I'll cut right to the chase:  if you spend a lot of time traveling - either long distance or a long daily commute - I consider the iPad to be an essential piece of gear.

What does the iPad do?  Basically, it is a giant iPod touch.  With the iPad you can:

- read books (either with the iBook reader or with the Amazon Kindle app)

- listen to your iTunes music library

- watch tv shows and movies

- view photos

- surf the web

- email

- thousands of other tasks/functions/games using third party apps

Here's the iPad next to the Amazon Kindle and iPod touch:

Compared to the Kindle

I read at least two books a week - electronic only, I'll never read a paper book again if I can help it!  As a book reader, I prefer the iPad. The screen is slightly larger, and it is backlit, so I can read it no matter what the ambient lighting. In very dim light, you can switch from black letters on a white background to white letters on a black background - this makes it much easier on the eyes. I also like the fact that you turn pages with a flick across the screen versus hitting a physical button on the Kindle. MaryBeth wouldn't let me read my Kindle in bed because the clicking of the button drove her crazy. No problem with the iPad.  And of course, using the Kindle app you can read all of the books you purchased for your Kindle on your iPad.

I have not tried the iBook application, so I have no comment on that. There are some reviewers that claim that the Kindle's non-backlit screen is easier on the eyes, but I have not found this to be the case.

The only downside compared to the Kindle is the heavier weight, but I'm willing to live with that.

Compared to the iPod touch

The iPad and iPod have basically the same functionality. Pretty much anything you can do on the iPad you can do on the iPod. However, the screen on the iPod is so small that I never even bothered with some of the functions. Email and web surfing on the iPod is just plain painful. With the exception of simply listening to music, everything is much more fun on the iPad.  Watching movies, reading, email, web - it's all better on the iPad's big gorgeous screen.

Compared to a laptop

So if the iPad is better than the iPod, isn't a real laptop better still?  Not really. A laptop is definitely far superior to an iPad if you're doing some serious work, writing long emails, etc.  However, it's much more cumbersome. If I'm on the road and I'm eating dinner at the hotel bar, I'd much rather pull out my iPad and have it instantly on rather than trying to boot up a big laptop. It's just much more unobtrusive. Try lying down on the couch reading a book on a laptop - not so fun.

The cover

Apple sells a case that in my opinion is required.  You definitely need something to protect that big gorgeous screen from scratches.  This cover does that job, but it also folds over to prop up the iPad. This puts it in a nice position for reading when you're at a table. At $39 it's overpriced, but you still need it.

Any complaints?

Yes, one major drawback.  The iPad does not support websites built using Adobe Flash. HTML only.  This of course limits your web browsing severely. Thumbs down for Apple on this one. They could have enabled Flash, but in their rivalry with Adobe they decided to freeze them out. Despite their weak explanations, this was clearly a business decision on Apple's part - not a technical one. Supposedly they're working on a fix.  It can't come soon enough.

For photographers

For photographers, the biggest reason to love the iPad is to have your portfolio with you at all times on a big, beautiful screen.  If you meet your clients at Starbucks, this would be a handy tool to have.

The bottom line:  If you read a lot, travel a lot, or both, and have $500 to spend, there's no reason not to get the iPad.  It will make life much more pleasant.

Laurence Kim Workshops

email to book your one-on-one session

in-person or via Skype

There are still 2 spots left for my May 22 "Building a Wedding Photography Business" workshop in Seattle.

This workshop is designed for wedding photographers just starting out, or for more established wedding pros that want to relaunch or simply jumpstart their businesses.

Topics include:

- Gear:  including minimum required gear, where to spend your $$, and where NOT to

- Marketing: how to get the most for your marketing $$. Where to advertise, where NOT to. The best way to market. Blogging and social networking tips.

- Website: what vendors to use, what to include, what not to.

- Portfolio:  how to build a portfolio. How to edit it to make you look like an amazing photographer.

- Pricing: How much to charge for that 1st wedding, 5th, 10th, etc. How to design price lists that maximize revenue.  How to design packages. How to charge for albums.

- Workflow: From downloading your cards to delivering the album - how to process your images in the minimum amount of time.

- Vendors:  I discuss all my vendors, from print shops, to canvas printers to album providers.

- Sales:  how to structure your sales meetings

- Contracts:  I go over my own contract line by line

All this and more, if time allows.  

Tuition is $350 for an all day session.  Contact me to register.

If you cannot make this session for whatever reason, I can customize a Skype session one-on-one for you.

Laurence Kim Workshops

It's hard to believe, but I've posted at least one blog post per week now for 3 years running!  

Now it's time for me to take a break. I've never been busier in my entire life than I am right now, both personally and professionally.  

Every minute I spend on this blog is a minute of attention that my family isn't getting, my clients aren't getting, and those darn overgrown weeds all around my house aren't getting.

Something has to give, so I'm cutting back on blogging for now. I'm not stopping entirely, but expect maybe one post a month rather than once a week.  Don't bother checking it every day - please just subscribe via the RSS feed and you'll know when there's new material here.

I'm still continuing with the workshops.

One-on-one workshops can be done:

• in-person in Seattle
• over the phone
• via Skype

My next live group workshop is the May 22 "Starting a Profitable Wedding Business" workshop in Seattle. Seats are still available.

Laurence Kim Workshops

As a lifestyle photographer, it's not often that I get hired to do formal family portraits. However, when I do them, I enjoy the challenge.

Here's my thought process behind a recent family formal portrait.

• Subjects:  parents + their 2 adult children and one of their spouses

• Selecting the background: the parents live right on the Puget Sound. The grounds are immaculate - the grass almost looks like a putting green. I knew the background had to be the view from the backyard - no real discussion here, this one was obvious.

• The pose:  most photographers would probably set up a shot like this:

Now there's nothing wrong with this shot. If I had to shoot 30 family formals in 30 minutes (like at a wedding) I'd probably shoot something like this.  But the problem is that there is no concept behind the shot.  It's just a bunch of people standing in a row.

I wanted to do something more interesting. If the client does not have a particular concept in mind, then I just make one up of my own.

My concept for this shot: I imagined that this was, say, a family that ran a prominent business and a story about their lavish estate was being run in Town & Country Magazine.  I wanted a more 3 dimensional pose, which showed them in a more interesting and relaxing setting.

Here's my diagram of the final shot:

I set up two lawn chairs, one about 3 feet closer than the other, and placed the parents in the chairs. Then the "kids" went behind them. I wanted everyone to be relaxed, yet still in a more formal position than you'd typically see in one of my lifestyle portraits.

Using these chairs gave me 3 levels to work with: sitting on the chair, sitting on the arm, and standing. Placing the 2nd chair 3 feet behind the first adds a 4th level.  These levels contribute to the depth of the image.

The key, however, to any family portrait (formal or lifestyle) is to show the closeness of the family members, which is why I made sure they were touching each other. The smiles came from me just joking around with them.

Here's the final image. No Photoshop was required - this is straight from Lightroom.

Here are the technicals for the shot:

(1) Set the camera on manual mode, evaluative (matrix) metering.  I used the following as a default setting:  ISO 100, f8, 1/200 sec.  Camera was a Canon 5D with 70-200mm lens @ 70mm.

(2) Take a test shot, view histogram to judge exposure. In this case, my initial settings were just fine. It gave me about -1 stop of exposure, just where I wanted it. Why underexpose the ambient light by one stop? Two reasons: it really turns the sky a nice blue on a sunny day or makes the clouds more dramatic on a cloudy day. Second, it will really make your subjects pop out when lit with off camera flash.

(3)  My 580exII flash was on a stand to camera right. I did not use any umbrella or softbox. This was just straight, direct flash. Why no umbrella? To be honest, it was simply too windy to use an umbrella. However, because I had my flash pulled back some distance away from my subjects (to cover all of them without any significant light falloff between the nearest and farthest person), an umbrella would only have made a minor difference anyway.

(4)  I set my flash on manual mode, 1/2 power and took a test shot. It was slightly underexposed so I bumped up the power a bit, but I was still less than full power.

(5)  I kneeled down on one knee to get a low camera angle and fired away. I took about 6 shots from this position. Remember that a low camera angle always adds drama and power to a shot. Taken at eye level this shot would not have been nearly as interesting. Get down on that knee!

That's pretty much it.  When I opened the image in Lightroom, exposure was perfect. I did not have to move the exposure slider at all. The only thing I did was add a tiny bit of sharpening. Remember that a sharp lens, f8, and perfect light all contribute to an image that's already going to be sharp.

When I was shopping for auto insurance, I met with an insurance agent. I had intended to get some recommendations only for auto insurance, but he put together a package that also bundled together homeowner's insurance.  

In the end he convinced me to get a auto/home package that gave me better coverage for less money than I was spending before.  In short, he up-sold me.  Far from being annoyed, I was pleased. They key was that he was up-front about what he was presenting to me, and I ended up getting something better than expected.

That's the way it should be done.  However, just about every single wedding photographer I've talked to is leaving lots of money on the table when it comes to album sales. This problem is easy to correct.

Here's the way I do it:

(1)   Start out by including wedding album credits in your packages, not actual albums.  I learned this from Gary Fong. By the way, if Gary Fong is not on your list of photographers to admire and emulate, he should be. He was earning $10k + per wedding at a time when it was simply unheard of.

Okay, back on topic. For example, instead of including a 30 page, 10x10 album in your wedding package, include an album credit. If you charge, say, $40 per page for a 10x10, then include a $1,000 credit instead.

Why credits instead of actual albums?  If you include a 30 page 10x10 album in the package, then your clients will expect a 30 page 10x10 album. The "30 pages" becomes imprinted in their brains. They begin to think that a wedding album should be 30 pages, nothing more. Any attempt to get them to buy more pages will give them the impression that you're just trying to bleed them for more money. By contrast, an album credit leaves the # of pages to be an open possibility.

(2)  After the wedding, design the first draft without any client input.  Two reasons: first, if you wait for your clients to select images then you could end up waiting for a long time. In some cases - years. Second, your clients have never designed an album before so how would they know which images would make the best design?

(3)  I tell my clients up front that the 1st draft is my ultimate album design. The design I would make with the images if it were my own wedding.  A no-limits design.  My clients know up front that my 1st draft averages 50-60 pages. I also tell them that they are free to make edits, add or remove pages.

(4)  A few weeks after the wedding I email my first draft album design. I again remind them that they can edit the pages, remove pages or add pages. Usually they make a few image substitutions and also typically cut out a few spreads. That's okay.

(5) After a couple of rounds of changes, they are usually left with an album around 40-46 pages. Since my album credit included in my best selling package (your best selling package, by the way, should alwyas  be your "middle" package) is only enough to buy 24 pages, I usually end up with an after-wedding up-sell of about $1,000.   This is an extra $1,000 that most photographers leave on the table. And the client is never surprised or upset. They want the extra pages, because they have had time to emotionally bond with them. And they were expecting a big album up front.

That's pretty much it.  I'll be discussing this topic and many others in greater depth at my May 22 Starting a Profitable Wedding Business workshop.

Laurence Kim Workshops

May 22, Seattle, Starting a Profitable Wedding Business: seats available

One-on-one workshops available via Skype