Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 104 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
In this episode, I’m going to cover three problems that have come up this week.
Problem number one came in the form of an audio message from Joel in Northern California. So let’s listen to that …
Thanks for the question, Joel.
The settings you need to be using in a low light situation like in your living room are …
Use continuous autofocus, I don’t know what name Pentax uses for it, for Canon it’s AI Servo and I think Nikon is AF-C. You want the camera to constantly keep your kids in focus as they move around the room.
The next setting is your aperture. You will need your lens wide open to get as much light onto the sensor as possible. So f/1.4 to 2.8 would be perfect.
If you are using an 18-55 kit lens the widest aperture you can use is f/3.5 with the lens at 18mm, at 55mm the widest aperture is f/5.6. This can lead to very grainy photos, I’ll explain why shortly.
Next, you need to choose a shutter speed that will freeze the kids moving around. So a shutter speed of 1/250 or 1/320 should capture them with no blurring.
Now you need to look at the exposure meter and balance it. The chances are that it will be underexposed. So you need to turn the ISO up until the meter is balanced. It might need ISO 3200 or even 6400 to get the marker to the center of the meter. If your best available aperture is 3.5 or 5.6 the ISO will need to be even higher. Higher ISO numbers can result in grainy or noisy photos, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use high ISO. You can reduce the noise in an image when editing, or you can leave it as it is. I personally love grainy photos shot in low light.
If you take a photo and the result is still a little blurry try turning the shutter speed up even higher. You will also need to turn the ISO up to balance the meter.
Instead of turning the shutter speed up, you could try panning as you take the photo, following the subject can reduce the need for a fast shutter speed, but that might not be possible inside your home.
Ok, so use continuous Autofocus, a wide aperture, a fast enough shutter speed, and turn the ISO up to balance the meter.
Problem number two is a question I was asked about advertising. Which is the best one to spend money on, Facebook Ads, or Google Ads?
Before you pick one you need to know how they work. Let’s start with …
Facebook Ads
Now Facebook lets you choose an amount you want to spend daily. It can be as low as $2 a day, it’s totally up to you. You can aim your ads at a geographical area, Facebook groups, or people interested in a specific subject.
This method allows you to put your ad in front of thousands of people a day hoping that a small percentage will click on the ad and then book you.
Advertising this way is dependent on how good your ad image is. If it doesn’t grab people's attention and make them want to find out more about you it could be a waste of money.
To make sure your ads are a success, you need to do A - B testing. For this, you make different two ads and run them both for a week or two. The one that has the most click-throughs wins, and the loser is replaced with another ad similar to the winner. Again, you run them for a week or two, and so on. Eventually, you will have an ad that gets you lots of new customers.
Google Ads
These ads are pay-per-click. Google puts your ad near the top of the search results for the keywords you chose. So when Mrs. Smith does a Google search for “family Portrait Photographer”, your ad will be near the top.
The price you pay is dependent on the amount of competition for the keywords you picked. If there are lots of photographers using the same keywords the price will be higher. Google only charges you when someone clicks on your ad.
These are two very different ad types. Facebook puts your ad in front of thousands of faces hoping some of them need your services.
Google ads are put in front of people searching for your keywords. People using Google search are intent on finding a photographer.
Just a heads up if you use Google ads, be very specific with your keywords. If you shoot headshots use “headshots, photographer”, not just “photographer”. If you don’t specify what you do, you will get people looking for a wedding photographer clicking on your link and it will cost you money.
So which one should you pick? That all depends on where your audience is. If they are on Facebook all the time, then Facebook ads are the way to go. Putting your ads in front of people searching for a photographer just like you, then it has to be Google.
This problem came from Jon on the Facebook group. He posted some photos that had a band across the top. The band was caused because he used a shutter speed that was faster than the camera's maximum shutter speed, which is normally around 1/200 or 1/250.
If the shutter speed is too fast, the shutter is coming down as the flash is still firing. The band across the photo is the shutter itself.
If you need a faster shutter speed than 1/200 or 1/250 you need to use High-Speed Sync on both the camera and the flash. This syncs the flash and the shutter so they work together.
There is one other safety precaution you can take in this situation, check the first photo you take after changing your settings. It will save you a lot of pain and suffering.
Change the settings, take a photo, and look at the photo. If it’s ok carry on.
In fact, it doesn’t need to be when you are using Flash. Check your photos all the time on any shoot. It’s better than getting home and finding out most of your photos aren’t useable. It’s a terrible feeling.
Ok, so that’s it for this episode. If you need help with anything you can find me in the Facebook group, or through Facebook Messenger.
Right then, I’ll talk to you soon, bye.