5 Lessons Learned As A Second Shooter
|

5 Lessons Learned As A Second Shooter

Have you ever considered adding wedding photography to your current photography business?   Do you love weddings but simply don’t have the time for the contracts, client meetings, post processing  & logistics?  Are you looking for a way to fill in your schedule gaps and make some additional income?  Two years ago, I answered yes to…

4 Tips To Rock Your Ring Shots
|

4 Tips To Rock Your Ring Shots

Wedding ring photos – one of the most symbolic images you will capture on a wedding day. While every detail from the nuptials is extremely important to photograph, there is nothing that signifies marriages more than a photo of two perfectly polished eternal wedding bands. Shooting photos of the rings is also your turn as…

Cole’s Clique Elite Member June Spotlight

Cole’s Clique Elite Member June Spotlight

I am telling you, every day  it’s a party in the Cole’s Clique Elite Private Facebook group.  But don’t get me wrong, it’s not only fun and games, we’re serious about improving our photography and for many like Leslie & Jessica – boosting their photography business too. None of this comes easy.  You have to…

Best Portrait Lens on a Budget: 5 ways the 85mm f1.8 Delivers!
|

Best Portrait Lens on a Budget: 5 ways the 85mm f1.8 Delivers!

Are you looking for the best portrait lens on a budget? If you are making your way into the photography industry, chances are you are looking to get killer photos of your clients while building your business on a budget. And who can blame you? We want our clients to look their best and we don’t…

7 Tips to Book More Weddings – From a Brides Perspective!
|

7 Tips to Book More Weddings – From a Brides Perspective!

Planning a wedding is no joke. My proverbial hat is off to folks that plan weddings for a living, as they not only organize and multitask, but visualize someone else’s big picture and (hopefully) bring it to fruition. With a small budget we set out with our close friends and family with a general rustic,…

23 Random Facts About Cole from Cole’s Classroom

23 Random Facts About Cole from Cole’s Classroom

One way or another you’ve stumbled upon Cole’s Classroom, and THANK YOU for being here!  It might have been from Facebook, or YouTube or Google or perhaps a friend of yours told you about Cole’s Classroom – at any rate, you’ve likely seen my face or read my words but do you really know me?…

Image Delivery Solutions – What Are Your Options?
|

Image Delivery Solutions – What Are Your Options?

The days of sending over a box of film negatives or proofs to your clients are long gone. After a job well done, it’s now time to actually deliver your finished images to your clients. The question though becomes, what options do you have and which should solution should you utilize.  At a top level…

Younity – a Must Have Free App for All Photographers!
|

Younity – a Must Have Free App for All Photographers!

Modern digital cameras… …produce beautiful, high-resolution photos. However, with high resolution images comes more data, and therefore larger file sizes. If you use a mid-range point-and-shoot or low-end DSLR camera, your file sizes are fairly large. Have a higher-end camera? Then you know all about enormous files. Lets not even talk about shooting video! For…

Should I Upgrade My Camera?
|

Should I Upgrade My Camera?

Today’s question is – how the heck do you know if it is time to upgrade your camera.  To make the most of this post, I’d encourage you to jot down your answers to the below questions, it will help you map out your thoughts easily that way. By the time you are done reading…

Nikon 85 1.8G Lens Review – Your Best Bang for Buck?
|

Nikon 85 1.8G Lens Review – Your Best Bang for Buck?

While it’s no secret I love prime lenses and favor them over zooms I wanted to write a mini review of one of the Nikon prime lenses that Nicole and I use a ton… It’s the Nikon 85 1.8G lens.  If you’ve done any research at all on this lens you’ll notice right away it…

Nikon D750 – Nikon’s Most Valuable Full Frame?
|

Nikon D750 – Nikon’s Most Valuable Full Frame?

Technology is amazing.  It really is.  The thing is with technology is the ones who are the late adopters typically get the better “deal”.  So from a cost standpoint in particular, those that have the patience to wait are often rewarded. I believe that is exactly what is happening again with the newest group of…

Photography Tools You Should Use – ShootQ
|

Photography Tools You Should Use – ShootQ

Having the latest and greatest camera or most expensive lens won’t make you a great photographer.  It takes knowledge, creativity and motivation to excel at photography.  However, there are certainly equipment and tools that are available for you that can drastically help make your job a bit easier.  Today I am going to share with…

Nikon 16-35 f/4 Lens Review!
|

Nikon 16-35 f/4 Lens Review!

When you need to go wide, you need to go wide! While I managed to photograph over 47 weddings with only 3 prime lenses (the 28, 50 and 85) I decided that I want to add a couple lenses to our collection that would add versatility to our clients’ wedding photos. In addition to adding…

The Ultimate Complete Wedding Photography Gear Guide!
|

The Ultimate Complete Wedding Photography Gear Guide!

What wedding photography gear and equipment do you need? The very first video that I ever recorded for the Cole’s Classroom YouTube channel was “Our Must Have Wedding Photography Equipment” which oddly enough has still been our most viewed video yet.  At the time that was our wedding photography kit that we loved to pieces…

Why the New Nikon 35 1.8G FX Lens is a Game Changer!
|

Why the New Nikon 35 1.8G FX Lens is a Game Changer!

Why the New Nikon 35 1.8G FX Lens is a Game Changer! (Above Photo Tech details: D800 + 50mm at f/1.8, edited with “Soft Creamy Color – Warmer” preset) For the vast majority of today’s photographers who’s first DSLRs are entry level “crop sensor” cameras (like the Nikon D3200 or a Canon Rebel), the decision…