10+3 Useful Business Links for Photographers

Well, it's Friday today & if you're familiar with the Twitter community, every Friday we'll do this #FollowFriday & recommend fellow Tweeps worthy of following.

But for this time round, I'll be listing 10 different websites that I find really useful for photographers, especially for those who are keen on starting their own photography business.

So here are the 10 of them, in alphabetical order:

1) Black Star Rising
2) Current Photographer
3) GoingPro
4) New Media Photographer
5) Photo Attorney
6) Photopreneur
7) Photoshelter
8) Shakodo
9) The Part Time Photographer
10) Virtual Photography Studio

And I'd also like to throw in 3 more useful links for freelancers, entrepreneurs & business starters:

11) Enterprise One
12) Entrepreneur
13) Freelance Folder

If you have any more recommendations, do provide their links in your comments below!

Love,
Roosh
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A Photographer Promo

A Photographer Promo: Meet Justin & Mary from Stillmotion on Vimeo.

There was lots of love in this video, wasn't it?

The first time I was watching this video, I thought Justin & Mary were just another wedding couple for Stillmotion. But actually, they're wedding photographers wanting to promote themselves a little differently than the others.

When Mary's talking about her relationship with her husband Justin, she wants her potential client to know that both Justin & her can be trusted to understand the importance of their romance.

I thought this video was beautifully-made & achieved its purpose. In the end, it's all about the trust between the artist & the client -- whether they're willing to listen to learn more about them.

Have you come across other videos like this one? Do share!

Love,
Roosh
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A Note from Jessie

Here's what Jessie had to say on my personal FB page:

"Roosh! Thanks so much so much for being such a fantastic mentor. Btw, checked out some websites on the holga flash thingy. Apparently, both the flash voltages are different so it might damage the camera! =( haha oh wells. Anw, thanks so much once again! You taught me so much more than what I'll learn on my own. I'll definitely be checking your sites for more awesome photos and look u up when I'm back- All the best dude!! =)
- Jessie"

So try not to hook up your Holga flash directly to the camera, though it's definitely much safer to do it through a wireless transmitter. And thanks for for the wonderful help as my assistant Jess! Have fun studying while you're at the Downunder! =)

Love,
Roosh
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Holga 15B & 12MFC Flashes

A few days back, Jessie & I met up at Starbucks Parkway to review some of her photos that were taken at Lil Ryan's & since she just recently bought an external 3rd party flash, the Yongnuo YN-465 Flash, we thought we could try out her new toy too.

I had with me that day the Holga 135BC & its 15B flash but we decided to fix our Holga flashes on our Canon 1000D & 60D this time.

This photo above was my 15B flash, but she had the Holga 12MFC flash which had a guide number (GN) of 12 unlike my GN15 which simply means the 15B flash is more powerful. One other difference we spotted was that the 12MFC's metal contact point was much smaller than what is shown here on the 15B, but we weren't really sure if it mattered much, or at all.

After some testing, we found out that the 15B was able to be triggered off by both the 1000D & 60D almost flawlessly, unlike the 12MFC which didn't fire at all.

I'm sure the 12MFC's not faulty though because it worked well on our Holga 135BC & 120N, so I'm just wondering if that contact point's making all the difference on the different bodies.

We're able to fire off the 12MFC with the Phottix Aster wireless transmitter though.

Any idea why, my friends?

Love,
Roosh
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Image Quality Difference

I've finally done what I've been wanting to do all these while: Set up an alternative album on my site to compare photos from the ones in Facebook. Come, let's look at them! =)

For Marjorie & Margaret FB Version
For Marjorie & Margaret Non-FB Version

And the image quality difference is there for all to see. But I'm still going to keep uploading these photos on my Facebook page only this time, I'll add a link to the album on my site. Actually, it's kind of hard to totally abandon Facebook since that's where most people are & it's the best place to tag the others & spread some love from my work.

By the way, I used Lightroom's Simpleviewer to create that simple album on my site.

Got to thank my clients for spreading word of my works. I love them! =)

Love,
Roosh
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For Marjorie & Margaret

The night at Mel's Place with Marjorie & Margaret was just memorable -- the music was melodious; food was mouth-watering especially those beefballs; the guests were all really smart people but they were just modest about themselves and that's really wonderful.

Michelle & Margaret got a little worried at the start though due to the poor lightings, but that small gesture meant a lot to me. It really showed their concern. But I just wanted to reassure them that nothing would go wrong & that they should be enjoying themselves instead, which I'm sure they did of course =)

I really loved these people. Tonight was definitely one of those nights that made me feel like I'm part of their family. If there's one thing I'm quite certain of, it's that I'll miss Marjorie & Margaret the most.

Thanks for having me at the party M&M. It was a blast, really! Here's just some of the photos from last night =)

For M&M

Love,
Roosh
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For Ryan

Over the weekend, I was invited to Little Ryan's simple birthday party yet full of love, joy & cute, young ones who kept both Jessie & I occupied throughout the whole event -- especially the ones who weren't even 1 year old, and a little girl with her pretty bangs who loved balloons so, so much! =)

Thanks for having us there Vivien!

And I hope Jessie was able to learn some of the tricks while shooting for events too. Glad to have your company! ^^

More photos to come soon! =)

For Ryan

Love,
Roosh
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What Do You Want To Know About Your Camera

Just this afternoon, I was helping out a fellow aspiring photographer with some tips on how to 'hunt' for the perfect moment while shooting for an event. As she was also rather new to her DSLR, I also managed to introduce to her some new terms like 'exposure compensation', '1st/2nd curtain sync', etc. Knowing these functions will not only help during an event shoot, it will also aid the photographer in absolutely any kind of shoot.

So if I could provide for you a one-on-one session for any of you who are interested, what are some of the things you would like to know more about your camera? Maybe you are curious about the metering modes, but not too sure which one will fit the scenario you are in. Or perhaps, you are just so bugged by your 'orangey' photos that you found it perplexing to have a totally different photo quality when compared to another photographer's set taken by the exact same gears you shot with.

Instead of bombarding with unnecessary terminologies that you are already familiar with, these sessions will be more specifically-catered for you, focusing on what you want to know and providing useful tips to further enhance that newly-acquired knowledge.

So what are the questions you would like to ask?

For those in Singapore who are interested in these sessions, you can drop me an email at info@rooshphotography.sg and we could probably work something out together.

Well, I sure hope to hear from you guys soon!

Love,
Roosh
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14 Tips to be a Successful Freelance Photographer

I've had aspiring photographers asking me for tips on how to start working as a self-employed, self-pleased & self-motivated freelancer. Well, the magic phrase is 'hard work', but these useful tips are sure to help you out even if you're already running your own business. So read up! =)

Hop to: 14 Tips to be a Successful Freelance Photographer

Love,
Roosh

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One Night in Old Shanghai

What can possibly be better than to attend an Old Shanghai-themed Dinner & Dance right before Chinese New Year? The event at Resort World Sentosa was totally a blast! =)

It felt really great to be invited to such an awesome event by an even more awesome group of people. Thanks guys for having me there. Here are some photos taken from the event a few days back.

ONE NIGHT IN OLD SHANGHAI

To all our Chinese friends, we'd like to wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year! To the rest, well, Happy Long Weekend! =)

Love,
Roosh
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