April 1, 2010 - Professional Photographers Association of Northern

AP R I L
2010
Hi-Lites
Northern
Supporting
Professional
Photographers for
over 56 years
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS, INC
The
Creative
Process
Nina Pak
with
at Kishwaukee College • Malta, IL • April 14, 2010
Registration opens at 8:00 AM • Program at 9:00 AM
Cover Story on Page 14
Inside
• A Little Strobe...Never Hurt Anybody
• My Take on The 12 Elements • Dogs Are People, Too!
• Destination by Determination • Time To Deversify
• Interested in Increasing Profits?
• Digital Photography - Other things to look at!
Hi-Lites
Northern
303 S. Donald Avenue
Arlington Heights, IL 60004-6850
Website: www.ppani.org
E-mail: [email protected]
Inside this issue Volume 45 • Number 4 • April 2010
FEATURES
8
Fall Into Northern
9
MARC Print Awards
10
Cover Story - The Creative Process
13
A Little Strobe...Never Hurt Anybody - Jamie Hayes
15
My Take on The 12 Elements - Cheri MacCallum
18
Destination by Determination - Terri Tasche
Mark your calander for this exciting 2-day event.
Northern members lead the way.
Nina Pak speaks on who to build a creative team.
Using studio stobe lighting on location weddings.
12 elemenet of Print Competition Judging - another perspective.
Changing what you put into your mind can help change your attitude about your body and your
participation in your health.
20
Interested in Increasing Profits? - Steve Larson
22
Time to Diversify...Maybe - Jay Buchanan
23
Dogs Are People, Too! - Bill Hedrick
25
Digital Photography - Al Audelman
Four Critical Business Principles Every Studio Owner Need to Know.
Consider school and day-care photography
Photographing man’s best friend with Margaret Bryant.
Some other things to look at!
DEPARTMENTS
4
New Member Applications
6
President’s Message
7
Editor’s Notebook
27
Photo Page
28
April Program Registration
Information
29
Directions to March Program at
Kishwaukee Collge • Malta, IL
30
Up-Coming 2010 Programs
The Northern Hi-Lites is the official Publication of the Professional Photographers Association of Northern Illinois, Inc. (PPANI) Published monthly for members and others for information of industry
matters, personal achievements, and news of this and other associations. Acceptance of advertising, or the publishing of press releases does not imply endorsement of any product or service by this association, publisher or editor. Permission is granted to similar publications of the photographic industry to reprint contents of this publication, provided that the author and Northern Hi-Lites are credited
as source.
Articles, with or without photographs, are welcomed for review for inclusion in this publication, however, the editor reserves the right to refuse publication, or if accepted, the right to edit and use on a
space available basis.
Articles may be submitted on CD’s, either Mac or MS-Word format, or via E-mail.
Send all communications, articles or advertising to:
Editor - Northern Hi-Lites • 303 S. Donald Avenue • Arlington Heights, IL 60004-6850
E-Mail: [email protected]
The Northern Hi-Lites welcomes advertisers. Please support our advertisers as they make this publication possible. Those wishing to advertise in the Hi-Lites should contact the editor at the address and
telephone number listed above. Deadline for each issue is the 1st day of the month prior to the month of publication.
April 2010 2
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PPANI 2010 OFFICERS:
President
Sarah Johnston, M.Photog.Cr., F-PPANI, CPP
835 A South Virginia Rd. • Crystal Lake, IL 60014 • 815•459•1481 • E-mail: [email protected]
1st Vice President
2nd Vice President
Cindy Romano, M.Photog.Cr, F-PPANI, CPP Kevin Harvey, A-PPANI
17706 Garden Valley Rd.
5010 Guilford Rd.
815•568•1181
815•398•5323
Woodstock, IL 60098
Rockford, IL 61107
[email protected]
[email protected]
Secretary
Treasurer
Position Currently Vacant
Michael Barton, M.Photog.,Cr. MEI, CPP, F-PPANI, A-APPI
117 S. Batavia Ave. Batavia, IL 60510
630•761•2990
[email protected]
PPANI 2010 DIRECTORS:
Chairman of the Board
Matthew Kane, CPP, M.Photog., F-PPANI
540 N. Bell School Rd. • Rockford, IL 61117 • 815•319•5504 • E-mail: [email protected]
Host Chairman (11)
Lisa Howard
1425 W. Schaumburg Rd. #243 Schaumburg, IL 60194
800•557•1816
[email protected]
Equipment Chairman (11)
Michael Fisher, Cr.Photog,, CPP, F-PPANI,
620 N. First St.
Libertyville, IL 60048
244•217•8226
[email protected]
Library Chairman (10)
Rosalie Pacewic
14948 Meadow Lane
Orland Park, IL 60462
708•606•5512
[email protected]
Program Chairman(11)
Print Chairman (10)
Membership Chairman
Kerri Weiss
Bruce Van Pelt, M.Photog.MEI, CPP, F-PPANI
Duties assumed by
6N430 Clydesdale Ct.
2880 N. 4639th Rd.
Executive Secretary
St. Charles, IL 60175
Sandwich, IL 60548
[email protected]
630•788•9773
815•786•8898
[email protected]
[email protected]
PPANI - EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
Editor/Publisher - Northern Hi-Lites
Joseph A. Weber, M. Photog, Cr., F-PPANI
E-mail: [email protected]
PPANI Webmaster:
Kevin Harvey, A-PPANI
[email protected] or 815•398•5323
Contributing Photographer:
Larry Zabinski
April 2010 3
Northern Hi-Lites
New Member Applications
The following applications have been received to date. In accordance with the PPANI constitution, names of applicants are
published for approval by the entire membership. If you have any information that would make the applicant ineligible, please
contact the PPANI Executive Secretary. If no objection is received in writing in 10 days after publication, the PPANI Board will
then act upon the application.
Kelli Svancarek
Randy Musselman
Active Voting Member
PPA Member
Active Voting Member
PPA Member
Silver Castle Studio, Inc.
New Lennox, IL
TSS Photography
Sadorus, IL
Are you going to invite a photographer
you know to become a member
of Northern this Year?
PPA INFORMATION
Professional Photographers of America
229 Peachtree St., NE • Suite 2200
International Tower
Atlanta, GA 30303
1•800•786•6277
404•522•8600
Fax: 404•614•6400
Web Site: http://www.ppa.com
Michael Voegele
M.Photog.,Cr.
618•654•7291
Illinois - PPA Councilors
Cindy Behnke
M.Photog.,Cr.
708•479•6700
Bret Wade
M.Photog.,Cr.
217•245•5418
Sarah Johnston
M.Photog.Cr., F-PPANI
815•459•1481
Cindy Romano
M.Photog.Cr.,CPP, F-PPANI
815•338•1181
Sheila Rutledge
M.Photog.,CPP, F-PPANI
630•221•0079
Illinois PPA Certification Coordinator
John Metcalfe
M.Photog.,Cr., CPP,
618•462•6431
Jill Sanders
M.Photog.,Cr., CPP,
309•697•9015
Daniel Thornton
M.Photog.MEI.,Cr., CPP, F-ASP
618•466•3434
Kurt Wade
M.Photog.,Cr.
217•525•2722
Councilor by PPA By-Laws
Bert Behnke
M.Photog.Cr.Hon.M.Photog., CPP
Past President
708•479•6700
Dominic Iodice
M.Photog.Cr.Hon.M.Photog., CPP
Past President
815•356•7222
Robert Lloyd
Cr.Photog,Hon.M.Photog., CPP
Past President
217•627•3511
NOTICE: The financial statement of the Professional Photographers Association of Northern Illinois, Inc. is available to members upon request.
April 2010
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April 2010 5
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President’s
Message
Sarah Johnston
Master Photographer
Photographic Craftsman
Certified Professional Photographer
F-PPANI
Happy Spring Everyone!
Winter always seems way too long and spring can never get here soon enough. Well, at least for me. With spring
comes renewed life, a feeling of hope and that all is well (or at least better) with the world. Around Chicagoland
my old friend the Sun makes a very welcome return. Today was over 60 degrees and sunny, which made my walk
to and from work simply delightful. Spring is also a traditional time to clear out the cobwebs with spring-cleaning.
Although I am not much for the physical part I love the results. Things all clean, organized and fresh. This is when
we replace our wall samples and ”spruce” up the place. It is also when I tend to refresh my marketing plan, look
over last year’s strategies and make adjustments. Toss out things that just have not been as profitable as we had
hoped, and build up things that work, tossing in new stuff along the way.
I know that for some marketing is like a foreign language, and others it is second nature. (I hate those guys!) For
me, I am a great copycat! Well, not really. I like to see what other companies are doing, how they present offers and
try to work it into what I do. I also study how some of the top photographers in the country market and follow
their example. Ann Monteith and Carol Andrews are two of my personal favorites. So many people skip the marketing programs because they just want more of the latest posing or lighting, which is also important, but it is the
marketing that really gets them in the door.
As members of PPANI we all are extremely fortunate to have some of the best educators in the country come TO
US and share their wisdom. Last month we had Ken Kneringer. Ken had great ideas for connecting to the high
school senior market and looking at things from the angle of the student.
This month is Nina Pak is our speaker. I am so excited about her coming to visit with us. I have never had the
pleasure of meeting her, but, what a talented artist. I love seeing speakers that do something totally different
from what I do. I always find inspiration. It stretches my tiny brain. You know once you expand your brain it will
NEVER be the same again. Some may say mine has been “stretched out”, but I think it has only begun to expand!
So, come to Malta with me and be inspired on April 14th.
April 2010 6
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Editor’s Notebook
Joseph Weber
Master Photographer
Photographic craftsman
F-PPANI
Executive Secretary
Publisher / Editor
Welcome to NEW members Kelli Svancarek and Randy Musselman who joined Northern at the March program
in Malta, IL.
Happy Birthday to all Northern members celebrating their birthday in April:
Howard Kier (4/1), Rudy Popovich (4/1), Nick Porcaro (4/4), Kurt Koester (4/10),
Sonya Gilbert (4/12), Kevin Harvey (4/14), William Gommel, Jr. (4/15), Tom Brady (4/20),
Peggy Sue Seehafer (4/22), Robert Wehmeier (4/22), Larry Zabinski (4/22), Kristie Klein 4/24),
and Bill Ostrander (4/26),
Congratulations to Nick Pocaro, of nFocus Photos – Crystal Lake, for achieving Certification status through PPA.
Way to go Nick!
Congratulations to Rick Trummer, for being elected President of American Society of Photographers (ASP). And, for being accepted as a PPA Affiliate Juror.
Northern now has 4 PPA Afiliate Jurors as members. Thom Rouse, Sarah Johnston, Cindy
Romano and Rick Trummer.
Now that you have turned your clocks ahead 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time, it is also time to mark on you calander, the following Northern dates:
April 14
Nina Pak
The Creative Process
May 12
Pat Cahill
Sports and Underclass for the Traditional Studio
June 9
George Kuchler
The Total Exposure
July 14
Michael Barton
Indigo Logic
August11
William Branson III
Applying Painter Techniques to Your Portraits
September 8
Gabriel Alanso
The Power of the Classics
October 3-4
Fall in Northern
2-Day Event and Trade Show
Pierre Stephenson
Chris Carlson The Changing World of Low Light Photography
High School Seniors...How to get them, photograph
them and make them happy.
Carol Andrews
A Better Way
David Sutton
Pet Photography
November 10
Anna Venhaus Make your Business Unforgettable
December
End-of-the-Year Party Celebrate Northern
April 2010 7
Northern Hi-Lites
Mark your calendar: Sunday, October 3 and Monday, October 4, 2010
Location: Holiday Inn Select-Naperville
Special PPANI room rate
Trade Show:
Exhibitors displaying their many great products and services for the Professional Photographer, with time to meet 1 on 1.
Programs:
Great speakers sharing theit latest tips and techniques to
stimulate your own creative talents and studio staff members.
A fun filled 2-day event dedicated to your success
as a Professional Photographer!
April 2010
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Congratulations to all Northern members who participated in the
2010 MARC event in Indianapolis, IN. and to those Northern members who received
the following awards:
MARC 2010 Print Awards
Illinois Photographer of the Year
Michael Barton
MARC Photographer of the Year
Thom Rouse
MARC Top 10 Photographers
Michael Barton
Sarah Johnston
Thom Rouse
Best Portrait
1st Place
Thom Rouse
“A Breeze in the Woods”
Best Digital
1st Place
Thom Rouse
“The Infinite Turtle Theory”
Best Digital
2nd Place
Michael Barton
“Metamorphosis
Best Commercial/Industrial
2nd Place
Michael Barton
“Summer’s Lament”
April 2010
Best Black & White
1st Place
Michael Barton
“Bass Harbor Light”
Best Black & White
2nd Place
Sheila Rutledge
“Waiting for the Conductor’s Que”
Kodak Gallery Award
Best Commercial/Industrial
Michael Barton
“Summer’s Lament”
Kodak Gallery Award
Digital
Thom Rouse
“The Infinite Turtle Theory”
Kodak Gallery Award
Portrait
Thom Rouse
“A Breeze in the Woods”
4 for 4
Michael Barton
Sarah Johnston
Rod McClanahan
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The Creative Process
Nina Pak
with
Nina Pak, of Vancouer, British Columbia, was greatly inspired by the Italian Renaissance and the philosopher Pico who spoke about the “Magica Naturalis” which
combined art and science, and various enlightened methods of natural magic. This
paradigm embodied the virtues and actions of natural forces and their effects on
others. It was otherwise referred to as the marriage of Earth and Heaven.
This concept best describes Nina’s process as well as her perspective on the purpose of art. She states, “The “Magica Fausti” (magical elements) have always been
incorporated into my art. Incorporating unorthodox amalgamations which are
symbolic and sacred.”
Nina studied Photography in high school, but majored in Fine Art print making
in college. She spent years traveling, living in other countries. During that time
studied painting while doing various jobs, which in the best of times related to art
or photography; finally returning to photography at the age of thirty.
Pak spent some years working with film, doing various darkroom experiments, including large mural sized prints
that she painted on. Then she moved onto various photo transfer techniques and mixed media art, as well as experiments in Alt Process photography.
Nina worked as the curator for the Glendale Arts Council, and also had her own business in desk top publishing,
designing websites and packaging for compact disks and various business related materials and logos. Pak was also
the design editor for Austral Asia magazine in Moscow Russia.
Pak’s focus now is with Digital Photography for fashion and fine art portraiture, as well as fantasy illustrations and
design. She still paints, but now her paintings are mixed-media containing photographic elements.
Nina’s presentation for Northern is about the creative process she utilizes in bringing the images she creates to fruition.
• Nina will share how she organizes a shoot, by building a creative team.
• And many of the various experiences involved in collaborative projects with stylists and models or clients.
• The sets, props and use of various other elements to make an image interesting.
• Inspiration, what influences her work, and finally the post production editing process.
Program date:
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Registration Deadline - 12:00 Midnight, Monday,
April 5, 2010
Register online at www.ppani.org
Click on the Registration link
April 2010
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April 2010
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April 2010
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Jamie Hayes
M.Photog.,Cr., CPP, ABI, API
A Little Strobe...Never Hurt Anybody
Available light is great when it works.
More often than not, I find myself adding a
little strobe light to supplement the existing light source. Such was the ease with
this bridal session. The images were created in the newly renovated train station in
downtown Richmond, Virginia.
When I arrived the day of the shoot, I
gasped as I drove past the front of the
building, quickly noticing that scaffolding
was still erected all over the front. I knew
I would not be creating any outdoor poses
with the front of the building showing.
However, I didn’t pay attention to the fact
that this scaffolding was blocking the second floor balcony, which in turn blocks the
light that I was going to use as the main
light for most of the portraits.
The first thing I did was to open the fulllength doors to allow as much of the available illumination to light her gown. Photo
#1 shows how the image looked with only
the available light used as the main source
of illumination. Notice how bright the bottom of the gown is, how deep the shadows
are and that there is not a good pattern of
light on her face.
Photo #1 Shows the image with only the
available light used as the main source of
illumination. Notice the bright area on the
bottom o/the gown and the deep shadows.
Photo #2 Jamie places a large Larson Reflectasol with silver fabric on the shadow side
to add more detail to the gown and face.
Photo #3 A Larson So!! Box, powered by a
Profoto Acute 600B strobe, is placed in the
same direction as the available light and a
little higher than the balcony railing.
Photo #4 An accent light is added from a
Profoto compact 600 strobe in a 9x24 Larson
Soff Strip, places slightly behind and to the
bride’s right to add separation.
First I placed a 42x72 Larson Reflectasol
with a Super Silver fabric on the shadow
side to add a little more detail to her gown
and her face (see Photo #2). Here is where
the strobe comes into play.
Next, (see Photo #3) I placed a 3x4 Larson
Soff Box powered by a Profoto Acute600B
strobe (these are the most amazing strobes,
600 Watt Seconds of AC or DC powered
super clean light at 5400 degrees Kelvin)
in the same direction as the available light
and about 3 feet higher than the railing of
the balcony (see Photo #3). This will do
two things. First, it will provide the same
amount of light on her face and bodice that
is falling on the bottom of her gown. This
will even out the amount of light falling
on her from head to toe and allow me to
create a better light pattern on her face. I
matched the exposure of this strobe to that
of the available light.
Continued on Page 14
April 2010
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A Little Strobe...Never Hurt Anybody
Continued from page 13
To take this image over the top, I added a Profoto
Compact 600 strobe in a 9 x 24 Larson Soff Strip
Soff Box slightly behind and to her right to add
more separation to her veil and the bodice of the
gown and to help keep the veil from looking too
grey (see Photo #4). I metered the light with a
Sekonic L 358 light meter (a great value for the
price, by the way) to be 1/3 stop less than the
main light.
The fourth image (Photo #4) was a perfect combination of detail and shadow that looks very
natural. In Photo #5, you can see the entire set up.
Camera: Canon IDS Mark III
Lens: Canon 35 350 L Series 3.5 5.6 Zoom set at
110 mm
Exposure: 1/40 sec @ f/9 800 ISO RAW File Capture and jpeg (for viewing purposes only)
Light Modifiers: Larson 3 x 4 and 9 x 24 Soff
Boxes and 42 x 72 Super Silver Reflectasol
Strobes: Profoto Compact 600 and Profoto Acute
600B
Jamie Hayes, along with Mary Fisk Taylor will teach a class
at the 2010 Texas School of Professional Photography. Jamie
and Mary own and operate a small home based portrait and
wedding studio in Richmond, Virginia. In the past 14 years
they have grown their business and now gross over $800,
000 a year. They attribute the success of their studio to their
sound management and business skills combined with their
love and passion for photography.
Photo #3 A Larson So!! Box, powered by a Profoto Acute 600B strobe, is placed in
the same direction as the available light and a little higher than the balcony railing.
Reprinted from the Texas Professional Photographer
December/January 2010
“DEFINING EXCELLENCE” - A DISCIPLINE
Conditioning oneself to go beyond what is already satisfactory.
Developing habits and attitudes toward the way we work that builds a minimum standard from which we will
not allow to decline.
The achievement of and the maintenance of excellence is a discipline. We have to accept it as such. When we do,
what was previously acceptable is no longer so.
Like any discipline it has to be structured. Just as we brush our teeth, shower, have breakfast, dress and go to
work. In the same way we abide by the law of the land.
As we accept so much of our social, economic and political structure that controls our environment we should
accept a structure that will bring discipline to the way we work.
We begin by setting out (in writing if you wish), specific prescriptions that cause us to examine and re-examine
every thing we do. It is a never ending process.”
April 2010
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My Take on the
12 Elements
Cheri MacCallum
CPP, MEI, M. Artist, Cr., GFD, Ph. Artist
When I was asked about doing an article on print competition, I was a little worried as there is no real recipe for a
merit image except for a few guidelines which I’ll outline a
little later below. I then decided that the best thing for me
to do is just to share my thoughts on the process.
invoke an immediate emotional response? Your print title
is also part of the initial impact. Does it make sense? Does it
help tell the story or could it be confusing? A good title can
go a long way in helping your score, but by the same token
a bad one, or one that doesn’t make sense, could hurt your
score.
I’ve been asked if I “shoot for competition” and the answer is no. I photograph what I love. If I see something
that turns my head or I think is interesting…out comes the
camera. With that being said, I do however give myself
assignments occasionally, but they are more for trying new
things, learning and keeping the creativity flowing rather
than thinking “this will be a good competition image”.
2) CREATIVITY – Is your image, subject or treatment
unique? Is it different than anything the judges have seen
before? Does your print have a new twist or a different
view? Creativity is going beyond traditional ideas, coming
up with new ideas and new interpretations.
Print competition for me is the journey, not the destination.
Yes, I know that phrase is way overused but it’s true. The
recognition when prints do well along with the ribbons and
awards are nice, but they mean nothing without all the education gained in the process. Print competition will make
you better, period. I know it’s hard to believe sometimes,
but the “rules” of print competition were not invented by
your state, regional or national associations and judges just
to make your life miserable. All the elements that make up
good art have been around and utilized for centuries. It all
has to do with the human brain and how we process visual
information. I saw a post recently on a photographic forum
about the poster’s view of print competition. I love it and I
will quote it here (with permission of course)
“Get better. Try new things. Enter print competition and get
your work trashed and decimated in a public forum, take
notes and enter again. Bring to a boil, don’t reduce to a simmer, burn the pot and grab a bigger one.”
Most judges don’t “trash” or decimate prints, but this quote
says a lot about the learning process and how we feel when
we hear the judges say things we really don’t want to hear,
but need to hear to get better. The quote speaks to the fact
that print competition should be a constant learning tool,
pushing ourselves and raising the bar for ourselves with
each competition. We need to be able to take criticism to
learn and grow. If a judge offers a criticism, don’t be offended and don’t be so emotionally attached to your image
that you can’t listen to advice. I suggest going to see a state,
regional or national print competition to see what it’s all
about.
The 12 Element of a Merit Image is what the judges use to
score our prints and I’ve added my thoughts on each.
1) IMPACT - Impact is the initial response when the print
comes around on the turn table. This is the “wow” factor. Does the print cause your heart to skip a beat, does it
April 2010 3) STYLE – Style is kind of a signature. It is a way of
expressing your thoughts in print in the way you use the
12 elements. There are always artists that we can recognize their work because we know their style. While we
shouldn’t copy someone’s style exactly, we can be inspired
and borrow style elements form different artists, creating a
hybrid of styles, making them our own.
4) COMPOSITION - Composition is the arrangement of
elements within the image. Our use of composition by
where we place the elements in the image will create feeling, motion and rhythm. Composition is a powerful thing.
We can use it to create a feeling of peace or tension just by
moving our subject, camera or crop around. For example,
say we have a portrait of a high school senior cropped for
a traditional portrait. The result is a pleasing comfortable
portrait. Take that same senior, tilt the image and place
subject way off to the edge and crop a little into the head
and our traditional comfortable portrait just became edgy
and filled with tension.
5) PRESENTATION – Presentation is how your present
your image to the judges. It can include cropping, the use
of backgrounds (under matts), borders and special effects
applied to the image. Make sure if you use backgrounds
or borders that it compliments the image and doesn’t
distract from it. When if comes to special effects such as
Lucis or other digital filters, make sure it is appropriate for
the image. For example, a harsh, grungy, contrasty texture
overlay probably won’t work well with a soft portrait of a
newborn. Just because we have all these cool filters to use,
doesn’t always mean we should.
6) COLOR BALANCE – Color balance is the use of color in
your image and how they work together, or against each
other. Is there harmony between the colors? Do the colors
work with the subject or do they overpower and compete
for your attention? Using colors within the same half of the
color wheel (adjacent colors) will create harmony and a
Continued on Page 16
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My Take on the
12 Elements
Continued from page 15
comfortable feeling, while colors opposite the color wheel
from each other (complimentary colors) create excitement
and drama. Make sure the dramatic use of colors works
with your subject matter.
7) CENTER OF INTEREST – The use of certain elements
such as composition, presentation, and lighting can draw
the viewer’s eye and keep it on your intended center of
interest. The use of things like leading lines and arrangements of elements should take the viewer on a journey
around your image, but with the attention ultimately
resting back on the center of interest. The center of interest
should be clear.
8) LIGHTING – Lighting goes a long way to create a
mood and message, therefore the lighting we choose to
use should be appropriate for the subject and the story we
want to tell. Lighting is part of the story and using a lighting technique inappropriately will cause visual tension and
confuse the viewer. Fore example, you wouldn’t want to
use a more flat light where high drama is desired or by the
same token, use a really high ratio when we want to convey
a soft feeling.
9) SUBJECT MATTER – Does the subject matter make
sense? Does the subject fit into its surroundings? For ex-
April 2010 ample, a very traditionally posed Grandma typically would
not work in a grungy back street alley setting, but a biker
guy with tattoos and a leather jacket would.
10) PRINT QUALITY – How does your image look when
printed? Do you have good density with good details in the
highlights and shadows? If you are using a lab, make sure
they know your print is for competition. When under the
lights for judging, prints printed normally will be too light
and washed out. If you print yourself, a trick I use is to take
a test print outside in the sun. If it looks good there, not too
light or washed out, you’ve got it. Avoid matte finishes.
Matte finishes are flat because the ingredients in the lacquer
or laminate disperse the reflections of light bouncing off of
the print. Prints with vibrant colors and rich blacks finished
with a matte finish go flat under the lights. Gloss or luster
finishes are better for print competition. They let the color
and tonal values come through un-hindered.
11) TECHNIQUE – Technique is the use of a skill or skills to
achieve the final print. To me, it’s pretty much a combination of all the elements.
12) STORY TELLING – Your image should tell a story. It
can be obvious or a thought provoking abstract. Here again
your title can play a big part in the telling of your story.
So…If you don’t already enter print competition, I encourage your to do so. I want to thank Robert Symms for
encouraging me years ago to enter my first competition
back in the days before digital and I retouched negatives
and prints with brushes, dyes and airbrushes. I don’t think
I’d be where I am today without that encouragement and
the learning process along the way.
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Northern Hi-Lites
Terry Tasche
Destination by
Determination
M.Photog. Cr., F-PPANI, R.N., B.S.N.
Founder of mydietmylife.com
My Diet, My Life
“…Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds,
can change the outer aspects of their lives.” William James
Changing what I put into my mind can help change my attitude
about my body and my participation in my health.
Comparing my goal of a healthy life to a long road trip in my
car helps me to clarify my goals where eating and drinking are
concerned. When I plan a trip, and AAA prepares my trip details,
they’ll ask me the obvious questions like: “Where are you going?”
“When do you want
to get there?” “What
route do you prefer?” My responses
hopefully are not,
“Wherever, whenever,
and whatever.” I’ll
have a destination
determined and know
when and how I plan
to get there.
Having a destination
is necessary in order
to get anywhere. Not
knowing where I’m
going will get me
nowhere. Knowing
how I’d like to look,
how I’d like to feel,
and how healthy I’d
like to be gives me a
way to measure my
progress. It focuses
my attention on the
daily details necessary to accomplish
my goal and get me
where I want to go.
What determines my
destination and drives
my diet? Habit?
Hunger? Health? The
unhealthy habit of eating high-caloric
foods that have no nutritional value can
be hard to break. The heavy cargo it adds
slows me down and delays the estimated arrival time.
When stopping for refreshments at a restaurant or a rest stop, a
healthy plan can be as simple as choosing a snack at the fresh-fruit
stands rather than the rest-stop vending machines, or drinking
water instead of a can of sugar soda. After all, who would ever
think to pour a 12-oz glass of water, add 10 tsp of sugar, a little
carbonation, plus
high-caloric caramel
or fruit flavoring
and think it was a
healthy choice? The
target today is to eat
no more than 100
calories (25 gms, 6
tsps) of added sugar
a day for women; 150
calories (38 grams or
9 tsps) a day for men.
Good-bye sugary sodas, which cause an
overdose in just one
can. High-caloric carbohydrate consumption, like calories
from refined flour
and refined sugar,
has its consequences,
like heart disease,
stroke, and diabetes.
Drive-through diet
choices cause diversions, too. They may
be quick and easy,
but can be detrimental to my health and
divert me from my
healthy path.
I might drive into a
ditch if I don’t pay attention to warning
signs, wind up in a rut, spin my wheels,
wonder why I have high cholesterol and
am not able to lose weight.
“Pizzazz”
© Terry Tasche
My car, just like my body, needs preparation for the trip. Preparing it for the journey requires a tune-up, a check-up, and a fill-up.
I never tell the gas station attendant to fill ‘er up with whatever.
I specify exactly what my car needs in order to run smoothly so
I can make the entire journey. It may also need a spare tire, but I
don’t.
April 2010
A dead end may be ahead, but watching the signs, turning on the
bright lights, the high beams, lets me avoid the road that goes nowhere. There may be a few detours along the way, too, but getting
back on the main road will always get me to my destination faster.
After all, we’ll all have a healthier and longer journey in life when
we stay on the highway of health.
This month’s tutorial is how to give a picture pizzazz, and the
original image was taken from my car window while parked at a
stoplight. Please go to the current article on www.mydietmylife.
com and click on the image at the end of the article.
17
Northern Hi-Lites
April 2010 18
Northern Hi-Lites
April 2010 19
Northern Hi-Lites
Steve
Larson
AIB Interested In Increasing Profits?
CPP, M.Photog.Cr.,
Four Critical Business Principles Every Studio Owner Need To Know
Editor’s Note: This column is the first
installment in a two-part series. Part Two
will appear in our Northern Hi-Lites May issue.
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a successful studio
and a struggling one? It’s the owner’s
ability to implement four critical business principles. Without putting them into practice, your
chances of ultimately failing skyrocket.
In this article, we’ll look at two of these four principles,
“Plan¬ning and Tracking” and “Creating a Business Image.” Next month, we’ll look at Nos. 3 and 4, “Pricing and
Selling and Cre¬ating a Demand for your Photography.”
Critical issue No. 1: Planning and Tracking
All good business starts with a plan, understanding where
your business is now and mapping your goals for the
future. A good business plan comprises three elements: a
company plan, a marketing plan and a financial plan.
The company plan describes your business situation: its
loca¬tion, the area’s demographics, your key employees
and their responsibilities and the constraints or limitations
affecting your business. The company plan depends on the
products and ser¬vices your business is best-suited to deliver, which also happen to be the ones that will most likely
bring you success.
If you target your business toward areas you aren’t wellsuited for, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Say your
business’s pres¬ent concentration is on weddings and you
decide to change your focus to senior portraits. If you don’t
have an adequate camera room, the proper camera and
lighting equipment, sufficient backdrops and sets and a
thorough knowledge of the senior market, you’re setting
yourself up for mediocrity at best and per¬haps for complete failure.
The company plan begins with an understanding of your
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the elements that
threaten your success. Write them down. Once you know
your limitations and strong points, you can devise a marketing plan.
The marketing plan looks at your photographic market and
maps out the ways to penetrate it. You’ll want to come up
with a description of the consumers in your market, the
goods they are buying, the prices they are willing to spend
for them and the seasons and occasions for which they buy
April 2010 them (the buying pat¬terns). Having noted your strengths,
determine what products you can offer that they are likely
to buy and put a lot of thought into how you can set your
products apart from the competi¬tion’s.
Successful businesspeople need to foresee the financial
ben¬efits of a marketing plan before they spend a dime.
The plan must be grounded in reality: How many sessions
will you need to book to capture the local market? How
much do you need to charge on average for your goods
and services? You need specific data for your calculations, beginning with your overhead and operating costs.
This brings us to the financial plan. The finan¬cial plan
is the key to your success. Without it, your business is a
daydream that may never be realized. The financial plan
begins with listing your overhead expenses on paper, in an
electronic spread sheet or using industry-specific budgeting
software. From here, you can project the sales figures it will
require to exceed those expenses and meet your projected
profit margin. How many sessions will it take to reach that
projection and at what average amount per session? Your
pricing schedule is another key component. The financial
plan will help you project the results of implementing various combinations of these variables.
The only way to see if your financial plan is working is to
keep track of your sales and expenses on a monthly basis.
This will show you where you need to make adjustments in
your plan, including marketing strategy, pricing, number
of sessions you need to book each month and the average
amount per session you need to realize your profit margin.
(There is a number of studio management software and
accounting programs that can help you accomplish this
tracking quite well.)
Most photographers find it difficult to develop a business
plan and keep up with tracking their business activities,
but the success and even the survival of your business will
be in jeopardy if you don’t do both. It takes knowledge,
understanding and dedication to accomplish these critical
tasks
Critical issue No. 2: Creating a Business Image
Developing an image for your business is the next vital
prin¬ciple. This crucial element includes developing a
niche specialty, creating a unique product style, choosing
an appropriate studio décor, creating coordinated marketing materials and establish¬ing your identity throughout
the community.
Many photographers try to be everything to everybody,
with the net result of not being recognized for any
Continued on Page 21
20
Northern Hi-Lites
Interested In Increasing Profits?
Continued from Page 20
specialty. Successful studios distinguish themselves as
experts in one or two photographic niches; sales in other
market segments are add-on business.
Your niche might be weddings, senior portraits, families
and children, or commercial photography. When your studio becomes known for its expertise, consumers will come
from miles away to buy the best. Unless yours is a rural
or small-town business in which you are known as “the
photographer,” going for multiple markets only confuses
your clientele and weakens your image. It’s also difficult to
establish an advertising budget that can effectively promote
several specialties at once. A better strategy is to promote
one niche well, instead of several markets with mediocre
results—or at the very least, develop one niche at a time
A photographer I know in Minnesota was an extremely
good wedding photographer, who also had a reputation
for gradua¬tion portraits. He wondered why he was not
getting wedding business from his senior portrait clients.
When he asked one of those clients about it, he was surprised when she said, “Oh, I didn’t realize you did weddings, too!” And why would she? The photographer needed to change the portraits on his studio walls to reflect the
prevailing clientele. Deciding to specialize in wed¬dings,
the photographer redesigned his advertising materials and
the décor and displays in the studio to say “weddings.”
The studio still brings in business with senior and family
portraits, but it’s known far and wide for exceptional wedding photogra¬phy.
Even within a given product line a photographer can
differen¬tiate his image from the competition’s. In the
wedding business, you can be known for either traditional
or photojournalistic photography. In senior portraiture,
you can establish a unique image with décor, backgrounds,
props, photo specialty prod¬ucts and many other areas. To
know what your specialty is and effectively promote it will
create clearer focus in the eyes of the consumer.
The price a consumer is willing to pay for a studio’s
products is directly related to its business image, says
Frank Cricchio, M.Photog.Cr. “A studio needs equivalency
between its prod¬ucts, prices and the image it maintains.”
Consider your expecta¬tions of the price of the humble
hamburger. In a posh restau¬rant you would expect to pay
$10 or more for a burger, but at McDonald’s, you would be
perturbed to spend more than a couple of dollars, even if
the quality of the hamburgers were the same. Project the
image of the quality you give and the prices you charge in
everything your clients and prospective clients see.
The key to keeping a well-polished image is to maintain
good business practices, high-quality work and stellar customer ser¬vice. It takes years to establish a good reputation
April 2010
and business image and only a moment to destroy it.
Take the first two steps in establishing and securing a
success¬ful studio by developing a business plan that
includes detailed financial projections, track your business
with good financial management and accounting practices
and establish a good business image in the community.
Next issue, look for pricing principles, selling strategies
and the secrets of creating demand for your services.
Steve Larson, CPP, M.Photog.Cr., ABI, API, AFS-MNPPA owns
and operates the Portrait Gallery in Anoka, MN. Among the
first PPA-Approved Business Instructors and he is currently the
trea¬surer of Northern Light PPA.
“Shoot what pays the bills.
Shoot the highest profit things
requiring the least amount of
time. Then you can devote time
to shoot what you love.”
“Choose education over
equipment. Learn first, buy later.
The more you know, the less
you need.”
“Get the equipment that completes your vision … nothing
more, nothing less.”
“Create a grand vision for your
life. A dream maximizes the
limit of the human spirit.”
-Scott Robert Lim
Reprinted from Northern Light
Northern Light Professional Photographers Association
21
Northern Hi-Lites
Jay Buchanan
FED
Time to Diversify... Maybe
This economy has placed challenges on many in our industry. Not only has the financial shake-up rattled us, but also
the digital revolution itself has caused some studio casualties.
Many photographers are wondering if they will survive.
Have you noticed that everybody wants our job these
days? Cameras of all sizes are pulled from their holsters at
weddings and events of all kinds, sometimes seizing on the
privacy of a bride and groom with their hired professional.
Am I right? That may be fixable contractually when they
sign. Work it out.
There is a generation being groomed as we speak that have
never touched a roll of film and do not know what the
copyright laws mean. Many wouldn’t understand if you
told them.
In their world, pictures are taken and shared instantly.
These kids and young adults are the generation that we
must serve and educate like no other generation before. On
the flip-side, we can now offer incredible new products to
our clients like never before.
I am thankful however, that I have some diversity in my
business to sustain tough times. I have a mixture of school,
sports and studio sessions. There may be some of you who
have never considered school or day-care photography,
but to survive maybe you should. I have photographed
in this capacity for 18 years and love it. The BIG BOYS are
still holding most of the public school contracts but there
is work out there if you are good at your craft. It is NOT
for everyone! Here are some tips to follow if you decide to
pursue it.
1. You must realize that the last student photographed on
the last day should get the same treatment and consideration as the first student on the first day. This takes stamina. Trust me.
2. Pick a backdrop that is consistent with your studio backdrops, so that parents will see a pattern. Adding a blue gel
on the background light for the school portraits is a good
idea so you may use the same backdrop in your studio if
they come in for other services. Blue looks great with all
skin tones. The background light should not rival your
main light.
3. Exercise the proper male/female head positions, especially for kids in the middle and upper grades. Pre-K to 1st
grade kids are cute posed either way. Girls may be posed
either masculine or feminine. With males there is only one
option, strong. The same rules apply to your studio work.
If your subject’s head is vertically straight, that’s good, it
is neutral. These rules apply when you photograph people
standing also. The masculine head tilt is always to the back
shoulder. You must continually talk to your subjects and
mold them with your words to create the poses.
4. Price list should be uncluttered and full of products for
kids and their families. We have wallets and mini-wallets
plus a multitude of digital products like 8x10 Magazine
Covers, 8x10 Calendars, Buttons, 10x20 locker posters and
we offer triple image framed panels for day-cares. Typically
these are proof jobs, but bar code automation has proven
invaluable.
5. I suggest adding digital retouching as a service item. This
is a service which you provide in your studio and you want
to mimic those services wherever possible. Most labs offer
this in their package printing services for a nominal fee, so
theoretically they could do it for you. I personally retouch
files of any order over $75 and will retouch any
child whose family orders consistently each year.
6. A few weeks after delivery, select approximately 20% of
those who ordered and give them a phone call. Ask how
they liked their portraits? How can we improve? Do they
like the background and lighting? This will stimulate good
conversation and grow your relationship with them. These
kids will all be seniors someday, they are part of a family,
will marry and have children, UH HELLO!
Start with a small day-care or school and build up. You will
face challenges and it may be trying at times, but rewarding just the same. You’re going to need to build up your
skills and confidence, because someday you may be offered
a job that will make you gulp and you must be prepared.
Good luck and good learning.
Reprinted from the Florida Professional Photographer
Are you going to invite a photographer
you know to become a member
of Northern this Year?
April 2010 22
Northern Hi-Lites
Dogs Are People, Too!
Photographing Man’s Best Friend
With Margaret Bryant
by Bill Hedrick
How many of your clients come into your studio wagging their
tails? Margaret Bryant, of Dallas, can tell you, “all of them.”
She photographs dogs and their people. Her specialty is capturing the personalities of dogs and the relationships they have with
their people. “Too many photographers, and the general public
as well, believe that dog photography is just a matter of having a
squeaky toy to make a dog cock his head to one side. It is much
more than that,” says Margaret. “It is having a dog safe studio,
understanding dog behavior, having knowledge of various
breeds, knowing how to light various fur colors, getting great
expressions and more.”
There are “dog owners” and there are “dog lovers” and Margaret’s clients are dog lovers who have a special bond with their
animals. “My clients can easily relate to roe because I am a dog
lover and I have a special bond with my own dogs. Like baby
photographers who understand the joys and troubles of a new
baby, I relate to the joys and troubles of having a dog in my life,”
she adds.
Margaret, like many other professional photographers today,
developed an interest in photography as a child. “My first
camera was a Kodak Hawkeye Flashfun that I got with two
Luden’s cough drop box tops and a couple of bucks,” she says
with a smile. However, a career as a professional photographer
would come years later after pursuing a career in broadcast radio
engineering. “Most people wouldn’t think of it as a creative job
but it was,” she explains. “My job was to design, build, maintain
and repair radio stations, both studios and transmitters. Problem
solving can be very creative.” But after several years, Margaret
realized that a career in broadcast radio engineering was getting
stale and could
no longer hold
her interest. It
didn’t take long
for photography to once
again capture
her imagination
and, after eight
years of part
time photography, Margaret
made it her full
time profession.
Her studio is
in her home
and can best
be described as
“dog friendly.”
Photographers
who specialize
in photographing babies have
nothing on Margaret! “Unlike most photographers, I am ready
for pee, poop, barf, dog hair and drool!” But that is just one of
the many things that set her apart from everyone else. “Most pet
photographers shoot on location. I shoot in the studio,” she says.
“I also try to differentiate myself from others by using very simple
backgrounds... mostly black or white.., and concentrating on personalities and relationships.”
Years ago, Margaret began racing her own dog in a sport called
Continued on Page 24
April 2010 23
Northern Hi-Lites
Dogs Are People, Too!
Continued from Page 23
Flyball. Just for fun, she started taking pictures of these events. “It
was quite challenging to photograph Flyball using film back in
those days. The event is held indoors, the animals are moving fast,
and the light is low. Also, we couldn’t use flash. Eventually, t came
to realize that no matter how much I liked doing it, there was no
money to be made photographing Flyball events. So, I started doing more portraiture and developed that side of the business.”
Then, digital came along and technology put a new spin on everything. Margaret soon discovered that competition was getting
tougher. “Cameras have gotten to the point where most anyone
can take a great picture,” she explains. “There are a lot of very
creative people out there doing some wonderful work as their
hobby. They don’t need to make money at photography. Then,
if you add the fact that many people’s definition of ‘quality’ in a
photograph is very low, it can be tough making a good living in
this profession.”
What is the answer? Margaret Bryant believes there will always
be a place for true artists and truly great business people. But a
lot of photographers out there will eventually have to decide for
themselves whether photography is worth the hassle and may
have to find other ways to express their creativity. “As you might
imagine, I get a lot of requests for suggestions from people who
like taking snapshots of their dogs and think they can turn it into
a business. I always give them two bits of advice. First of all, I
suggest they get a good business education. Then, photographers
need to give people a reason to come to them... provide something
that customers can’t do on their own.”
Providing
something
that people
can’t do
themselves
seems to be a
key factor in
her business
philosophy. “I
love to hear
people tell
me that you
can’t photograph a black
dog against
a black
background.
It is something I love
to do, not
only because
it shows the
beautiful
shape and
musculature
of the dog’s
body, but also
April 2010
because the
client.., and
soccer moms
as well... can’t
do it! What
I’ve done is
to give them
a very simple
reason to
come to me.”
But it is a
continuing
challenge
for Margaret
and everyone else in
our evolving
profession.
As Margaret
says, “I have
to give people
a reason to
come to me
and that reason can’t be that t am cheap or that I do run of the mill work!”
However, no matter how creative a photographer, the business
side of photography cannot be over emphasized. Fortunately,
Margaret is one of those who enjoys the business side as well. “It’s
not only the artistic aspect of photography that is fascinating to
me. t like being able to be creative with photography and Photoshop, but I also enjoy figuring out how to do the marketing and
the business side of things as well. I’m not exactly crazy about
bookkeeping but I like to analyze my sales. When I take some
of those silly Internet tests to determine if you are ‘right brain’
or ‘left brain’ I am always in the middle. My engineering background makes me a technician, but I am an artist as well.”
With these essentials, Margaret Bryant obviously has the “right
stuff” But she realizes that the future of our profession belongs
to the ones who are diligent about staying one step ahead of all
the rest. “I’m constantly trying to perfect my craft,” she says.
“Anyone can take a picture of their dog but I need to be able to do
something they can’t. It’s a moving target and I try to stay on top
of it.”
In a profession that is getting tougher by the day, Margaret is
evolving as well. To her, the satisfaction of a happy customer is
worth the effort. “I get notes from people who have lost their dogs
and they talk about how my photographs make their grief more
bearable.” So, in a way, photographing pets and their people is
much like other types of photography. We are in the business of
making people happy... and making dogs happy, too.
Reprinted from The Texas Professional Photographer
February/March 2010
24
Northern Hi-Lites
Al Audleman
Digital Photography
M.Photog.Cr., Cpp, API, FDPE
Some Other Things To Look At!
For the past several years we have used space in the Florida
Photographer magazine to discuss Photoshop techniques
and features, teaching you how to better use photoshop in
a more efficient and faster manner. In the immortal words
of my friend Jim Divitale, the best way to make photoshop
fly is to know how to use Photoshop!
Well, there are also other ways to make that happen and I
am going to discuss a few of them. Now doing this will cost
you money but it will save you a ton of time. What I am
talking about are the plug ins offered by NIK Filters.
NIK Filters offers several plug ins for Photoshop, four of
which are used in succession effectively to complete an image from start to finish. The fifth is something new, special
and different. o, I am not selling NIK Filters but I do use
them and they are very effec¬tive because they accomplish
things you want/need to accomplish and do it quickly and
efficiently.
Here are the plug ins and what they do:
Dfine is a noise reduction program. It works well and is
particularly usefully when you set your camera to the
higher ISO ratings where “gain” causes digital noise. There
are many different setting for many different scenarios.
Once you figure out the best one for your own use, then it
because fast and simple.
Viveza (I didn’t make up the name!) is used to enhance
colors and does so using a new control point method that
eliminates the need for layer masking. You can saturate
or desatu¬rate specific colors and tone locally or globally
and even go back and change your mind later. You can, at
the same time control brightness (levels), warmth, and the
three RGB colors and using the same technique add control
points that tell Viveza not to affect certain areas. It is quick,
effec¬tive and intuitive.
Color Efex Pro has been out for a while and updated. It
allows you to add special filter effects (Efex, get it? LOL)
and apply the globally or locally using layer masking techniques built into the filter. There are some rather useless
ones for most of us but they are kewl nonetheless, and who
knows? There are three versions of Color Efex Pro ... each
containing 15, 35 or all 52 filters respectively. Of course,
the kewlest are in the full version. But they are not only
creative; there are some great filters like the skin softener
that works wonderfully well. And again you can apply it
locally.
Last but not least in the ‘production group is Sharpener
April 2010
Pro. Yep, you have all the sharpening filters in Photoshop
already. Well, the benefit to the NIK plug in is that you can
sharpen for output ... something you SHOULD be doing
already. But how do you know how much to sharpen for
different output “medium?” Well, you can figure it out
with no problem by trial and error. The biggest problem is
that the “error” part is VERY expensive. Get my drift here?
With Sharpener Pro, you select the output media and image
size and it does the work for you.
Let’s look at a “workflow” scenario: In a normal workflow,
you open your image, remove the noise, control the color,
tonality and contrast, add creative or retouching effects
and then sharpen for output. Hmmm, looking back at this
workflow, it seems that the four NIK plug ins above do just
that for you.
You can purchase all the plug ins separately or save some
money and buy a “Professional Suite,” that saves you about
$150 if all you want is DI me, Color Efex and Sharpener.
Viveza is not included in the Suite. That is a shame because
it is a very effective piece of software. Retail on DIme is
about $100; Viveza about S250, Color Efex ranges from $100
to $300 and the Sharpener is $200. The suite is $450.
And there is something new ... called Silver Efex Pro ... and
guess what IT does? It makes your images black and white.
Wow, I can do that in Photoshop already and I have at
least five ways to accomplish it. Yes, you sure can. But the
easy and fast ways are mediocre and the better ways are
slow and cumbersome ... and then it is hard to change your
mind or see different options quickly. With Silver Efex Pro,
you can simply click on different options and see what they
do ... and then control how much or how little you want to
use. It is a $100 program MSRP ... and the street price will
vary.
Over the years, as fast as I am in Photoshop (and I AM,
you know!), I have found that there are several plug ins
and other pieces of software that do things I like, do them
quickly and do them well, usually better than I can! You
can check out the NIK plug ins at www.niksoftware.com.
If you’re into retouching, meaning the detailed cleaning up of skin, blem¬ishes, whitening eyes, etc, there is a
workflow solution that also works very well, particularly
if you do it on more of a casual basis and usually forget the
workflow progression of steps. Ron Nichols, a good friend
of mine from Michigan, has a solution.
Continued on Page 28
27
Northern Hi-Lites
Digital Photography
ellite/us/en/Product/1190317151777#tabview=ta b0 and see
what you think. That link, though it looks like it is too long,
will take you right to the ‘Essentials’ page and you can skip
the other things. If you go directly to Correl.com, then you
will have to click on ALL PROD¬UCTS to get to the page to
find Essentials. Then if you find that you are really wanting to use all the features of Painter ... and have the time
and desire to really learn it, then take Jane Conner zizer’s
or Cheri MacCallums class at Florida school and you’ll take
off!
­Continued from Page 27
Check out his offerings at www.ronnichols.com. His
product is a palette and what it does is work you through
the correct progression of things you need to do to retouch
your images.
My suggestion is, if you have enough work, to hire someone to do it for you. But if you are like me and insist on doing it yourself, then take a look at Ron’s Digital Solutions
software. The price is about $200 but, like NIKs stuff, will
save you hours of work and rework. So is it expensive or a
good investment? I opt for the latter. And Ron is very good
at assisting you with the startup and teaching you what
you need to know to use the software.
And how many times have you said that you wished that
you could use Painter to make more artsy images? Nile
too! And I still haven’t done it!!! At the ‘08 Convention, we
got to see a demonstration by Michael and Tina Timmons
of some very good artsy work. They turned us on to Corel
Painter ESSENTIALS! This is a $100 program that will
do a lot of the work for you. No, it is not as powerful as
Painter nor as creative. But it may be good enough for most
of us ... and it is much less expensive and easier to learn
and use. If you’re like me, I bought Painter X and it is still
in the box, wrapped in the original cello¬phane, because I
have not had the time to open it and start playing with it.
Check out Painter Essentials at: www.corel.comservlet/Sat
April 2010
OK, while this was something new, we are all much more
into Photoshop work and I was hoping to give you some
new ways to do things that are faster, easier and more efficient. Yep, they all do cost money, but then your time costs
you money! Saving time saves money and using the proper
tools and learning to use them well will make your workflow much faster and allow you more time to do what you
need to do ... or WANT to do!
Al Audleman is a commercial photographer located in Tampa, FL and
has been providing photographic services to clients on a local, regional,
national and international basis for 30 years. He is PPA Certified and
has earned the PPA Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman designations. He is also a member of American Society of Media
Photographers, Professional Aerial Photographers of American and the
National Association of Photoshop® Professionals. Audleman is past
president of the Florida Professional Photographers and has also earned
the FDPE and FSA degrees.
Reprinted from the Florida Photographer 2009 - 3
Florida Professional Photographers Association
28
Northern Hi-Lites
Kneringer’s
March to Northern
April 2010
Photos by
Ken Zink
29
Northern Hi-Lites
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS, Inc.
Program and Registration Information
Program Date: WEDNESDAY - April 14, 2010
RESERVATION DEADLINE.........12:00 Midnight, Monday, April 5, 2010
The Creative Process
Nina Pak
with
at
Kishwaukee College • Malta, IL
Meeting Fee ............$ 40 - PPANI Members
$ 60 - Non-Members
Registration opens at 8:00 AM • Program at 9:00 AM
Print Competition follows program
Reservations can be made via the internet on the
Northern Website:
www.ppani.org
or call 800-557-1816 • Lisa Howard • PPANI Host Chair
Program fee is payable at the door on the day of the
program by cash, check or credit card.
No shows who have registered will be invoiced.
April 2010 30
Northern Hi-Lites
Directions to:
Kishwaukee College
21193 Malta Rd. • Malta, IL 60150-9600
Find your best route to I-88 and then to Deklab.
Continue on IL-38 to Malta Rd. About 3.3 miles.
Exit at Annie Glidden Rd. (Toll)
Turn right onto Malta Rd. Kishwaukee College will be on
your left.
Take Annie Glidden Rd. north to Lincoln Highway, IL 38.
Turn left (west) onto IL-38.
Enter building at the south entrance.- A200
For more detailed directions from your address to 21193 Malta Rd., Malta, IL go to
http://maps.google.com
April 2010 31
Northern Hi-Lites
Northern meets on the 2nd Wednesday, except in October for the Northern Fall Spectacular
2010 PROGRAM SCHEDULE
April 14, 2010
Nina Pak
“The Creative Process”
Print Competition
Kishwaukee College • Malta, IL
Program Time 9:00 AM
May 12, 2010
Pat Cahill, Cr.Photog.
“Sports and Underclass for the Traditional Studio”
Sponsored by American Color Imaging
Elgin Community College • Elgin, IL
Program Time 9:00 AM
June 9, 2010
George Kuchler, CPP, Cr.Photog.
“The Total Exposure”
Sponsored By: Capital Color Imaging • Denny’ s Mfgr.
Larson Lighting • Pro4 um
Kishwaukee College • Malta, IL
Program Time 9:00 AM
July 14, 2010
Michael Barton, M.Photog.,MEI, Cr., CPP, F-PPANI, A-APPI
“Indigo Logic”
Print Competition
Sonshine Portrait Design, LTD. • Germantown Hills, IL
(Near Peoria)
August 11, 2010
William Branson III, M.Photog.,Cr.
“Applying Painter Techniques to Your Portraits”
Sponsored by American Color Imaging
Elgin Community College • Elgin, IL
Program Time 9:00 AM
September 8, 2010
Gabriel Alanso, M.Photog.,Cr., F-TPPA
“The Power of the Classics”
Sponsored by Miller’s Professional Imaging
Print Competition
•
Program and Location TBA
October, 3-4, 2010
Fall Into Northern
A 2-Day Event and Trade Show
with
Pierre Stephenson, Cr.Photog., CPP
“The Changing World of Low Light Photography”
and
Chris Carlson, M.Photog.Cr., F-WPPA
“High School Seniors...How to get them,
photograph them and make them happy!”
Sponsored by American Color Imaging
Carol Andrews, M.Photog.Cr.
“A Better Way
Sponsored by H&H
Dan Thornton, M.Photog.MEI.CEI.,Cr., CPP
Joy Thornton, M.Photog.
Earlybird Program
David Sutton
“Create a Niche in Your Market”
Sponsored by Advanced Imaging
at the
Holiday Inn Select - Naperville
November 10, 2010
Anna Venhaus
“Make Your Business Unforgettable”
Sponsored by American Color Imaging
Elgin Community College • Elgin, IL
December 2010
End-of-the-Year Party
Date and Location TBA
Print Competition for 2010
April 14 • July 15 • September 8