Tips For The Would-Be Wedding Photographer

By Ron Wong

For years people will be displaying photos of their wedding, since it is that kind of occasion. Your clients will be looking for a quality track record because it is such a special moment they want capturing. If you are a photographer you might want to consider photographing weddings because there is a lot of money to be made by doing them. With the money comes the risk which you must manage well.

If this is going to be your first wedding shoot you will want to make sure your contract is written up properly and a disclaimer included in it. A disclaimer is something that can prevent you from being sued later on. For example, you should include that you are not responsible for pictures that might get lost after you send the film away to get developed, or pictures that do not come out clear due to equipment failure. You do not want to be sued for breaching your contract.

Now with that said you should also include how many pictures are to be taken and how long you will be photographing for and what hourly rate will be. Include how much the cost of development is and the cost of the album. Make sure you discuss with your clients what their requirements are. There could be a particular family member that they want photographed separately, or a certain group of people they do not get to see very often.

Your clients will probably request certain photographs so make sure you make a list. Generally your clients will want pictures of the pre-ceremony, wedding ceremony, post-ceremony and of course the reception. Who will be in certain photographs should be discussed with the client as well. Pay attention to what your clients are saying because each one will be different.

When you schedule your clients in make sure they pay you a deposit. At least 50% deposit should be paid prior to the wedding. You should set a date when the remaining amount will be paid because you do not want to be bothering the bride and groom during the reception for payment! They would think you were unprofessional and wish they had hired someone else.

If you are developing your client's pictures yourself, Photoshop is an excellent photo editing program. Flaw removal, montage, and changing the color are a few of the enhancements you can use with Photoshop.

Look for ways to add extra value that you have not told them about. This will always generate good feelings. A special surprise will keep everyone talking and generating more business for you in the future. Think different. Imagine for example if you uploaded all their pictures onto a password protected part of your website so that they and their friends can login and view.

In the end doing bridal photography can be lucrative and fun as long as you build on your people skills.

About the Author:

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Religiously Significant Aspects Of Buddhist Funerals

By Amy Tan

A Buddhist funeral contains extensive last rites carried out according to sacred customs and traditions. Buddhists believe that the soul attains freedom from the cycle of life and death from the deceased person's body during the funeral services and is able to find a new level and move towards a greater existence.

In a typical Buddhist funeral, the body of the departed is cremated and monks in the presence of the bereaved family carry out the funeral rites. The underlying positive energies are freed from the soul by the chanting of the correct sutras by monks who read from the holy scriptures. In the meantime, the body is made ready and embalmed so that even if the cremation takes place after some days of the death, the body doesn't get decayed. The body is washed and put to rest in a casket along with fragrance sticks, candles, flowers and a photo of the deceased person.

If the funeral is deferred by some days for distant relatives to get a last look, the monks visit the dead person's residence everyday and chant sutras from the Abhidharma, an important Buddhist holy scripture.

On the day of the funeral, monks perform the final rituals and their chief gives a brief speech in tribute to the deceased person focusing on his contributions in life and consoling the bereaved relatives that death is destiny. Other rituals like wrapping the casket with a white cloth during the religious incantation and Pansakula, a custom of passing on blessings and virtues to the soul of the deceased are also carried out.

Just before cremation, a family member or a near and dear one is requested to make a brief speech about the deceased person. A light meal for all the attendees is arranged after the Buddhist funeral ceremony and the cremation is done.

A large number of people in Thailand, Tibet, China and some other Asian countries with a large Buddhist population follow the Buddhist funeral system with some variations based on the local customs.

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Raiders Stun Eagles For Second Win Of NFL Season

By Ross Everett

The Oakland Raiders scored the only touchdown of the game in the first quarter and then prevailed in the kicking duel that followed en route to a--9 upset of the visiting Philadelphia Eagles. Much maligned quarterback Jamarcus Russell played his best game of the season despite two interceptions, throwing for 224 yards and a touchdown. It was only the Raiders' second win of the season, and only the Eagles' second loss. Oakland now stands at 2-4 while Philadelphia slid to 3-2.

NFL betting enthusiasts who backed the Raiders as a whopping +14 home underdog were never in any trouble as Oakland took the lead late in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Oakland evened their mark against the NFL pointspread at 3-3, while the Eagles dropped to 3-2 against the number. The 22 points scored went well UNDER the posted total of 40'. It was the Raiders' fourth UNDER in six outings, while it was the Eagles' first UNDER of the season against four OVER verdicts.

After the game, Raiders' coach Tom Cable said for the first time all season his team focused their intensity in the right direction:

"We went out and threw a fight on somebody and said, 'Enough. Let's play. That's all you can say. There's no magic words or anything like that."

Last week's 44-7 loss to the New York Giants may have served a wakeup call to the Raiders. In particular, they were offended by comments made by Giants' linebacker Antonio Pierce that the game 'felt like playing a scrimmage'. Raiders' wide receiver Louis Murphy didn't dispute the comments but instead took them to heart:

"That gave me extra fuel. You have to look yourself in the mirror and man up. His comments were true. We played flat. We didn't play with any emotion. This game was totally different. We took those comments to heart."

The Raiders' defense received the bulk of the credit for the victory as they pressured Donovan McNabb all day, sacking him six times. The Eagles became the first team in three years to not score an offensive touchdown against the Raiders. Richard Seymour and Trevor Scott each had a pair of sacks, and Scott had the following observation:

"I'm sure they watched the Giants game and thought we were sorry. But all week coach Cable talked about persevering and forget the past and move forward so we can get to where we want to go."

After the game, McNabb had little to say:

"I'm embarrassed by the way we came out here and played. We're a much better football team."

The Raiders will try to put together an actual winning streak as they host the New York Jets next Sunday. Oakland is a +7 home underdog with the total set at 35. They'll play their hated rivals the San Diego Chargers on the road the following Sunday before a bye week. Philadelphia will play the Redskins at Washington next Monday night. The Eagles are a -6' road favorite with the total set at 38'.

About the Author:

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and noted authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and betting odds portal sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Event Photography Money Making Ideas

By Peter Wong

One of the many ways you can make money as a photographer is to specialise on events. Christenings, weddings, and lots of other events where people create memories can be well paid business. The great thing is that all you need is a good digital camera, tons of memory cards, and some business cards.

What to do

You must be careful what events to cover if you want to make money. Only where people want to retain memories will it be worth your while.

One idea is to go to kids sports events. Get permission from the coach to click pics for the parents watching and then start clicking away. If you turn up with a massive telephoto lens like the ones used for pro coverage of events, you will be taken seriously. Make sure you get all the children doing great action shots and then hand out flyers to all the parents watching with your web address. If you can grab the parents email address so you can email them the URL of you site then upload the pics to your web site that day and email everyone. If you have a simple shopping cart set up you can make money in a few hours as people pop in to see the pics and buy them for $20 or more a pop.

You can do a similar thing with weddings. Take all the normal shots as part of the wedding coverage but then get your URL printed on the wedding invites and all the other wedding materials and also get an email list of all the wedding guests, offer the couple a nice 20% discount for doing this and then take lots of extra pics at the wedding of the guests doing all the things they do. Upload all the pics to your site and send the emails. You will then make a lot more money than the 20% discount it cost you because then 30 or 40 people will be also purchasing your pics at $20 or more a shot straight from your site. Charging a higher price for high res pics is also a great money spinner.

The key is to just find a corner of the market where you can take the pics and then sell them easily online.

Dog shows, fashion shows, horse shows, car shows, livestock competitions, rock shows, - the list goes on. Keep your eye out in the events section of your local paper to see what is happening. Always ask for permission to shoot pics and if you need to offer the people 10% of the income if feel you need to so you can get easy access.

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Find out about Event Photographer and Wedding Photographers in the Asia region.

Social Marketing

By Justin Harrison

A new and innovative method for advertising your business is social marketing. It lets you generate awareness of what your company has to offer using Internet blogs, social networking sites, and other forms of social media. Using social marketing has a lot of advantages never before seen in the world of advertising, including the chance to establish a relationship with your customer base.

Transparently pushy advertisements have no place in social marketing. An advertisement that is perceived as being too aggressive will very likely turn readers in the opposite direction. Your goal should be creating the perception that you are an expert in your field so that potential buyers will have comfort in the relationship they'd like to create with you. Having trust in this regard is very important, it should seem more like you are having a conversation online instead of a shouting match. The audience you target will come in if the words are right. This all is made even easier with social commentary sites such as YouTube and MySpace where the community is everything.

The more visible a brand name is, the higher the recall of that brand name with people. However, the impact of a marketing campaign is crucially dependent on the users' brand experience, hence the need for a positive experience. This can be achieved through amusing videos or articles, providing useful information or even using competitions built around the product. By utilizing appropriate techniques, social marketing can help establish a new brand or strengthen the awareness of an existing brand.

Bloggers and website owners are always on the lookout for interesting things to put on their websites. If you can give them articles that are noteworthy, they will begin to refer to them on their blogs and websites. A good article can actually end up being read by huge numbers of bloggers on the lookout for stories to blog about.

A marketing campaign exists to increase revenue and sales, and social marketing is no exception. Your business exposure in social media won't always generate a sale, but it is like word of mouth advertising that spreads awareness of your business in a friendly way that will eventually lead to more sales.

Since social marketing only costs you your time, a single sale is a good return on your investment. If you have limited means, using a social media could be the best way to market your product due to the low cost of their services.

If you use the internet to draw customers in, there is no over head costs, because you can do this yourself. And then you will have more money you can put into your company. Any one who can use a computer can set up a company web page. This is so easy to do. I mean people use the computer everyday for everything.

About the Author:

Justin Harrison is a leading Internet Marketing consultant responsible for the Internet Marketing strategies behind some of the biggest online brands including Amazon, BBC, MasterCard and many others.