Our Fantastic Girls Fashion & Photography Parties-ric woods photography

How much fun did these girls have at our latest Fashion & Photography Party..

BOOK ONE NOW for more information email maree@ricwoods.com studio 02 4962 1066

Crissy's Pin Up Photo Shoot-ric woods photography

We shot Crissy the other day.We were commissioned to shoot her in the style of a pin up.These retro photo shoots are coming our way often these days and they are lots of fun.The clothes are great and Crissy certainly has great praise for Kat at "Catfight Collections" in Hamilton for their great range of Retro clothing. Maree Nichols applied Crissy's make up and assisted with the photo shoot. Well done Crissy...3 hours without a fade out.....





See some behind the scenes action here..........

ric woods photography fashion and lighting course- behind the scenes video

Turn up the volume and take the jump to the "Behind the Scenes" video of our recent Fashion & Beauty Photography & Lighting Course. At ric woods photography we conduct small classes for better one on one time and the latest course (21 page pdf course booklet download) was a blast....All participants get to shoot and take home fantastic portfolio images.

The studio ( location) was buzzing with enthusiastic and creative people and at 6pm it all took off!

We started with some theory like:

• Camera preparation,lens selection...we talked about shutter speed, aperture , ISO and how to balance or eliminate the ambient studio like.We showed how to get clean perfect exposures straight out of the camera.I shot images tethered to two monitors and showed practical differences with light modifiers. I use equipment that people have in their own kits like umbrella's as well as studio gear like gridded beauty dishes and large soft boxes.
• We instructed people how to engage the models.We explain why we NEVER touch models without asking.Composition and camera point of view are covered.We talked about photographic releases explaining that you MUST have a release for every portrait and every wedding shoot. You get the HERO shot you best have a release before you sell that image on the Commercial Scene, OR it could come back at you and you may need pay many $$$$s to clean up the mess.

Special thanks to;

• Maree Nichols my business partner and production manager for pulling it all together.If you need more information about the courses of booking a shoot at the studio, shoot her an email maree@ricwoods.com.

We gave a couple of students their "shot" in a commercial studio.

• Caitlin Nolan-Jones wants to be a creative director. Caitlin was given free reign to design the theme for the shoot.She sourced the clothing and accessories and enlisted the aide of two friends to be the male and female models.She did a great job and exceeded our expectations.She did the work and was rewarded with a great result.She supplied several looks and did well in the 3 hour course.

My tip for up and comers that want their "shot" . Do the work you want to get paid to do....do the work..do the work.

• Piyanuch "Nuu" Hathaipontaluk was our make up artist and did well to collaborate with Caitlin to pull the vision together.She was showing off her skills, doing male and female make up finishing with a Dramatic look on our female model. Also thanks for her patience in my poor attempts to pronounce her Thai Name.
• Odessa our female model was stunning and brought amazing beauty to the photo shoot.
• Liam was the perfect male model, making light when some participants were finding it difficult to shoot and talk at the same time.
• Thanks to Kristie, Debbie,Peter, Zahra, Kaz and Llynda the participants...great work, good listening.

Finally..........

• Eagle Boys Pizza for delivering ON TIME and making GLUTEN FREE Pizzas...

TIP: When Quoting a Corporate Client….ric woods photography

When quoting a new corporate client remember to explain to them what they are paying for, try to get an idea of their budget.See these images above. The top image was a production snap shot of the shoot, it was made by Maree with the available light to document the scene during the photo shoot.( its a couple of years old)

We shot the second image of the athlete for a promo image to raise funds for the children’s hospital.It is practically straight out of camera.This location shoot on Nobbys Beach used 4 small strobes with coloured gels.

When a recent client asked me for a price on a job,Ill take the time to explain that there are many options, they can choose the image on the top or the hero shot on the bottom.It takes time and people (thanks to those who braved the cold and struggled with the lighting rigs) for the second shot and that means higher costs. Often people , as you know, will shop primarily on cost, be it for wedding, portrait or corporate photography.

If you can show them what you do you have a better chance of educating the client as to why our costs for the HERO shot will be higher than some one shooting available light.

By the way, they still may go with a cheaper quotation from myself or another photographer.

Beauty Shoot of Lucy-ric woods photography

Lucy shows us one of the best smiles we have seen in a long time. Lucy commissioned us for a beauty shoot, to capture what she looks like at this time in her life...... Learn more....photography and lighting workshop course booklet **HERE**

Give Students a Shot-ric woods photography

We know how hard it is to get a break in our industry and that's why we are always open to giving students "a shot". We get an email like.... "Hi, I like your work/website,I'm and a student at XYZ and I would like to work with you" You can see my XXXX on facebook thanks Jon/Jan Doe" hotlips@hootmale.com. I remember one chap that applied to us for a position that did amazing automotive photographs for his friends, but when we told him some of the duties that he would be doing as a "newby" he wasn't interested. Sadly many of the young folk I meet already think they are famous, got a cam era, got a business card and now I'm a photographer. I have to tell you if their portfolio shows that they can CONSISTENTLY PRODUCE ACCURATE SKIN TONES & SHOOT CORPORATE FACES THAT SIT WITH IMAGES ON AN EXISTING WEBSITE...Im interested.I mean my only qualification is a drivers licence but the studios portfolio speaks for its self. Its a huge strain on a studio to take on people and train them and give them the shills to produce "IN CAMERA" images that make graphic artists cry with joy . Photoshop is NOT for fixing bad exposures.End of speech !! Every now and then we get a very professional approach from students for work or work experience that shine above the rest. Two recent identities are Caitlin Nolan-Jones and Pyanuch Hathaipontaluk ( nickname Nuch pronounced Nu") Caitlin is a passionate young woman with an out of the square approach to fashion and design. Nuch ( Nu) is a student with a strong portfolio, saying that she passionate about a more theatrical approach to make up. We will bring these two together at our Fashion and Beauty photography course .Where their skills will be under the scrutiny of the studio and students. They have promised to make us proud. Maree and myself are sure that their excitment will fuel their results, we will soon see, the Course is on Thursday 28th April 2011.

Behind the Scenes Video-Burlesque Photo Shoot-guns girls and gambling-ric woods photography

Miss April Pin-Up Promotion by ric woods photography

Kara was a great subject for our latest promotion "MISS APRIL" pin-up photo shoot.
In this behind the scenes video Maree talks about make-up for this 40-50s era and I show the lighting set up.Kara provides a great look. Learn more at our photography and lighting course. We cater for beginners right through to pro and semi pro topics. Download the 21 page PDF course booklet and book in for some FUN !!

The Framing Game Competition- ric woods photography

Congratulations to Elizabeth from Speers Point the winner of our FREE family photo shoot and framed collage. Elizabeth was very pleased and said " I never win anything". We are looking forward to the shoot as Elizabeth said she has 6 GREAT GRAND CHILDREN !! It will be a happy and full day in the studio during that session.

The Framing Game owned by Karen Fuller (pictured below with maree nichols drawing the winner) has been our Framer of choice for many years now. Karen and her staff Meg and Pete have always been able to present our studios images at their best.

Our photography and lighting course booklet is available for download here

FIVE STAR FAMILY DAY CARE a ric woods,ross carroll and little green frog marketing collaboration

Going through my archives TRYING to make a filing system that other humans can understand I came across this TVC ad.This was lots of fun this shoot. Little Green Frog marketing think tank commissioned me to shoot the stills and then got Ross Carroll a very talented and creative friend to drop an animation over the images. Ross has a wonderful creative mind and is so passionate about his work its inspiring.

Jamie Gilmore the owner of Little Green Frog has a mind that sends out a never ending stream of "What if we.......'s". Its so good working with passionate professionals......Oh yeah it sounds like Ross doing the voice overs....but its not

Five Star Family Day Care TVC from Ross Carroll on Vimeo.

ProAm Photography Course Drawn Today

Congratulations to Xanthe the winner of the Pro Am Photographic Course Competition.
Xanthe is able to choose a course that suits her needs valued at $220.
Download our 21 page course Booklet HERE
Thanks to David the owner of Pro Am ( our lab of choice) and everyone that entered.There will other chances to join our workshops in the future.

metso low head screen-ric woods photography feb 011

Metso minerals australia pty ltd commissioned me to photograph this screen.These fantastic australian made pieces of equipment are designed to "shake their brains out" sifting ore and minerals and NOT to break.The workmanship is a credit to the crew in the Carrington facility.

Ashleigh Grace talented 16yo singer-ric woods photography

Behind the scenes video grab and some of Ashleigh's images.





Ashleigh Grace the talented 16 year old singer hired us to capture images for her website and album.
We were so pleased to be working with Ashleigh, for me its refreshing to see a dedicated young person who is willing to do the work to get the desired outcome. Sadly many "up and coming" think desire is enough and that they are already famous without the perseverance to produce quality work....but not this young lady.

Thanks to Maree Nichols for great makeup for Ashleigh, make up for photography is very different to "street" make up , or what you would wear out or to a wedding etc. The Digital Camera sees the colour spectrum much differently especially the reds.

Thanks to John and Meagen at Castle Media for input with the styling during the session.The shoot was a great success.We achieved several very different looks during the session.

TIP: Its important when shooting images for commercial use to leave room for "text over" and have the subject looking into the text...remembering that there ate left and right hand pages.

You can see Ashleigh YouTube singing here.
Remembering that this clip is about a year old when she was 15...Well done Ashleigh.

SCHOOL FORMALS-ric woods photography

2 COMPETITIONS 2 CHANCES TO WIN- ric woods photography

Maree in conjunction with 2 of our favourite business Pro Am Colour Laboratories and The Framing Game is running a competition for their customers.Both are free to enter and there are two very different prizes to be had.


The first competition is with The Framing Game. You could win a fantastic studio photo shoot and included is a beautiful framed collage of the images you choose. FREE to enter, just drop into the Framing Game located at shop 3 Charlestown Mall, Charlestown and fill out and entry form,put it in the box provided and GOOD LUCK.

Our second competition involves Pro Am.Pro Am has been printing our quality images for years.David Barnes the owner comes from a Commercial Photography background and can be a a wealth of information for the amateur photographer.
our prize for the Pro Am competition is a place in one of our photographic or lighting courses.We have courses for beginner's to professional

Free and easy to enter ,just drop in to Pro Am Adamstown Plaza Adamstown, fill out an entry form and drop it in the box...EASY !!

Download the 2011 21 page PDF Photographic & Lighting Course Booklet HERE

2011...A great year to make images

Maree Bridie and myself are so looking forward to making images this year.Last year with the studio and admin changes we made we increased our client base by about 300% and look to do better again this year.

We were have Australian and OS clients giving us the figure that we should charge for some photo shoots and the cost they were presenting left no room for creativity and growth of the studio through profit. After making the decision to step up a level and let those commissions go that are not cost effective something shifted, and we have seemed to attract better paying commercial and portrait work.
Running a full time photography studio costs and there is lots of folk that don't have our overheads who's fees are lower.There is room for everyone we feel, doing the sums and calculating profits is very important.We purchased lots of new equipment in 2010 including 4 new Bowens strobes,soft boxes 2 cameras etc, more insurance, staff .....Its good to have the good gear and the secure feeling of back up EVERYTHING ....

We will of course continue to contribute or services to the community at times with no fee as we believe that if everyone gave their skills at times to the community it would be a better place for all.

This year we will do more teaching for those that want to learn the way we do things and we will also have some exciting personal photo shoots in the planning stages...

Looking forward to meeting lots of new clients and students this year.......

thanks to Glenn Judd for the behind the scenes images

Danielle's Photoshoot

Maree provided the hair and make up for this beauty shoot of Danielle. Danielle's instructions for the shoot was not to have the current American inspired orange spray tan and the post production plastic skin look.....most of these images have very little digital work

We pulled out several lighting scenarios ( you can learn these, see our 2011 photography & lighting course booklet download HERE ) some produce great Black& White images.

Overexposing an image can produce a high key image that is flattering to the skin, a different mood can be obtained by bringing in a cool blue light effect

Colour and B&W are equal choices in our studio,some images look great in colour and some in B&W..some work well both ways.Its alway good to try different POV (point of view) with the camera as well as a shallow DOF (Depth of Focus) Here Im shooting at 2.8.Also be mindfull of intersecting lines like the floor squares or window frames

Its always great for us to hear the "WOW" from the clients as we reveal the images to them.As many of our followers know we prefer to shoot a more natural look with peoples complexions and our clients like the fact that we can give them what we call "the good nights sleep" post production re touch if requested...

STUDIO PORTRAITS- ric woods photography

A Commercial client asked my the other day if we also did Family Portraits, I was very surprised to hear this question.Family Portraits,Modelling Portfolios,Maternity,New Born, RSVP portfolios, Beauty Shoots and Figurative sessions ( nude) for couples and singles are about 50% of our business with Corporate and Industrial make up the rest. We also teach photography and Lighting .

Below is a selection of NON commercial images we made in the last fortnight or so...also the 2 previous posts.
We sell matted an framed prints, acrylics blocks and large acrylic panels, albums,leather portfolios, for those that were not aware of our products.They are all hanging in the studio to view. More info needed ? maree@ricwoods.com or call the studio 02 4962 1066

O'grady Family- a new addition- by ric woods photography

For more information on family portrait sessions and our fine art products email maree@ricwoods.com or call ric woods photography 02 4962 1066