Business Practice

Getting the Positive Out of Your Negative

One of the keys to managing your photography business lies in the negatives. As soon as possible after the event or shoot, organize your images and negatives by date and roll numbers. It is worth the investment of time to learn safe handling techniques and implement them in your business as profits can be made or lost years later.

When handling negatives, either wear cotton gloves or minimally hold at edges to avoid fingerprints. The oils from your hands can destroy the sensitive emulsion layers and damage may show up years later. When catalogued and stored in archival negative pages or other recommended safe storage system, scratches, dust, light exposure and misplacements are kept to a minimum. 

The following websites offer a wealth of information:

Storage and Care of KODAK Photographic Materials- Before and After Processing
Eastman Kodak Company

Caring for Your Photographs
American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC)

The Care and Preservation of Photographic Prints
Compiled by the conservation staff at Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village

Caring for Your Photographic Collections
Library of Congress

     "To take photographs means to recognize -- simultaneously and within a fraction of a second -- both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one's head, one's eye and one's heart on the same axis."

Spotlight: Behind the Camera

Sharon Fibelkorn

I grew up as a horse crazy kid without a horse and was told photography was a waste of time. Well, my love affair of all things Equine continues today, and I do a nice job of finding great freelance work photographing, yes, you guessed it, horses.

I like to think that some of my images evoke emotions in the people that see them and it's a joy to do editorial work for some of the finest publications on the market today. Don Trout (well known QH photog in the USA) gave me my beginnings with horse photography.

I initially spent a lot of time shooting various breed horse shows to learn the movements and see what drives certain breeds. Attending a show is still my favorite past time next to hanging out with my own little mare.

Sharon Fibelkorn
wezshootn@yahoo.com

Be completely uninvolved when editing and critiquing your own photos. Just look at the picture, don't think about who took it, what else was going on when you took it; who it's a picture of, etc., etc. You can only see the value and quality of an image if you look at it with no emotional involvement. Just look at it; don't look for ways to pat yourself on the back. You can't learn anything from that. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take credit where it's due; it just means that you have to learn what's creditable,and this isn't going to happen if you are emotionally involved.