beyond Busy
The Solopreneur Hour
Voom Podcast
Smart Passive Income
BBC Friday Night Comedy
The Danny Baker Show
Flintoff, Savage and the Ping Pong Guy
Test Match Special
Tailenders (I am a massive cricket fan)
Some of these I listen to all of, some I listen to part of, some the subject is of no interest. It just depends. But if a podcast is not of interest to me I just delete it straight away and move on.
And my favourites have shifted over time – I now am listening more to podcasts on entrepreneurship, business development – that kind of thing.
Don’t necessarily restrict yourself to podcasts about what you are interested in – you can learn things from any good photography podcast. The example here is the Sprouting Photographer. This is mainly about wedding and portrait photography, not my bag at all. Some episodes I don’t listen to at all, but I give them a try first as there are often little gems within them that I have found incredibly useful.
If you are new to podcasts try the ones listed above, and anything else that you find, and give them a go. You will soon find the ones that are relevant to you.
I also listen to podcasts when I am cutting the grass. Peta Pixel podcast has the best audio quality, so I save them for the lawn mowing. Sure you are delighted to hear that Sharkey!
And I watch blind photo critiques on The Grid when I make it onto the cross trainer
Talk about efficiency!
Write about your experiences. Writing is a great way of capturing your journey, recording the good and bad, and allowing you to share your experiences not on social media but on your own part of the internet.
Be it a blog on your own website, or on a WordPress blog – just start publishing stuff on a weekly basis and you will be amazed where this takes you. I have been producing a daily blog now for nearly 2 ½ years, and many doors have opened up as a result.
I get asked regularly to add links from old blog posts to other articles written by other people which are relevant to what my core business is – photography of the built environment in all its shapes and sizes.
If you are going to start a blog, choose a niche and stick with that – it will pay dividends in future years.
If you have any aspirations to make money from photography start a blog right now. Go on – stop reading this and do it.
When I started off taking my photography seriously I bought a tripod, a big heavy thing with a big heavy head.
And it was heavy.
And guess what?
I left it in my car. I had so much gear in a large backpack. So much gear that the tripod was just too much.
And as a result, I only used my tripod at night.
I have mentioned elsewhere in this post about my gear – I travel light and with my hands free.
I use my tripod for every architectural image I take. The only exception to this is when I need to use a painter’s pole to get high, or my Platypod to take a photo from the floor, or where there is just no room for my tripod, normally squeezed into a corner of a room.
Canon 6D on Platypod Ultra, Dorset
I use a Manfrotto 190 Go tripod with X-Pro geared head. The tripod is lightweight, sturdy and easy to use. I have bigger tripods, but they are difficult to use when I am taking interior photographs, as I have to normally get back right into the corner of a room.
Manfrotto tripod on location on an architectectural photography shoot, Dorset
Manfrotto 190 Go tripod on location in Santorini
The geared head is essential for composing architectural images.
And I use exactly the same set up for landscape and travel photography. I use exactly the same gear, set up and camera settings. The only exception is when I am walking around a location grabbing shots, which is not that often.
I have found that my composition has improved significantly when I started using my tripod more. It slowed me down and made me think about each and every shot much more.
The result of this was less images, and the ones that I took were much better than before I used the tripod.
This ties back to what I said earlier about composition and taking less photos.
I don’t really get social media. It has not brought me any photography work that I am aware of. And I find it quite boring.
But everyone says we all have to be on it, we all have to be seen on all the social media platforms.
Someone please tell me why?
This is what I have done to satisfy the perceived need with minimal effort.
I have automated as much of my social media output as I can. I have a daily photography blog, and I share this content automatically from Squarespace to some social media channels and do manual shares to other channels.
Instagram output is shared to other channels using the great iPhone App IFTT – If This Then That.
And I don’t respond to every comment, thumbs up, like. I just post some stuff and that is pretty much it.
I do worry about my website, the content on it, and how people find my website when putting search terms into Google. This is where I put 95% of my effort – social media platforms come and go, and we do not control them.
Don’t worry about social media too much, instead focus on your own part of the internet.
Listen to the advice of the people whose opinions you value but choose your own path. And stick with your chosen path. I have too many times deviated from a chosen course of action.
I have started doing something, and then heard or read something and found something new to do.
Now I am following a planned course of actions, based on everything I have learned to date. And I am sticking to that plan, just tweaking it when I find better ways of doing things.
I set some targets for my photography business for 2018, which you can read here. And since I set them things have changed, and one of the targets I am not doing at all – I have a different way of achieving what I want to but my own way.
Of course, things change over time – I was going to go all in with stock photography in January but am now going in a completely different direction with that particular thing.
But the general principle of what I am trying to do, which to be fair has taken 10 years to produce, is the plan that I am working to.
And on that point, you have to give yourself time to figure out where you want to go with your photography.
Enjoy your photography. Work hard at it but enjoy it.
Even if you want to be your full time paid gig it is still something to be enjoyed. I don’t take photographs anywhere near as often as I used to. I seem to spend more time writing and responding to emails than I do taking photos.
But guess what?
When I manage to get out somewhere new at sunrise it is an absolute joy. I work on my photography business all the time, but there is nothing like being out on location at sunrise.
Last month I witnessed this sunrise from the beach in Altea in Spain. And also saw this stunning church at sunrise on another morning.
Sunrise in Altea, Spain by Rick McEvoy Travel Photographer
The church on the hill at sunrise, Altea, Spain
For both of these occasions there was no one else there – it was just me and the most natural thing of all, the breaking of a new day.
An event that will never happen again, and it was just me there at that time in that location.
No matter how much work I spend on my photography business that feeling never goes away – the sheer joy of watching and photographing something that will never happen again.
And these are those 10 bullet points I promised right at the beginning.
Get the best gear you can afford.
Only get the gear you need.
Don’t get any more gear.
Have one bag you can carry comfortably.
Get and use a tripod.
Get out and shoot.
Learn Lightroom.
Practice. Fail.
Learn.
Enjoy.
I hope you have enjoyed this post – if you have any comments or questions you can either comment on this blog post or email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
I am a photographer based in Dorset specialising in
That’s it. No weddings. No people. No animals.
And also on being a photography blogger and all-round internet marketeer.
I am incredibly proud and honored to have achieved the designation of Associateship of the British Institute of Professional Photography - ABIPP.
Associateship is described by the BIPP as
I submitted my portfolio last month, and attended my qualification assessment yesterday.
I will write more about this in due course. For now I will publish my entire portfolio on my photography blog - 2 images already posted, 38 to go.
And breathe. And smile.
Private library. Architectural photography in Dorset
This is one of the images submitted with my application to the BIPP for the next level of membership of the British Institute of Professional Photography.
This image was taken on my good old Canon 5D with Canon 17-40mm lens.
A break from my usual blog posts, but this is what I do - I photograph buildings.
On the 3rd February 2018 I published the targets for my photography business in 2018.
I am going to see how these are going as we all reach the end of the first quarter of 2018. Blimey - that went quick!
Original text in italics. New text in bold.
I wrote
”Here are my 10 very ambitious targets for my photography business in 2018. Having thought about them for far too long I just need to finalise and publish them. I will review how I got on in January 2019.”
The average UK salary is £27,600, which equates to £2,300 per month. I want my stock photography to achieve 50% of this monthly level of income by the end of 2018, and 100% by the end of 2019.
Is this achievable?
I’m not sure, but there is one thing I can guarantee – I will not achieve this if I don’t try.
I made about £2 through Adobe Stock in 2017! And cannot tell you how great it was to get an email saying I had sold an image, even if it was for 53p!!
That is very ambitious aim number one.
Not managed to do much with this target yet. So not a good start!
I want to have one commercial sponsor by the end of 2018. One company, a manufacturer of a product I use and value, whom I can work with promoting their products and at the same time my use of their products.
Another challenging target!”
Well there is movement on this one. I am in contact with a few select suppliers of things that I use. I did not want to just go out and blag all the free stuff I could possibly get my hands on - I am looking for commercial partners whose products I can use and write about, giving these companies some value from my work. Companies who’s products I already use.
This a bit of a slow burner this one - responses can often take a while for understandable commercial reasons.
I already have one freelance writing contract, on the excellent Improve Photography website. I really enjoy this work, as well of course as the massive exposure. Writing for Improve Photography has made me change how I write, and what I write about.
Both in a positive way.
I want one more freelance writing commitment in 2018. Just one.
Nothing yet. Not that I have tried to be fair.
I have spent a lot of time and effort on my website in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 I am going to do very little to my website other than the following.
Image refresh – 2 pages per month.
Home page – an update on the text and images.
Travel photographer page – this needs to be produced in February 2018. You will find one image on there at the moment – a photo of Santorini.
And there is the outcome of all this work. By the end of 2018 I want to achieve 1000 visitors per month to my website. I was averaging just over 300 visitors per month before I started my writing on the Improve Photography website in late October 2018.”
Ok - progress update.
At the time of writing this is what Google Analytics is telling me.
No one was on my website when I captured this Google Analytics screenshot!
Basically I am up to circa 500 individual website visitors per month. An excellent increase in web traffic.
Is it the traffic I am after? The benchmark for that is the number of enquiries I get. But for now I am happy with this.
This is a slight decrease on the previous month, but there is another significant change.
Bounce rate - this was over 70%
Now it is down to the lowest I have seen it ever. 55%. Which is very good news.
What is bounce rate exactly?
In Google Analytics, bounce rate is actually the percentage of single interaction visits to a website.
And what about the numbers?
“As a rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of 26 to 40 percent is excellent. 41 to 55 percent is roughly average. 56 to 70 percent is higher than average, but may not be cause for alarm depending on the website. Anything over 70 percent is disappointing for everything outside of blogs, news, events, etc.”
I have copied this information from the website Go Rocket Fuel.
I have gone from higher than average to average, which is a great improvement, and I hope one that the work I have done and am still doing will continue this trend.
This is very much ongoing work, and there are new things that I am doing to my website that will add to everything else, so this target might well be achieved.
I want one source of income achieved solely from my website. This will of course be directly related to the number of visitors to my website, to the value my website has on the World Wide Web.”
See 4 above!
I want to have achieved 10,000 views by the end of 2018. 10,000 views triggers more possibilities in YouTube, which I want to get to. And hopefully the quality of my videos will improve over the course of the year to the point where I am able to produce videos for commercial clients that they want to buy.
And I want a drone too! Just thought I would throw that one into the mix here.”
At the time of writing this post I have managed to get 1408 views. Not good progress at all. One to get stuck into.
I want a high quality printed portfolio of 30 prints for
Interchangeable in a lovely high quality folio holder.
Actual high quality prints that I can present at meetings.”
Not done. Nothing more to say really!
I want to achieve my ABIPP in 2018. I never submitted my portfolio in 2016 as I was not happy with it, even though my BIPP mentor was happy with it. There is a lesson there in just going for things that I have definitely learnt.”
Update - I have issued my draft portfolio to Bryn Griffiths, my BIPP mentor, and have the green light to submit!
Big news for me.
Bryn Griffiths is awesome, and a Hasselblad Master. Enough said?
I want to achieve one commercial photography booking overseas in 2018.”
One that other things will hopefully unlock.
Last one. I want my work in an actual shop being sold to actual people. I will get my portfolios done and get out there and see who wants to sell my work.”
Not done. I guess I need my portfolios first!
Summary
I will check about in another three months and see where I am up to, and if I have actually achieved anything!
Yesterday I posted the same post about my interior photographer page as I did on Wednesday. I have no idea why.
Moving on, it should have been an introduction to my new architectural photographer page.
Over the next 12 days I will be writing about the new set of 12 images on this page of my website, all about architectural photography.
Whilst I was writing the text for this page I did ask myself the question – what is architectural photography?
Wikipedia is always up there in Google searches, and says
“Architectural photography is the photographing of buildings and similar structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects. Architectural photographers are usually skilled in the use of specialised techniques and equipment.”
This is the Wikipedia link.
This is one definition.
Thinking a bit further about this, architecture is defined in the English Oxford Living Dictionaries as as
“The art or practice of designing and constructing buildings”.
Hmmm. Designing and constructing buildings. I like that as a definition. Not that there is anything wrong with the Wikipedia definition, it is just the point about being aesthetically pleasing. There is much more to it than that.
Architectural photography covers not only the aesthetics but also the form function, as well as the context.
I think I was going to focus on architectural details but I am going to broaden out my image set.
I will extract something from this web page – no point writing it again is there?
I wrote a list of 10 reasons why you should consider me to photograph your building for you;
“1 – I am a Chartered Builder - MCIOB
I have a lifetime of professional experience in the construction industry.
2 – I am professionally qualified in photographer – LBIPP
I am a Licentiate in the British Institute of Photographers. What does LBIPP mean? According to the BIPP website LBIPP is an
“Entry level qualification, showing an established professional level of skill and competence”. So that’s all good then. And that was a couple of years ago to be fair, and my photography work has developed rather a lot since then.
3 – My photography equipment
I use specialist equipment. The equipment I use for my architectural photography work has been refined over the years, giving me very specific equipment for specific subjects, locations and environments.
4 – I love photographing architecture
This is not a job I hate doing. I love buildings, architecture, interiors and indeed construction sites. So, you get a big bundle of enthusiasm when you commission me. And you know what they say about people who enjoy what they do?
5 – My creative eye
I have an eye for light, details, composition, tones and textures. And details. I view things as a photographer. And, I view things as a construction professional. A great combination for an architectural photographer!
6 – My business skills
I have worked professionally in construction for over 30 years, have two companies of my own, and I am my businesses. There is just me to deal with, and if I do not do great work that people want I don’t get paid. It really is that simple!
7 – Personal service
You deal with me. Only me. All the way through from start to finish. I take the photos and I edit the photos – there is no outsourcing anywhere.
8 - Image processing
Architectural photography is a specialised, technical discipline. Pictures of buildings must be technically correct, with straight lines and correct colours but also looking natural.
And this is my specialism.
9 – My personality
I like people. I have spent a lifetime working in the construction industry, and get on with people at all levels.
10 – My professionalism
I pride myself on providing a high quality professional service on every job. I am not cheap, and if you are after the cheapest photographer it will not be me, but I provide high quality pictures and a high-quality service.”
Convinced?
Time to get in touch with me?
I hope so.
I hope that that you are convinced that I am the right person to speak to about your architectural photography enquiry – if so then please get in touch with me by
Phone - 07772252186
Email - sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
As I said over the next 12 days you will see 12 architectural photography images all taken and processed by me.
Bournemouth, Poole, Sandbanks, London, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire
This is the start of me learning how to do them
And I had an idea of something I wanted to do with luminosity masks. It all started off when I produced my architectrual photography portfolio. Well when I produced the black and white version. I will come back to that later.
And with everything else going on I have not got round to this.
Now is the time for me to do this. My portfolios are complete and have been issued to the BIPP. Quick aside, you can find out more about my professional photography institute at www.bipp.com.
This is the first answer when you type that question into Google.
“Luminosity masks are the cornerstone of tone-based image adjustments. These masks provide a convenient way to select specific tones in an image which can then be altered as the user sees fit.” The web page I copied this from is http://goodlight.us/writing/luminositymasks/luminositymasks-1.html. This is the website of Tony Kuyper Photography, who has produced a luminosity mask tutorial. This is dated 2006. I am sure it is good stuff, but I want something more recent.
So moving on down page 1 in Google I come to an article entitled
Use Luminosity Masks to Enhance Your Landscape Photography which you can get to at https://fstoppers.com/composite/use-luminosity-masks-enhance-your-landscape-photography-71884
This is a more recent article, which took me to the website Through Strange Lenses, the photography Blog of Jimmy McIntyre, which you can get to at http://www.throughstrangelenses.com/
Jimmy McIntyre also produces tutorials, which you can find at http://www.shutterevolve.com/
And this is where I am beginning my journey. One thing I have learned is to choose a path and follow it. Fstoppers is a pretty good starting point, and I am going to work through the guidance in this article and in the information in the links.
I have spent much too much time in the past looking at endless websites and getting nowhere, so now I pick a solid source of information and work through that.
Taking single courses of action has helped me tremendously in developing my photography skills.
So this is the beginning of my journey into luminosity masks in Photoshop. Talking of Photoshop, one final link to round up this first post, is this one, http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop.html, to the mighty Photoshop itself. Soon to be a bigger friend of mine that it is at the moment!
The next post will describe, as I understand them, what luminosity masks in Photoshop are.
Saturday 29th October 2016
My portfolio is done. I have written about the 40 images (the typo that was here was gems not images – was that me) that make up the portfolio that I am going to submit to the BIPP.
So what next? I will write separately about sequencing, but there is one more job I am going to do.
I have 40 portfolio images.
All pictures of buildings. 40 images to produce a portfolio of 30 images for formal submission to the BIPP.
And after all that I have produced another 40 portfolio images.
The same 40 images but black and white versions. Over the last 40 days I have posted these 40 images and written, in the main, about the conversion from colour to black and white. Some of these images I had already produced and posted. Some I had not. This new set of black and white images was the complete set of portfolio imaged edited in order of capture date, oldest to newest.
Some of the posts were long, some were short.
Why did I use date order to sequence the images? Simply because I could.
I edited each image individually using Nik Silver Efex Pro. I was looking for a degree of consistency across the image set, but they all had their own individual styles. Hopefully they look like a cohesive set of images, but what I did not want to do is produce 40 black and white images using the same process. You know, same preset, same adjustments, more like factory production.
This is not for me. Each image is an individual image that deserves individual attention. So each image was edited as a standalone image.
40 black and white portfolio images.
As an aside I want to mention the BIPP. The BIPP evolved out of the Professional Photographers Association which was created in 1901 in Fleet Street, London.
The BIPP is the British Institute of Professional Photography. I am a Licentiate. Hence my designation LBIPP. A licentiate is defined as “Entry level qualification, showing an established professional level of skill and competence.” My Portfolio submission is being submitted as part of my application to become an ABIPP, an Associate, defined as “A high standard of craftsmanship and creative ability”.
This is what I am aiming for.
Tuesday 25th September 2016
My portfolio is done. I have written about the 40 images (the typo that was here was gems not images – was that me) that make up the portfolio that I am going to submit to the BIPP.
So what next? I will write separately about sequencing, but there is one more job I am going to do.
40 images to produce a portfolio of 30 images for formal submission to the BIPP.
I am going to produce another 40 portfolio images.
The same 40 images but black and white versions. Over the next 40 days I am going to post these 40 images and write about the conversion from colour to black and white. Some of these images I have already produced and posted. Some I have not. This is going to be the whole set in order of capture date, oldest to newest.
Some of the posts will be long, some will be short.
I am going to edit each image individually using Nik Silver Efex Pro. I will be looking for a degree of consistent across the image set but they will all have their own individual styles. Hopefully they will look like a cohesive set of images, but what I do not want to do is produce 40 black and white images using the same process. You know, same preset, same adjustments, more like factory production.
This is not for me. Each image is an individual image that deserves individual attention.
40 black and white portfolio images. Looking forward to this.
As an aside I want to mention the BIPP. The BIPP evolved out of the Professional Photographers Association which was created in 1901 in Fleet Street, London.
The BIPP is the British Institute of Professional Photography. I am a Licentiate. Hence my designation LBIPP. A licentiate is defined as
My Portfolio submission is being submitted as part of my application to become an ABIPP, an Associate, defined as
This is what I am aiming for.
Wednesday 14th September 2016
Private library by Rick McEvoy Interior Photographer in Dorset
Yes - a private library. Incredible. And fantastic architecture.
This image was in my previous 2014 photograph portfolio, and stayed in for my March 2016 BIPP Portfolio Review, and is still in. I like things that I have edited to the point where there is nothing I can do other than things for the sake of it. And I don't edit for the sake of it. As much as I enjoy creating the best image I can the processing is just a necessary step on the way. If an image doesn't need any work then great - but that has not happened yet.
This image was taken on my Canon 5D with Canon 17-40mm lens. The exposure was 1/100th second at F8, using an ISO of 640.
I had to use such an ISO as I couldn't get this shot with my tripod as there want enough room. The only thing would have helped with this would have been the Canon 11-24mm lens. I have written about this dilemma before.
Due to the unusual shape of this extension to the house, it made getting the framing and composition right a challenge. A challenge I greatly enjoyed I have to say.
So I as forced to take this image handheld, which I always try to avoid. I prefer shooting interior photography work on a tripod, as it forces to to get the best composition I can. I also try to get verticals and horzontals correct in camera, saving me a job later.
A nice and easy inclusion in my portfolio, which is coming together nicely. Don't tell anyone but I am also working on a duplicate black and white portfolio!!
Friday 25th August 2016
I ended up with lots of collections in Lightroom, which were
But I had my set of 40 images, and guess what?
No landscape photographs.
No sunsets.
No tourist scenes.
No.
Just
That kind of thing.
Why?
What I do best, and what I can do best for clients.
I want clients looking at my work, my portfolio, my website, and to know that when they hire me they know what they are going to get. And that they like my style. My look.
So it is time to focus my work, which I have done.
And do you know what? It has helped me to improve greatly. I still do landscape photography, which I enjoy immensely, but I use that work to experiment with new techniques in terms of both image capture and processing.
So having achieved a much better focus, I will describe tomorrow on my blog at
www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/blog
how my portfolio was constructed and how this focussing on these areas has helped me grow as a photographer.
And how many images made if from 2014 to 2016.
Guess – it surprised me!!
So I had my portfolio review on Saturday with the BIPP at the Photography review. I called in in the morning to make sure I knew where I needed to be for my review which I had booked for 12.30. Having walked up and down every aisle seeing what I wanted to spend some time on I managed to miss the BIPP stand completely! So I had to buy a programme guide which listed all the exhibitors.
It was next to the Canon stand. I had walked down there three times already! Oh well….
I go to the BIPP stand and was delighted to discover that Bryn Griffiths would be carrying out my review. Now this was great news for a number of reasons.
Firstly, Bryn is a fantastic photographer. A very recent (2014) Hasselblad master no less. I love his work. Especially his product photography work.
Secondly, Bryn helped me get my Licentiate with the BIPP. He went through my original submission in 2014 (around the time he was becoming a Hasselblad master!) and dragged my work to something like a decent portfolio.
Thirdly, he is a genuinely nice man.
So good news for me. At noon I sat in one of the eating emporiums and had a pasty and a coffee, and went through my portfolio on my laptop.
One thing that I sometimes forget is how good it is to have a proper set up in an office, with a big monitor etc. Get out into the real world and it is just not the same under those bright lights. So pasty eaten, coffee drunk, off I went for my review.
I will be writing a lot about this and the images within my portfolio, as this is very important to me. For all that time and money spent on learning how to become a better photographer this is where it all comes together. I submitted my first portfolio in 2014, which was a collection of what I thought to be my best work up to that point.
30 images.
Well it was more than that to start with, culled down to 30, but my Lightroom collection contained 31 images. A lesson in better file management for me there which I am sure has improved in the last two years.
And that is what this is all about. Have I improved in the last two years?
I enjoyed posting my 2014 portfolio last week, which was part of the process of reviewing where I was and where I am now.
My 2014 portfolio submission had quite a variety of images, covering quite a wide range of subject matters and styles. Not bad but at a certain level. So is the 2016 set to a higher standard? Taking me to the next level?
Call back to my blog tomorrow to read all bout my portfolio review at
Well it is busy here. Spent £2.80 so far.
Portfolio Review at 12.30 with the BIPP. And I am meeting Bryn Griffths for this which is fantastic news!
So queueing for a preparatory Cornish pastie to keep me going!
After that Canon and Manfrotto.
So my review of my 2014 Photography Portfolio is complete. And now it is time for my 2016 Photography Portfolio to be finalised.
Thoughts so far?
There is more variety than I expected in the 204 set. I quite like the mix of architectural photography, landscape photography, construction photography and commercial photography work.
There are some really good images in there.
But it will be interesting to see how many make it to the 2016 set.
I am going to the Photography Show 2016 at the NEC on Saturday 19th March, and have booked a portfolio review with my professional photography institute, the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP).
What is the purpose of my Photography Portfolio? What will I use it for?
Well the bottom line is that I want a cohesive set of images that represent the best work that I have produced to date, and show potential clients what they can expect when they hire me.
My portfolio defines my style, right now. It has to be up to date and reflect the work I want to be commissioned to produce. I have spent a lot of time working on my style, my look, and this has to come through consistently in my images.
My target markets are as follows. Well again I will extract a page from my website home page, which you can access at
www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk
“Photography of building exteriors, building interiors, construction sites, refurbishment projects, commercial spaces, completed developments, construction products.
Sectors covered – public, private, commercial, retail, industrial, residential, education, plant, utilities and infrastructure.
Experience working from heights, access platforms, scaffolds, boats, confined spaces and other controlled environments. Aerial photography by drone.
Clients - architects, builders, developers, consultants, designers, agents, property owners and house holders in both the public and private sectors.”
That is who I am aiming at. This took quite a while to come up with. This is on my home page. I want potential clients to identify with me.
So that is what my portfolio needs to focus on.
My landscape work is, in effect, secondary to this work. Yes, I use this work to develop my skills, and my work is available through a couple of commercial stock agencies (one in the UK, one in the USA). And most importantly this is my personal work. All done by me for me with no external pressures.
And this is where I get stuck. I want both.
So guess what?
I am going to do both.
I am going to have one portfolio for buildings, and one portfolio for landscapes. Simple.
Well it sounds simple but there was a lot of thought on the way to this end point. I have probably overthought this, and needed to capture my thoughts and break this down into what I want.
In Lightroom I have been assembling new collections of images. The Collections feature is so powerful in Lightroom.
I have assembled the following collections under a Collection set called “Portfolio 2016” (not surprisingly!).
Bournemouth
Building exterior
Building interior
Construction
Cornwall
Dorset
Hampshire
In (my target collection)
Industrial
Landscape
London
Poole
Sandbanks
Wiltshire
And 9 individual commercial shoots.
This is not wasted work as these image sets reflect the structure of my website, so at the same time, with the help of the power of Lightroom Collections, I am also creating new image sets for my various web pages.
But at the end of all this I will have two distinctly separate sets of images
Building
Landscape
And now that I have broken it down I can go through my Lightroom catalogue at my leisure and add to the collection sets I have, knowing that there is structure to what I am doing, and that I will also be producing future benefits for my photography business.
And I feel happier knowing how I pull all of this together. 40 images. No more. I will break down each discipline to 10 images as well (sorry to keep going on but Lightroom Collections make this super easy, and don’t forget I do not have any of my images on my laptop hard drive - these are all Smart Previews).
Last word on Collections. If you have your images on a separate hard drive, if you use Collections you don’t have the ? next to each and every image and folder. Just saying…..
As for what the BIPP want – approximately 40 images. So that is fine. 20 building shots. And 20 landscape shots.
OK time to get to finish this job off!
I will be no doubt posting lots from the Photography Show tomorrow, and will write over the next month or so about my new Photography Portfolio, what is in it, what is not in it, and where I go from here.
Thanks you for sticking with me while I go through this process, and please come back to my blog on Sunday where I will post my “Highlights of the Photography Show” at
www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/blog
This week I will be concentrating on my photography portfolio. I am having a portfolio review at the Photography Show at the NEC on Saturday 19th March with the BIPP (British Institute of Professional Photography).
I qualified with the BIPP in February 2014, and am looking forward to seeing how I have progressed over the last 2 years with my photography work.
I am hoping to of course have a better portfolio, with a stronger set of images. I am going to work on my portfolio this week, and to start with I am going to post all 31 images from my BIPP submission 2 years ago.
I was mentored with my submission by a fantastic photographer, Bryn Griffiths, a recent Hasselblad Master.
The image set you will see over the course of today is the final submitted set of images.
I will post all the images today on my blog at
www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/blog
so please keep popping back to see what is new on there.