PhotographyChallenge

The challenge is 'CHARITY'

In this time of INTERNATIONAL TRAGEDY, we all must look at our lives and ask the big question 'am I doing all I can?' Donations are a fantastic start, but there is always more we can be doing. As photographers you have an amazing opportunity to donate your time, and talent to a number of great organisations.



WHERE TO START

CHARITY STARTS AT HOME:
Start by looking in charities from the area you live, something which effects you. its a great place to start and build up your confidence in working with a 'client'.

DON'T BE SCARED TO PUSH YOURSELF
Contact the group directly, ask plainly what you want or are willing to give. These groups will for the most part take free PHOTOGRAPHY work from you, as they will always need images for PRESS SHOTS, ADVERTISING IMAGES, & TO SELL (in the form of post cards, birthday cards, magnets etc.)

YOU MUST BE PROFESSIONAL
A registered charity doesn't have time to work with someone who is unprofessional, so please follow the check list below before starting out on your charity challenge!!!


PROFESSIONAL CHECK LIST

A NAME
A company name is a very good place to start; it will help you create all the other things you will need. Good name can inspire confidence in your brand, as well as making prospective clients remember you over other freelance photographers. Using something that links to your style, personality, or unique gift is a great place to start. If you can't think of anything effective, then keep it simple for example ADCPHOTOGRAPHY (Which is my name) Or Qualityphotography (which is a little boring but will suffice.)

EMAIL ADDRESS
If you can't yourself seriously, then a professional organisation will not either so having a good email is essential for showing you mean business. Your email (for photography work) should look like this YOURNAME@ YOURNAMEPHOTOGRAPHY@ COMPANYNAME@ etc. please no bad nicknames or cute and funny addresses, its not professional and won't get you in the door.

PROFILE
Its very important to have some kind of ONLINE profile for your photography work. This will allow clients to see how you work, your style, your talent, and your training. This should also look simple and professional! BELOW ARE LINKS TO *FREE* PROFILE SPACES

F A C E B O O K www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=… M Y S P A C E www.myspace.com/ B L O G www.google.com/accounts/Servic… W I X (FREE WEBISTE BUILDER AND SPACE) www.wix.com/

AND HERE'S HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE
*SHINEPHOTOGRAPHY* is a professional photographer, she works with lots of different clients, including BANDS, RESTAURANTS, CHARITIES, NEWSPAPER, & PRIVATE COMPANIES,
F A C E B O O K www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pa…
W I X WEBSITE www.shinephotographyonline.co.…


PORTFOLIO
(SEE PAST BLOGS FOR IDEA'S ON CREATING THIS photographychallenge.deviantar…)
You should show different styles and techniques as well different themes, show that your comfortable working with people as well as objects. This will allow your CLIENT to see what you can do for them. You must have work you've done outside of college/uni/school, to show that you can work on your own as well as to a brief.
A hard copy portfolio is also essential, you maybe asked for a person to person meeting, so being able to turn up with something real that you can show may make the difference between a YES or a NO!

*A SIMPLE TRICK is to back the portfolio with your work in print. So if your work has been featured in a newspaper or internet site, print copies and put these in your portfolio. It gives a very good impression of you as a professional person.

* USE BLACK CARD AS A BACKING (This will make your images POP! White will sometimes make the image lose your impact.)

* KEEP THE IMAGES CENTRAL  

* THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOULD GO FROM GOOD-BETTER-GREAT (You need them to leave wowed so don't put your best right at the beginning.)

* WHAT your portfolio should look like; KEEP IT SIMPLE- black or plain coloured front

*Don't change the orientation of your images (Its very annoying having to keep turning the book over to look at your images, so make sure your books big enough for portrait and landscape images.)

* PUT WHAT WORKS TOGETHER (Don't put contrasting images together so; kittens with skulls, keep people with people, landscapes with landscapes, and flowers with flowers. Have a black page between the sections to keep them separate.)

* ADD info about the work (This you can add into the back and read it before your meeting, it will keep your memory of how you took a certain image, the kit you used, your influences, and if it was for a client; who that client was and what they wanted.)

BELOW ARE POSSIBLE PORTFOLIO'S
shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=po…
EBAY

www.staples.co.uk/
STAPLES

www.wilkinsonplus.com/
WILKO


(A PHOTO ALBUM WORKS TO BUT YOU'LL NEED A LARGE ONE)

BUSINESS CARD
This is the greatest tool you can posses. It will allow you to leave a lasting impression with a perspective client, as well as showing a professional confident front to the people you want to work with. Remember to add a little of your style/ personality to the card. and to keep it appropriate to what you do. Use your 'NAME' (I.E YOUR LOGO/BRAND NAME) to influence your card as-well.

BELOW ARE TUTORIALS/ TEMPLATES ON HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE CARD


an1ken.deviantart.com/art/Colo…

Colorful Vibrant Business Card by =An1ken

timelikeit.deviantart.com/art/…

Branding Presentation Tutorial by ~timelikeit

wildroo.deviantart.com/art/How…

HowTo create a Business CardP1 by ~wildroo


pinkfairywand.deviantart.com/a…

Photoshop Business Card How To by ~pinkfairywand

eikonstock.deviantart.com/art/…

350dpi Business Card Template by ~eikonstock

an1ken.deviantart.com/art/Busi…

Business Card Template 2 by =An1ken

dvanartist.deviantart.com/art/…

Metal Business cards by ~dvanartist


BUISNESS CARDS YOU MAY WANT TO LOOK AT


wingless730.deviantart.com/art…

Nathan Jones business cards by ~wingless730


flisk.deviantart.com/art/flisk…

flisky dot net business cards by ~flisk

starfishey.deviantart.com/art/…

Business Cards by ~starfishey

paganbaby.deviantart.com/art/s…

skully cards by ~paganbaby

umert.deviantart.com/art/Baref…

Barefoot's Business Cards by ~umert

PORTABLE STUDIO
This could anything from a PHOTOGRAPHY CUBE to a full STOCKED STUDIO
If you want to become more then a hobbiest you need to invest in some form of studio. It doesn't have to be expensive. Lights are the most expensive thing next to camera equipment you will buy, but once you have them you'll never regret it. This can make your shot go from good to GREAT!!!!!

BELOW ARE LINKS TO EQUIPMENT ON EBAY
shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_tr…



WHO YOU CAN HELP

Possible LARGE CHARITY'S

WWF wwf.org.uk
WSPA wspa.org.uk
BORN-FREE  www.bornfree.org.uk/
WILDLIFE TRUSTS www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=helping:legacy:charity
RSCPA www.rspca.org.uk/
BLUECROSS www.bluecross.org.uk
PDSA www.pdsa.org.uk
UNICEF unicef.org.uk
NSPCC www.nspcc.org.uk
CANCER RESEARCH cancerresearchuk.org
WATER AID www.wateraid.org/uk
REDCROSS www.redcross.org.uk

Possible SMALL CHARITY'S
Look in your local magazines/ newspaper for events/ fair/ organisations to approach.
Look online for more information, they may have a section of how you can get involved.

*Gay pride
*Breast cancer
*Children's trusts (maybe run a workshop on photography)
*Special needs voluntary services
*Church/ religious groups

NATIONAL EVENTS

*RED NOSE DAY
*CHILDREN IN NEED
*EARTH DAY
*BAND AID
*RACE FOR LIFE

(You can create a project to use to donate money or get in tough with the local centres for these organisations, and offer your services for events.)

WHEN OUT PHOTOGRAPHYING AN EVENT

KIT YOU'LL NEED

*EXTRA CAMERA
*LENSES
*MEMORY CARDS/ BATTERIES
*UMBRELLA (AND WATER PROOF CLOTHING)

*ID BADGE ( Who you are, what you do, who your working for, a photo is also good! it helps getting getting into places regular people aren't allowed, and will also make people want to be photographed. its a really helpful tool!)

* EXTRA BUISNESS CARDS ( You'll be handing these out all day to people who want to see your photographs, Its a great networking tool!)

*PROFESSIONAL CLOTHES
You need to look professional, and a hoody with trainers won't cut it! Smart but comfy is the key, it will also make it easier for the people your working with to find you, and for people taking part to recognise who you are.

*BRUSH UP ON THE CHARITY'S DETAILS
You will be asked why your there, and talking about the people your working for is essential. Be polite and make sure to keep positive even if your not having a good day, don't moan to the people taking part. Do what your there to do and then leave if its not going well.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP

PRODUCT IMAGERY
This can be an amazing gift to a charity, it allows for the production of things that the charity can sell. Yo can take images and just give them to the chariety to use for example;

*Flowers
*Animals
*Landscapes
*Local landmarks
*Comical imagery

You can donate these images by giving the rights to the charity (this may need a form to be filled in.) Charity's will always need these kinds of images to go in their magazine (as page fillers), advertising, or products to sell.



***************SMALL GESTURES MAKE LARGE CHANGES!!!***********************

PLEASE GO OUT HAVE FUN AND REMEMBER TO BE SAFE!!!!!!!!!!

***************************USEFULL INFORMATION****************************************


MORE IMAGES CAN BE FOUND IN THE 'FEATURE' FOLDER OF THE FAV'S SECTION

I've asked people to write tutorials/ tips/ info on how to best capture the theme, if you'd like to write one up after you under go the challenge that would be great.
its always good to evaluate your way of working, it allows us to better understand our creative process.






*************************************SUBMISSION RULES***********************************

PLEASE SUBMISSIONS ONLY!! SUBMIT TO THE FOLDER photographychallenge.deviantar…

YOU MUST MENTION THE GROUP & CHALLENGE INFO IN THE DESCRIPTION!! IF YOU DO NOT-your piece will not be submitted into the gallery!!

NO SPAM

NO PORN








[Camera][Bullet; Black]



NEW CHALLENGE IN 2 WEEKS AND ITS A BIG ONE!!!!

For more info and advice please contact me [How can DA help you?] ~Theshelfs


**************************RULES CHANGE*****************************
DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF SPAM THE GROUP HAS BEEN RECEIVING I WILL NOW CHANGE THE UPLOAD RULES

5 UPLOADS ONLY A WEEK WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO A VOTE!
IF ITS NOT PART OF ONE OF THE CHALLENGES (CHECK OLD BLOGS) THEN ITS NOT COMING IN!!
IF IT DOESN'T HAVE THE CHALLENGE & GROUP INFO IN THE DESCRIPTION THEN ITS NOT COMING IN!!

I'm also looking for 2 members to become ADMIN if you'd like to apply please leave a comment below

THANK YOU AND HAPPY CHALLENGE!!!!!!