Being Busy is a Good Thing

It has been a very busy spring for Tammi and I. Our May schedule had us out of the studio on most weekends and during the week of Memorial Day, we were out completely.

I plan on posting some images from the weddings and events that we photographed last month as soon as my schedule permits. I love being busy, but I don't love falling behind on my blogging:(. Oh well, all in due time, right?

As I write this, I am preparing for a class that I am teaching at the Great Lakes Institute of Photography (GLIP). I have been asked to serve as an instructor for the school next week which will be held in Traverse City.

I will be teaching photographers proper posing and lighting techniques for both portraiture and weddings. I'm really looking forward to it. GLIP is one of the premier professional photography schools in the country, so it's quite an honor to be invited as an instructor.

Well, I must get back to my lesson plans! more to come.

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) ;)

Julie and Steve are getting married

It's been a very busy month at the studio. We have had many portrait sessions in and out of the studio.

In addition to that, we just returned from our state convention (Professional Photographers of Michigan), where I served on a panel as the local "wedding expert".

So needless today, I have been playing catch up.

Below is the slide show from Julie and Steve' Engagement portrait.

Enjoy.

The Copelands

We had the pleasure of photographing Ron, Ronni and Ralonda Copeland last week. Ralonda is one of our high school seniors who took advantage of our family portrait offer.

The session was very special because Ronni came in from Washington DC just for her baby sister (and so we could create these beautiful images).

Below is the slideshow from the session.

Julie and Scott's Engagement Session

Once again, I've been a very bad blogger! I haven't posted anything in a few weeks ...Bad David, Bad ;). We have had a very busy month with high school seniors and I just didn't find the extra time to post anything here.. so I guess that's a good thing :)

Last Saturday Julie and Scott came in for their engagement portrait. We love doing these portrait sessions because it gives us an opportunity to work with our brides and grooms prior to the wedding day. The benefit in having an engagement portrait created is two-fold:It helps us to notice which angles of the face the are most flattering and we witness how our couples interact with each other and with us.

It's also great for our couples because after being photographed during the engagement session, they're more comfortable with us on the day of the wedding, which tends to relieve the pre-ceremony jitters and make for awesome photographs!

Julie and Scott are in the final countdown before their big day (less than 90 days) and things seem to be well under control. They're both calm cool and collected which I think really shows in their portraits.

Below is the slide show from the session. Click the image (one of my favorites from the session) to view the show. Enjoy!

Film vs Digital Capture --- The great debate

I am amazed at the number of photographers who erroneously lead the public into believing that film capture is better than digital capture. Granted, years ago that may have been true but not any longer.

I read a great article by Don Emmerich, a very knowledgeable (techy) guy who is the technical editor for Professional Photographer magazine and is a very talented photographer to boot.

Here's couple of key paragraphs from Don's article, dispelling the myth that film capture is superior to digital capture:

"Film and digital sensors both absorb filtered light and create a response. Both processes are analog. The sensor signal is digitized only later in the A/D converter.

Resolution is not determined by dye molecules in the film but rather by the size of the crystalline grains of those molecules. A typical grain size for 100 iso film is 8 microns, which is the typical size for a CCD or CMOS element. Thus, the resolving abilities of both film and digital capture are roughly the same.

The color gamut (visual range) of a CCD or CMOS chip is wider than that of film. Statements like "film can capture every single color that exists in nature" are simply false, especially given that color is not a natural attribute but the way our brains register the light of differing wavelengths."

The real issue, and what is much more important, is the talent of the person operating the camera. You could give a monkey a new digital camera, set him loose at a wedding with 10 gig's of storage, and he's bound to come back with at least some "good" shots.

It simply doesn't matter whether it's film or digital any more.

So when you hear someone going on about how much better film capture is compared to digital, remind yourself of this article. There really isn't a difference. The only "pro-photographers" that I have found who say differently are those who are afraid to change or simply don't know any better.

Mega Pixel Myth Buster

Being a Professional Photographer, I am often asked, "what's a good camera to buy?". My response is always go with the camera you feel comfortable with. The cameras that are available on the market today are technologically better than their counterparts from 8-10 years ago.

The Mega-Pixel debate continues to rage. Camera manufactures lead you to believe that their new model is the best thing since sliced bread because of the increase in pixel (picture elements) count. The truth is that pixels do play a role in picture quality, but another important aspect to quality is the circuitry and mechanical elements of the camera and chip.

I read an interesting article that goes into a little more detail about this. Check it out.

Class of 2007 Special Offer

Many of today's High School Seniors are falsely led to believe that they MUST GO to their official "contract" photographer. That is so far from the truth.

What happens is, schools enter into contracts with portrait studios based on what the studio is going to "kick back" to the school and very rarely has anything to do with quality, service or what is best for the consumer (you).

If you (or someone you know) is unhappy with the portraits that were taken by the schools official photographer, give us a call. We are offering FREE sessions for all high school seniors during the month of February.

Just because your school says you have to go to a certain studio....doesn't mean you do.

Volunteering

Well, it's Monday, our day off so we are headed to Grand Rapids to visit with the Professional Photographers of Western Michigan.

I was asked to serve as a judge for their annual print competition. I'm honored to help whenever I can, and it gives me an opportunity to see what my fellow photographers are doing that is new and fresh.

The judging panel consists of four other nationally affiliated judges for Professional Photographers of America, so I'm going to be in really good company.

I'm thinking of pursing my "affiliated" status this year if my schedule permits. To do so, I would have to take the judging class again (I took it about 8 or 9 years ago) and then be critiqued by other jurors in 2 or 3 different state judgings. So it really boils down to having enough time to do it.

I do enjoy volunteering for these types of things, because it helps other photographers from beginners to advanced level to further their craft.

Newborns are too Cute

Photographing children is a quite enjoyable and very rewarding part of our studio business. Especially photographing newborns. There is something special about capturing the first months of a childs life and preserving them for posterity.

Anne and Felipe are the proud first time parents of Miles who was born last November. They brought him to visit Tammi and I when he was only 8 weeks old. The portraits that we created are just tooooo cute. In addition to some really great images showing off his hansome little face, we also were able to capture some really adorable "parts" (hands, feet, etc.) portraits.

Congratulations Anne & Felipe! I can't wait until you see the slide show.