frequently asked questions

to help people find the answer to any questions, I post the answers to any frequently asked questions here. I hope they help, but if not, just email me directly, or call...

current questions on this page (in order):

1. 1.Why is your domain name so long?
   

2. 2.How should I prepare for a portrait session?
   

3. 3.What do you mean by a money back guarantee?
   

4. 4.Do you provide a CD of images?
   

5. 5.I can’t run any slideshows, what can I do?
   

6. 6.Can I have a mixture of B&W & colour photos?
   

7. 7.What cameras do you use?
   

8. 8.How do I prepare myself & my new baby?
   

9. 9.What if the print size isn’t the same proportion?
   

10. 10.What are ‘handprints’ & ‘mounted’ prints?
    

1. Why is your domain name so long?

www.richardleonardphotography.com is a bit of a mouthful isn’t it... I actually spent literally years trying to decide on the domain name & eventually felt this was the best because despite its length it is simply descriptive. You can also use the .co.nz variant & there are lots of others (like www.leonard.co.nz or www.0800PHOTOS.co.nz ) that redirect to my site. But once you’ve typed it in once, bookmark it as 0800PHOTOS so you never have to type it again!

2. How should I prepare for a portrait session?

What can you do to prepare? Very little - just relax!

I do like to know a little bit about you & certainly what you hope to achieve from the sitting. This could be something specifically tangible, like a family portrait to hang in the hall, or very nebulous, like a collection of great “togetherness” images.

I don’t have a ‘questionnaire’ but I do have some easy questions on my booking form, like birthdays, family members, favourite colours, music etc. I do keep all information you give me strictly confidential.

When you come to the session, just bring yourselves, dressed in whatever you feel most comfortable in or whatever you want to be remembered in. High fashion can date faster than the photograph...

If your session is in the studio, it can help to wear plain black or white clothing (or the lightest & darkest you can get to) but it’s not a deal breaker! If you are going to be wearing very little - pregnant mums or new mums & dad’s with babies, for example, then do avoid anything elastic for at least 24 hours before the session. Strap marks take a long time to leave the skin.

Do bring along other outfits if you want to try a change; music if you have definite favourites & any accessories you may want in the portrait. These could be anything, but people have brought sunglasses, hats, handbags, umbrellas & even a hamster!

If children have a favourite toy - teddy bear, rocking horse, blanket... then bring it along. It will help relax them & will probably enhance the image.

If you are having an outdoor portrait, then wear appropriate clothing for the location. Bring buckets & spades for the beach, walking shoes for a hike into the hills... And make sure we have each other’s mobile numbers!

If in any doubt, then just ask. I’m more than happy to talk you though everything.

3. What do you mean by a money back guarantee?

I never want unhappy customers, so I will always guarantee my time. This means that any money you may pay me or owe me for deposits or actual work will be refunded if you do not like the pictures I have taken. I will always offer you another session first, for free, if there is any chance of improving on the first time, but if not I will refund any money paid or cancel any money owed, quickly & without any hassle.

This money back guarantee only applies up until the time you receive any images or prints or other products from me.

4. Do you provide a CD of image files?

This is a big question & requires a big answer! The simple answer is no. But I’ll try & explain why. I’ll use portraiture for the example, but the principle applies to all areas of professional photography

The business of modern professional photography breaks down into 2 key areas: money & quality

Money, part 1

A standard portrait session requires:

45 minutes - 3 hours - preparation time

45 minutes - 1.5 hours - shooting time

1.5 - 4 hours image processing

30 minutes admin & viewing preparation

45 minutes - 2 hours viewing

20 minutes - 1 hour web preparation time

20 minutes - 2 hours discussion & amendment time.

total time for one standard session - 4 hours 55 minutes minimum / 14 hours maximum

For this I charge one small fee (which is covered by my money back guarantee)

Obviously the fee I charge goes nowhere near to covering the time spent, so I rely on the fact that my clients will love my pictures & order lots of prints. If they don’t , I lose money. If I simply handed over the files, I would lose hundreds, if not thousands of potential dollars immediately.

My prints are priced to cover not only the physical cost of the materials & labour, but to earn me back some income for the time spent taking the photographs. This is a traditional model for professional studios.

In the past, the photographer has handed over the negatives to a lab to process & print, so a large part of the work was done by someone else. Now, most of the work is done by the photographer. Some studios also offered to sell the negatives to the client after a year had elapsed, on the basis that they were unlikely to get many more orders & therefore some money for the negatives was better than nothing.

Today, with digital & the internet, there is an opportunity for the photographer to sell more prints over a much longer period of time, therefore potentially compensating in part for the dramatic falling of prices in recent years. I keep all my files & offer prints to my clients for a lifetime (mine at least & I hope to be able to pass on the work to someone else once I finally retire). Once the image factory website is finally launched, all your images will be available online there forever (I hope!). As other photographers will be able to subscribe to the service, you should be able to access all your professional images from one location in the future...

Money, part 2

So this is part of the money angle. The other part is the capital cost of the equipment. Not only do I have to cover the cost of my time (to pay myself a wage), I also have to cover the capital cost of the equipment required & the overheads of studios, vehicles & staff. For example, when I go on location, I carry one camera case with two cameras, four lenses & some accessories. That bundle will cost you nearly $50,000 today. The computer equipment required is tens of thousands of dollars, especially when you consider the security & backup I have to put in place to preserve the large digital images I have captured. Why do professionals have to spend so much? Quality, security & reliability. These are the unspoken assumptions when you hire a professional. So, if you ask a professional to hand over image files, sit down before you read the bill...

Quality

I spend a great deal of time & money on the right preparation & equipment to ensure I provide only the highest quality. My business relies entirely on word of mouth recommendation & the quality of my last job. If I handed over my image files, I would immediately lose control of the use & presentation of those images. With digital technology today, it is still surprisingly hard to produce some great images, but incredibly easy to wreck them! I don’t hand over image files in order to safeguard my current & future reputation.

With fantastic quality digital cameras available at ever more affordable prices, it is tempting to say, “I can do that”. If you can, then you should & I am always ready to give whatever advice I can to clients who want to do their own thing. After all, if you really can do something yourself & have the time & inclination to do it, then you really should. I can & will help you if you are in that position, just ask. I have advised many clients on what camera they should buy & what they can & can’t do with it.

People pay professionals to ensure they get what they want & it’s often a bit difficult to tell your uncle that he’s not quite as good as he says he is! Quite apart from the fact that I have yet to see a good non-professional produce great studio shots...

Hopefully I have painted a simple picture as to why in financial & quality terms I don’t hand over image files. It is the same reason why I protect my image files by only using certain sizes & resolutions & occasionally using watermarks when they are online. If you want others to share your joy at your new images, they can always be available through my websites.

5. I can’t run any of the slideshows. What can I do?

I create my slideshows using an application from Adobe called Flash. There is a Flash Player (you install it then don’t even notice it) for most computing platforms & it does need to be installed for you to view the slideshows (check here to see if you have it installed). It is free, easily downloadable & simply installed (but you might need to restart your computer before using it). Not having Flash (or the latest version of it) installed is the number 1 reason why people can’t see my slideshows.

Some people, especially those working in corporate environments are not allowed to have Flash installed as it has (incorrectly) been associated with virus propagation. If you aren’t permitted, sorry there is nothing I can do. The supplementary question to this is always, “can’t you put the files on a disc?” The answer to this is no, for two reasons. First, I refer you to the FAQ above about a CD of image files. Second, my processes have been designed & streamlined for web delivery. It simply takes too much time that I do not have to arrange separate deliveries for every individual. I can create a DVD of images that you can watch on your TV; but for this I charge $275 & you’ll need to allow up to 5 working days.

Corporate network environments can be restrictive & inconsistent in how computers & access privileges are applied & set up. Just because your colleague can see a slideshow doesn’t guarantee that you can. Also, the way you connect to the Internet may surprise you. Just because you are in Auckland does not mean you connect to it from there. It is quite common for routing to happen internally around the country before you connect externally. This shouldn’t have an effect, but I mention it so when you talk to the Techies you understand that it isn’t quite as simple as your setup at home. Talk to your IT support department... (nicely!)

Some people, especially in New Zealand, struggle to view the slideshows because they don’t have a fast enough connection to the Internet. If you are still on dial-up, at best you’ll get a sloooww & jerky display if you can see them at all. Even if you are on Broadband, it depends on where you are located & how you are connected. Broadband in NZ is relatively slow, even at the highest speeds & is inconsistent in what speeds it can deliver where & for how long. Do complain to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) & if enough voices are added, things will eventually change.

If you do have full control of your computer’s setup, ensure you have the latest version of Flash installed & working (there is an little animated box on the Flash website that only works when you have Flash installed correctly - see it here);  check your internet connection and, if in doubt, restart your computer & try again. You can try clearing your Browser’s cache (it stores pages & information locally on your computer to speed up your browsing when you return) but remember that some information you may not want to clear might be lost in the process. For Safari go to the safari menu & choose clear cache. For Explorer, go to Tools/Internet Options & under the General Tab find Browsing History & click Delete - you can then choose what to delete (temporary Internet files). For Firefox, go to Tools/Options & under the Privacy Tab, choose Private Data - Settings. These are the locations for most of the latest versions of the software.

My aim is to be helpful in every way, but unfortunately all computer setups are not equal & beyond this advise, there is not that much I can do in this area - apologies.

6. Can I have a mixture of Black & White and Colour Photos?

The short answer is yes. In the days of the film camera I had to decide whether to load black & white or colour film, or indeed negative or transparency, fast or slow, professional or general.... Digital has done away with all those decisions. Modern digital camera sensors capture light spectrum information by recording differing wavelengths as well as intensity. This raw digital data is then “processed” to create a colour image. (All colour exists in a predictable location on the visible spectrum, so by accurately gauging a single point, known as the white balance, all other colour information can be adjusted relative to this. Think of the light spectrum a slide rule!)

Most cameras do this processing immediately & then display the jpeg image on the camera screen for you to preview. Professionals generally capture the RAW (this is the general file format name) data & transfer it on to a computer & process it there. Even top-of-the-line professional cameras cannot match desktop computers for processing power. The benefit is hugely more information to work with as the way cameras can do the processing so fast is to throw away a large part of the captured raw information. The benefit of this information is great detail & subtlety especially when trying to adjust the image or create an extra large print. The downside is massively more computer time for every single image.

I use full-frame sensor SLR cameras, which means the sensor is the same size as old 35mm film. This size combined with the number of sensors (the 8, 10, 12 Megapixel headline you see for every camera) dictates the quality of the data capture. In the photographic world, size does matter as the larger the sensor (the statistic they don’t shout about) the better the raw information (a generalization, but essentially accurate). By the way, SLR means Single Lens Reflex, a progression from the 1950’s when most cameras were TLRs, Twin Lens Reflex. “Reflex” refers to the way the shutter moves in capturing the image (a progression from the original plate cameras), and “Twin Lens” meant exactly that - two lenses. One to look through & the other (working in tandem) to take the image with. The revolutionary introduction of a mirror, that diverted the light to a viewfinder to look at the scene but that then flicked out of the way momentarily to capture the image, meant that just one lens could be used for both purposes - hence “Single Lens”. I digress - apologies.

Once the RAW data is on computer, it is then processed INTO a colour image, if desired, or it can be processed without the wavelength information, hence Black & White, or a whole gamut of possibilities in between. As a workflow, I process every image into colour, in order to be able to assess how it might best look, before then reprocessing it into my, or my client’s final selection. The wonderful thing about RAW image workflows is that no information from the original image file is discarded until the final presentation choice is made, ensuring the highest possible quality.

So, although I capture all images using just one camera, you can choose afterwards exactly how you’d like to see them. The only thing to remember is that it is this computer processing possibility that can add considerably to the time taken (and therefore the cost - see question 3). There are some simple (and semi-automatic) conversions that work well & I can show you. More elaborate work might need to be passed on to a computer professional!

7. What Cameras do you use?

When I started in photography, Nikon was the only camera brand that most professionals would be seen with. Up until a couple of years ago it was Canon, as they stole a marketing march on Nikon with the first commercial full-frame (35mm size) sensor. Nikon were slow to react to the digital challenge, but they are coming back fighting now & today the choice is much more even. If I were buying new equipment today, I’d have a tough choice between Canon & Nikon. Of course there are other brands, but not many with the broad range of equipment & accessories that a working professional needs. The camera itself is a relatively small part of it. The lenses are probably the most important.

So, I use Canon. If you go to the professional rentals page (under Information) you can see & read about all the equipment I use as I also hire it out to some other professional photographers.

The key thing to remember is “it’s not what you’ve got, it’s how you use it!” I made my choice of equipment to cover all possible assignments & now I don’t think or worry about it, I just concentrate on the tasks at hand, making you look good!

8. How do I prepare myself & my new baby?

Photographing new babies is the most fantastic & rewarding experience. There is not much you need to do to prepare, although do watch out for rashes, hormone spots & the like near the session time & let me know if any appear.

There are essentially two ways to take images of babies (and parents). Clothed & unclothed. Taking pictures of babies with no clothes on is the most natural way & can produce the most pleasing images. However, tight clothing or (essentially) nappies can leave an indent on the skin that is hard to disguise. So, for 48 hours before the sitting, please try to avoid anything elastic or tight. Nappies cannot, of course, be avoided altogether, but do try & leave them very slightly looser! Studio photographs of naked new babies are best complimented where the mother or father is also not wearing visible clothing. It then makes it possible to dress you with shadows for the best images. For mothers & fathers, the guidelines about elastic clothing is therefore the same, as shots of cuddling or breastfeeding the baby can be ruined by hard bra strap lines or tight neck collars, for example.

Gorgeous baby clothing can only enhance photographs of clothed babies, as can accessories such as blankets, hoods etc. So bring a selection of your favourites, together with something plain, like a white jump suit, for example. For parent’s clothing, the only guideline is keep it simple. Wearing anything too elaborate might detract from the image of the baby.

Do bring a favourite blanket, towel, toy, as well as a reasonable supply of spare nappies & wipes. If your baby likes or reacts well to particular sounds or music, then do bring a CD. If you have gorgeous accessories, such as a moses basket or cot, then do discuss with me first, as I may need to plan slightly different lighting for that.

9. What if the print size isn’t the same proportion as my image?

My cameras have what are known as “full frame” sensors. This means they take images that are identical in proportion to old 35mm film: 3x2. This means that any print that carries the same proportions can be used to print the captured image in its entirety. So a 6x4 print & a 12x8 print are identical proportions.

However, it isn’t as simple as that. I also “crop” the images I take to different proportions if it suits the image better. I do try to stick to standards. I generally use 3x2 or Square (1x1). However, I do occasionally use odd proportions, though, like 3x1 for a widescreen look.

So, when you come to choose your print or canvas sizes, be aware that they may not suit your image proportions. Images that are cropped Square (1x1) can be printed square, but for pricing you have to use the size of the print you want & use that to find the closest print size that can accommodate that size as its shortest measurement. The same principle applies to all print sizing.

For example, if you printed a square cropped image on 6x4” paper, you would end up with a print that measured 4x4”. (Bit small!) You would need to go to a 6x8” print size to produce a 6x6” print to get any reasonable result. Likewise, for a 3x1 widescreen image crop, if you chose a 12x8” print size, you would get a print that measured 12x4”. To produce a result that looked as effective as a normal 12x8” print, you would probably have to go up to a 18x12” print size which would give you a print measuring 18x6”.

If in doubt, ask!

10. What are ‘handprints’ & ‘mounted’ prints & what else do you offer?

There are several ways to produce photographic prints. The ‘traditional’ chemical processes are being phased out & replaced with ‘inkjet’ machines. Walking into a local high street retailer with your memory card will normally now get you a form of inkjet print. Of course, there are many levels of quality of inkjet printers, just as with the paper material & inks.

The handprints I produce are essentially inkjet prints that are properly cropped, balanced for colour, tone & density on a colour-balanced screen before being printed directly onto a matching, colour-balanced inkjet printer. (Colour-balanced essentially means equipment that is carefully adjusted to produce identical results on screen & paper so you can see what you are getting - the equipment involved has to be re-calibrated weekly.) I use only the best, archival quality inks & paper to ensure the longest lasting print. It is not possible with technology today to get better quality prints anywhere. I call them handprints to try & differentiate between these & prints you can get from your local copyshop.

As standard, I supply all my prints ‘mounted’. This means that the print is mounted onto a foam backing board, then has a matte (a white, black or coloured card) with a bevelled-edge aperture, stuck over the top to ‘surround’ the print. The print is protected & ready to simply slot into a frame. For most standard print sizes I ensure that the mount is the right dimensions to fit into ‘off-the-shelf’ frame sizes. Alternatively, as I supply generous mount sizes, the matte can be cut back to fit into a custom sized frame.

An ‘unmounted’ print is the print itself. I offer unmounted prints simply because some people want to roll them up to take overseas, for example. Financially it is better to have mounted prints if you intend to frame them because the money you save on unmounted does not cover the cost of having the mounted part done at a framers. Also, I prefer supplying mounted as it then offers the prints a good degree of protection.

I now offer simple frames as a courtesy. I don't make money from them, it simply makes it much easier for some clients to receive a complete package. Black, white or brown are the choices, in three different sizes to suit different print dimensions.

Canvases are exactly that, images printed onto canvas & stretched onto a canvas frame. The key issue with canvases is the quality of the prepared surface for printing. Most canvases are relatively low quality, I only use the very best materials & so far, I have only discovered 2 people in New Zealand who are capable of printing canvases to my high standards.

Block mounted prints are wooden blocks with the print adhered to one side. They are in black or white.

Art mounts are very similar to block mounts except the material is very lightweight & designed to be used for larger & very large prints.

More questions and answers will be added shortly. If you have a question, please email it to me. Thanks