New Slide Shows CD -(reprint)

Below is a sample of a Family Portrait Session from our "Slide Shows CD".

Slideshows are great for evoking emotion during the image presentation appointment. They're also a great source for ideas and inspiration for photographers.

We are compiling a new disc that will contain 10-15 new Slide Shows that you can receive for FREE with the purchase of our "Getting Back to Basics" DVD.

For special pricing on the DVD, see the post dated October 20th, below.
For more information about the CD, visit our website
(click the play icon to begin)

More from "Getting Back to Basics DVD" -(reprint)

I haven't had a chance to update the blog lately and I feel really bad about it. {...big sigh...}

Below is another excerpt from the Getting Back to Basics DVD. It will make a great addition to your library. Whether you are new to the photography business or you're a seasoned veteran, there is something for everyone included on the disc.

The Pre-release price is $59. As an added incentive, we will include our
"Slide Shows" CD.

The CD is a great source for posing ideas or for inspiration. Included on the CD are two Sr. sessions, including live footage, an infant session, child session and a two family sessions.

We are creating a CD with brand new slide shows and will include two more family shows, a maternity show and much more!




Order any of our educational products before December 31, 2006 to take advantage of the FREE slide shows CD. You can order by email or by phone.

The Best Things in Life are Free -(reprint)

Isn't that a line from a Beatles song? OK... I'll spare you my singing, but it's tue.

Everywhere you look, someone is trying to sell you something to make your life faster, stronger, better than it was before.

When it comes to Photoshop, whenever and wherever I can use actions, to speed up my workflow and to make my images look better, I do.

I found some really neat actions on jeremydaaler.com. Jeremy has written some actions to simulate classic film effects.

click on the image to see it larger

As you can see in the photo, you can apply a soft overlay, bleach bypass and a tri-x filter. Ahhh... it brings back memories of long hours spent in the dark room with the aroma of chemicals wafting through the air. "Those were the days"... isn't that another song?? (I digress)

Anyway, you can download those actions from Jeremy's site. I wrote the other two actions that you see (border burn & modified lomo) to enhance my photography and to make it a little different than that of everyone else.

You can download those actions here for FREE. The only thing I ask in return is that you post a comment here to let me know how you like them.

Fair enough?

Stock 20 Referral Program -(reprint)

Stock20.com creates high quality music for media production.
If you create a free account, they will give you a $7 store credit (which will get you one free song). If you use my referral link (below) we can both get an extra $7 in free music--you'll get a total of $14.

Here's how:

1) Click this link, then create a free account (it takes about a minute): http://www.stock20.com/gvr.php?rc=65xl2nv3151asd5v2x

2) Your new account will automatically be credited with $7 (enough to get a free song). Then you will get an additional gift certificate by e-mail, just for creating an account. That's a total of $14 in free music. Note: You can be assured that Stock20.com will not give away your info. They send out one e-mail per month when they release their new songs.

More Royalty Free Music -(reprint)

Being a member of PPA (ProfessionalPhotographer of America) member has it's benefits.
I got an email from HQ sharing about a new member benefit, their partnership with Stock20.com, a new royalty free music company.

I visited their website and found some really nice music that will work great for wedding, senior and children's portrait slideshows.

The cool thing about them is they are building their company around the needs of us... Professional Photographers.

Ok... that is cool but I found that they are located in Muskegon, MI. What's up with that??? First the E-cells, now the music.

Now, the very best part? The songs are only $7.00 each! No... that is not a typo! They really are ONLY $7.00 each .

Check out the included sample, then visit their website for yourself. You'll be glad you did.

New Power Cells Replace Batteries -(reprint)

Ever since going digital, it seems that we use a ton of AA batteries. We use them in our radio slaves and in our four Canon flashes, so you can imagine the number of batteries we would go through in a week.

There is a company called Energy Village located in Muskegon, Michigan that has come up with a environmentally safe alternative power cell. They look and perform just like AA (or 9 volt, if you prefer) batteries but the differrence is that when they die, you just pop them in the supplied charger and in two hours they are fully charged and good to go.

You can read more about them on their corporate website or you can order them by calling customer service at Allied Photo and Imaging Lab in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Simplified Image Enhancement -(reprint)

One the benefits of being in this industry is meeting so many talented people that can help make our lives easier.

When it comes to retouching in Photoshop, I have found Ron Nichols Retouch Palette to be just the right fit for speeding up my retouching and for making it look more consistant.

Whether you do all of your retouching yourself, or you have a army of retouchers working for you, the Palette will help make your workflow more efficient and more consistant.

Check out Ron's website for more information about the Palette.

Free Video Coding -(reprint)

I found this great site that creates html code for your video and audio files!

You can code any type of video or audio files for use on your web site. It's really simple to use and best of all... It's FREE!
(hense the name) :)

You just answer a few questions about your project, and voila, the program produces the code for you. You just copy it and paste it to your web site or blog. How simple is that??

Check it out http://freevideocoding.com or click the link located under the map in the right column of my blog.

Photographers and Copyright -(reprint)

It never ceases to amaze me how we as professional photographers and "defenders of copyright" can so blatantly abuse the copyright laws by using copyrighted music in our slide shows and on our websites without proper permission.

For years, professional photographers have been fighting for their rights to copyright so that if someone wanted to use an image, the photographer would be properly compensated for it. Yet, almost every other website that you browse is using copyrighted popular music...Illegally.

I have heard the argument that some photographers and mis-guided instructors have made that it's "ok to do so, because we put a link to the bands website and give them credit for the song". SORRY. That does not make it ok. Do not fall prey to this teaching. It simply is not true. Sorry to be so brutally honest here.

Even if the band did the same thing to you ... used your images on their website and gave you credit for it and a link to your site... Without your permission, (which they wouldn't do) It's still a violation of copyright laws, regardless of how "stoked" it would make you feel.

There are plenty of songs that I would love to use on my web sites and teaching DVD's, but I choose not to because I don't have proper permission to do so.

Here is a list of a few sources for royalty free music. The prices range from around $30 - $300 per song, depending on their use. If you would like to add to the list, please let me know. I think it would be great to have a whole library of royalty free sources to choose from.

http://www.musicbakery.com/, http://www.sounddogs.com/, http://www.audiolicense.com/, www.incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free, http://www.freeplaymusic.com/, www.greatmusicshop.com/html/site.html, http://soundtrackarcade.com/, http://truetoneproductions.com/

Back to Basic's DVD -(reprint)

We've put together a dvd entitled "Getting Back to Basics". It's still in the Pre-release stage until I can re-edit the whole thing. The info on the DVD is great for anyone desiring to learn how to set up a camera room, determining proper exposure for film and digital capture and learning basic posing techiniques.

Here's an excerpt from the DVD. If you' re interested in purchase information, leave us a comment or email us!

Keeping Up and Updating

May has been "crazy-busy" and I haven't had a chance to keep up with our two blogs so I have decided to combine them.

The next posts that you 'll see are the entries from the "Blog for Professional Photograhers".

From now on I will be posting everything here.... That way O should be able to keep thins up to date (I hope) ;)