The benefits of Volunteering

Dear Readers;

The inevitably contractual basis of work as a freelance photographer will tend to mean that your paid work and activities fluctuate.  Fortunately there is a great way to keep active and practising whilst also marketing your own photography.

and the best part is: its FREE!!

all that you need to do (especially easy if you're a student) is to contact sports clubs, societies and keep tabs on local events and cultural events.  Often you need only write an email to committees, in order for them to agree to take you on as a volunteer photographer, they can also be persuaded to agree to allow you to add a watermark to each picture and to cover your costs (of batteries etc)

This form of agreement is mutually beneficial, you're out having a great time using your camera (and feeling very important doing so) and the society/group for which you're working are gaining pictures of their events.

If you bring along some fast lenses, and equipment you're comfortable using, you can get some really good results:

People will always be happy to be photographed doing what they do best.

Your First SLR

Often, Friends ask me which of the hundreds of SLR's, D-SLR's and other miscellaneous cameras is "the best"

My reply is often the same: it doesn't matter a great deal which camera you use; it matters that you feel comfortable using it, understand its features and menus and are able to use it as a tool to capture your artistic vision for others to admire/comment upon.

Obviously, for many budding enthusiasts this isn't a sufficient answer.  I know from personal experience that in lieu of the development of skill and talent, a photographer relies on luck and the technology at his/her hand.

Whilst skill takes time to develop the issue of which camera to buy remains; and I have several answers depending upon your outlook of photography.

• Stick with the camera you have- seems overly easy but most of photography is using your own critical views of your photographic output to improve your compositions and thereby improve the results you can achieve.
• Buy old- When I walk into camera shops today (I regularly do) salespeople are happy to jump on me, trying to sell me the latest addition to the Nikon/canon line up. Digital camera technology has stabilised somewhat recently and as a later post will hopefully tell you the sensor in the camera doesn't matter as much as the lens you have attached to the front. As of  28/01/2013 You can get an older Nikon D90 for roughly the same price as the latest SLR cameras. by buying the D90 however you gain the following advantages:
• Better built camera- it will immediately feel more robust
• More backwards compatible - It may not be in your immediate interest but the D90 and other semi-professional cameras of the same series have an inbuilt focus motor, which means you are able to buy lenses from the 1990's. One such lens I bought was the Nikon 35-70mm f/2.8 bought from ebay for £150. easily as good and usable as the latest lenses but for a fraction of the price.
• a larger, clearer viewfinder- this point seems very technical, but you will instantly benefit from the viewfinder as the more pro bodies use pentaprisms over the cheaper pentamirror meaning a clearer (in low light) and larger generally viewfinder.
• A better low-light performance- I'm still not certain why this is, but the sensor is the same size as cheaper D-SLR models but is able to offer a far superior high ISO performance.
• A more advanced feature set- the more professional feeling cameras will also come available with more advanced/usable features. although you may not be using these initially, as time progresses and as you improve your technique, eventually you will become grateful that your camera is more capable than the cheaper models.
• Go Big or Go Home- If you find that you simply must have the largest most professional camera available and nothing else will do, there are also options for you which are far more cost effective than buying a D4.  My suggestion for you would be to seriously consider buying a late 90's Film body, such as the Nikon F5, which can be bought on ebay (currently) in good condition for £200, you can then buy dark room supplies and an enlarger (often available in charity shops) for another £80 ish and a decent quality 35mm film scanner for £50. and immediately you have a fully professional full frame camera body which is fully compatible with all Nikon AF lenses (and even looks good with the older, cheaper professional ones).  The best news of all is that you can have all the fun of film photography and dark room use and you can look cool and retro to all your friends and, even better, you have still only spent £400 at the absolute maximum.