Master The Image

Take Your Image to the Next Dimension!

2011-10-12T00:32:00.000-06:00

Photographic Location Lighting Kit

To get more dimension in your images you need to get your lighting source off your camera. Your on-camera flash is nothing but flat light. I love a portable strobe kit that has enough power to give my the depth I need at any lighting condition. For big family groups to the smallest of all my clients.

This Photoflex TritonFlash Lithium Strobe Kit will do just that!

TritonFlash™ Lithium Strobe Kit

Special October... FEST Special! Reg. 1499.95 email Special $1299.95*

Use CODE tflsk1011 ** Good till Oct 29, 2011

click HERE for more info

PhotoFlex TritonFlash™ Lithium Strobe Kit

New Master Series Video on Puppet Warp

2011-07-13T00:44:00.004-06:00

This Weeks Weekly Template Giveaway!

2011-05-03T15:03:00.002-06:00

Last Weeks Weekly Template Giveaway Winner

2011-05-02T17:08:00.002-06:00

FREE Stuff

2011-05-02T16:53:00.003-06:00

This Weeks Weekly Template Giveaway!

2011-04-26T10:30:00.001-06:00

Weekly Template Giveaway Winner!

2011-04-26T10:15:00.003-06:00

Weekly Template Giveaway!

2011-04-18T13:16:00.002-06:00

Master's Template of the Month

2011-04-18T13:08:00.003-06:00

$30 OFF Adobe Photoshop DVD

2011-04-18T12:19:00.005-06:00

Receive an Additional $5 OFF!! Use Coupon Code: CLICK5

Steve's going CRAZY with Outrageous Deals!!

2011-04-12T00:32:00.001-06:00

Winner

2011-04-12T00:30:00.001-06:00

WIN THIS WEEKS TEMPLATE!

2011-04-06T14:56:00.001-06:00

2011-04-05T17:22:00.003-06:00

http://mackleyphoto.com/mastertheimage/index.php?option=com_aicontactsafe&view=message&layout=message&pf=1&Itemid=70

NEW!! illimite´Limitless Backdrops

2011-04-01T14:29:00.003-06:00

NEW!! Master's Template of the Month

2011-03-22T10:46:00.004-06:00

Receive an additional $5 OFF Master's Template of the Month

by Using Promo Code: MTIBLOG expires March 29th

NEW Adobe Photoshop Training with Steve Mackley

2011-03-11T17:19:00.006-07:00

$5 OFF if you use Promo Code: CLICK

NEW Individual Templates

2011-02-18T10:51:00.022-07:00

Use Promo Code: FEBTEMP to recieve an additional $5.00 OFF!

WANTED Senior Models!

2011-02-16T18:58:00.005-07:00

SENIOR MODELS WANTED

Looking for senior models for the upcoming class of 2012 school year. If you or someone you know would like to take advantage of this great opportunity to not only get free senior pictures, but also a photoshoot from a professional photographer please email us at:

service@mackleyphoto.com

or call the studio at

435.753.0085

Here are a few past seniors that we've worked with enjoy....

Free Photoshop Tip

2011-01-17T15:17:00.013-07:00

Check out some of the spectacular backgrounds we have to offer! Customers love when you take their ordinary normal portrait and turn it into a unique work of art. Sell More photos and become the talk of the town!

Just to let you know, here is one of the vendors we use for our packaging. Rice Studios has been generous enough to offer 10% off Rice Studio purchases to all Master the Image Customers!

Thank you Rice Studio!

Find more of these great tips
at clickclickacademy.com

Store Wide Sale

2011-01-12T18:06:00.009-07:00

Click Click Academy, a fourteen week program dedicated to the improvement of your photography has had great responses and success since it was introduced in November. I am excited to announce that the TWO FREE WEEKS special offer is going to be continued on till January 31st. Be sure to further your skills and knowledge in photoshop as I share the secrets that has made me a Master Photographer!

Store wide sale!!

Take $20 off if you purchase $100 or more

Take $10 off if you purchase $70 or more

Take $5 off if you purchase $50 or more

Take $3 off if you purchase $35 or more

Sale Ends January 19th
Take Your Photography to the next level!

6 Best Ways to Make More Money in 2011

2011-01-03T14:42:00.012-07:00

So I was sitting down and setting some goal for the upcoming year and though I would share some of the best ways to make more money for the upcoming year. So here they are.

#6 - Raise Your Prices - This is a definite must each year just to keep up with inflation. Aside from that... I set a goal a couple of years ago, for my 8x10 to be over the $100 mark within two years. So this is the year that I go over the one hundred dollar bench mark! I have been slowly moving towards it every six months for the past couple of years so my client wouldn't freak out to much.

Set a goal where you want your prices to be and start making the climb. Don't be afraid... Your worth it! And if you're not, once you start charging the higher price you'll definitely setup your game to meet the new standard. DON'T SELL YOURSELF SHORT!! Your better than you think.

#5 - Start Pricing Your Work Including the Frames - I started this several years ago when I got tired of seeing my great artistic works of art in cheap metal frames. And all my Hi-end clients would take portraits to a custom framer and the framer was making all the money on all my work.

Most framers mark up their moldings 3 to 5 times. You can buy the frames from a wholesaler then mark it up 2 or 3 times and still be saving your clients in the long run. And your work is looking its best when it leaves your studio because it's framed properly.

I thought my client would freak out, when they really hardly noticed. The ones that did I just mention that's including a basic frame and they totally understood.

#4 - Add More Variety to Your Product Selection - Years ago we only offered single portraits, wallets thru 30x40. Now we offer a variety of things, collages, canvas wraps, books, albums, calendars, cards, etc. It has definitely added to the average order and the bottom line.

Here are some Photoshop templates I offer at our online store that might help you out:

MASTERTHEIMAGE

#3 - Don't Give Away Your Copyrights so Soon! - So the big question from consumers now is, "Can I get my images on CD?" Which I absolutely hate! But we have to play the game and it's the big carrot that they all want. So we have to use it to our advantage and make sure we get what we need before we give it up. Two thing I insist on before I'll let my images go:

1- Never release an image that your client hasn't ordered in print first. They must first order an image in print form of a certain size before I will include it on the CD. If I give them all the images before that they'll just print it later on their own and I lose out.

2- Make sure you are close to your package ceiling before you release the copyrighted images. Once you give in, and hand over the images, you are not going to make much more. A couple of years ago our family package average was $2500. Then with our fun economy it has gone down a bunch to about $1500. So I have used the, 'Big Carrot' - Copyright CD, to get the averages back up there again. The last six months they've been around $2300.

#2 - Make a Design Sheet - I started this about five years ago and our average package went up 25%. I take about 15 minutes and choose my favorite images for each sitting. Take them and put them on a sheet of paper made up into several samples that I think the client should buy. Print them out on a card stock piece of paper and visually show my client what I think they need to buy after the initial preview set to music. 70% of the time they purchase something I've created on the Design Sheet.

#1 - Projection Sales - You want to see you sales instantly go up over night. Start projecting your images on the large screen. I'm not talking a large computer screen. A projection type screen that can accommodate at least a 40x60 actual size image. Start the premier showing for the first time set to a slide show with some music. After showing all the images at 40x60 then when they go and buy that huge 8x10 for their wall portrait. It is going to look so very small and they will not want it anymore. Our sale went up 30% overnight as soon as I finely gave in and did what everyone had been telling me for years. I always had some excuse like I don't have the room, a projector cost too much, it's too much of a hassle to sit down with my clients. I paid for the projector in the first two viewings. I've even heard of people who work out of their home converting their master bedroom into a projection room and saying that it was the best thing they've ever done.

BONUS TIP! Just because I like you...

Quit putting you images up on the web, (blogs, facebook, etc.) for everyone to see before the sale is complete. Your loosing money if you do. I heard this analogy at PMA several years ago about paper proofs and the same thing applies.

A man goes into a Ferrari dealership and ask to test drive a brand new Ferrari. The dealer suggests he take it home for the week. He does and takes it around to all his family and friends and they say how cool he is. He later takes it back, and the dealer asks him if he wants to buy it now and he say no. He's already gotten the satisfaction he needed from a really nice car.

Until I heard this, I use to let my client take home paper proofs to try and decide what they wanted to order. They would show it to all their friends and family. The friends and family would praise them and tell them how great they looked. There is now very little need to buy friends and family a copy since the customer has already shown them to everyone.

I've heard photographer say its good advertising. Yes it maybe... but advertise after the sale is completed.

Then I heard photographer say... " all the family lives out of town". Well then do what I do, and arrange an online meeting where they can look at your screen and you can still direct and control the sale. We use to use GoTo Meeting and now we use a free version called Team Viewer and it's working great! My first sell online was $14,000! I promise you it wouldn't have been that high if I would have posted them online for everyone to look at on their own time. The Wow factor would now be gone and the order wouldn't have received the potential it did.

Take control of the sale this year! Unless your an amateur and your doing this for fun then you need good compensation for what you do. The sale is the most important event that happens in the client-photographer relationship. You be in charge and lead it to where it needs to go. Don't let the client take it over. You wouldn't give your camera to the client and let them shoot what ever they wanted in the sitting so don't do it in the sales process.

Bring On The New Year!

2010-12-28T14:35:00.008-07:00

Let us help you get started this upcoming year.

We are introducing two NEW BUNDLE PACKS!

Whether you are starting off, or all ready have the ball rolling these bundles will be a asset to you and your business.

Want to have more success in 2011? THE ALL-IN-ONE BUNDLE will help and give you tips on how to be successfull in all genres of photography this upcoming year. These kits include pose samples, Adobe Photoshop templates, lighting diagrams tutorials, price brochures, ideas for advertising, contracts and much more.

Remember happy clients equals more money!

Become a wedding photographer expert with THE WEDDING BUNDLE. It includes the best engagement, pre-bridal and wedding day poses and templates. Also included is the wedding success kit with many different choices of wedding announcement and wedding book templates, lighting tutorials, price brochures, advertising ideas, contracts and much more!

Offer end January 5th, 2011@the stroke of midnight.

Ok... it been a while!

2010-12-20T15:13:00.002-07:00

So my new goal for 2011 is to post a least once a week and hope fully a little more. See as it's been more than a year since I've last posted here. So I'm a big fan in writing my goals down so here's goal #1 for 2011 written down for all to see. - Steve

New Christmas Card Templates Vol 1 and 2

2009-11-19T09:32:00.007-07:00

Photo Christmas Card Holiday Photoshop Template Vol. 1 and 2

By purchasing these 12 completely unique editable Photoshop templates you can insert your own or your clients photos and print them at most photographic labs (Sams Club, Walmart, Ritz, Walgreen's, Costco, etc.).
This volume of holiday templates includes 6 completely editable templates, each have the following sizes:
4x6, 4x8 (slimline), 5x5 and 5x7.

Item description:
You will receive all 48 of the layered editable .PSD files shown below.
Each of the templates are:
• Fully Editable Layered Photoshop files 300dpi
• Fully Editable Text Layers
• RGB Color
• Compatible with Photoshop 7 and above or Photoshop Elements
• Each designs sizes include 4x6, 5x7, 5x5 and 4x8

SEE ALL OF Christmas Collection Vol 1

SEE ALL OF Christmas Collection Vol 2

Order Now for $21.95

New Christmas Card Templates Vol 2

2009-11-19T09:29:00.004-07:00

Photo Christmas Card Holiday Photoshop Template Vol. 2

By purchasing these 6 completely unique editable Photoshop templates you can insert your own or your clients photos and print them at most photographic labs (Sams Club, Walmart, Ritz, Walgreen's, Costco, etc.).
This volume of holiday templates includes 6 completely editable templates, each have the following sizes:
4x6, 4x8 (slimline), 5x5 and 5x7.

Item description:
You will receive all 24 of the layered editable .PSD files shown below.
Each of the templates are:
• Fully Editable Layered Photoshop files 300dpi
• Fully Editable Text Layers
• RGB Color
• Compatible with Photoshop 7 and above or Photoshop Elements
• Each designs sizes include 4x6, 5x7, 5x5 and 4x8

SEE ALL OF Christmas Collection Vol 2

Order Now for $16.95

New Christmas Card Templates Vol 1

2009-11-19T09:27:00.001-07:00

Photo Christmas Card Holiday Photoshop Template Vol. 1

By purchasing these 6 completely unique editable Photoshop templates you can insert your own or your clients photos and print them at most photographic labs (Sams Club, Walmart, Ritz, Walgreen's, Costco, etc.).
This volume of holiday templates includes 6 completely editable templates, each have the following sizes:
4x6, 4x8 (slimline), 5x5 and 5x7.

Item description:
You will receive all 24 of the layered editable .PSD files shown below.
Each of the templates are:
• Fully Editable Layered Photoshop files 300dpi
• Fully Editable Text Layers
• RGB Color
• Compatible with Photoshop 7 and above or Photoshop Elements
• Each designs sizes include 4x6, 5x7, 5x5 and 4x8

SEE ALL OF Christmas Collection Vol 1

Order Now for $16.95

Templates and Edges for Photographers using Photoshop

2009-11-19T09:00:00.006-07:00

"Templates & Edges" is a huge collection of 240+ of the very BEST templates and custom edge treatments that we use here at the studio everyday!
These will work with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Elements, on a PC or Mac.

Included are:
Family Template
Senior Templates
Wedding and Bridal Templates
Children Templates
Collages Templates
PLUS...
Senior, Wedding, Baby, Announcements, & Christmas Cards.

PLUS, PLUS...
24 Digital backgrounds
Calibration samples to help calibrate your monitor

You can easily copy and paste your own images into these templates. Not sure how to do that. No problem with quicktime video tutorial included on the DVD!

This will give you tons of ready to use templates to start creating your own incredible collages and start making money NOW!

"When some clients have an objection to a 'HUGE', (as they call it), wall portraits this is an awesome alternative! Our clients love these and they have definitely added 20-40% to our orders!"

What you get on this DVD:

- 240+ Adobe Photoshop Collage Templates: Some sizes include 2x7, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 10x30, 15x30, 24x30, 7x40 and as large as 36x60! PLUS lots of other sizes. All templates are layered, editable, resizable, and easy to use. All texts layers are editable to fonts you want to use.
- Video Quicktime Tutorial on how to use the included Photoshop Templates.
- Video Quicktime Tutorial on how to apply edge treatments to your images.

Purchase NOW for $32.00

Adobe Photoshop Tutorial Manual

2009-11-19T08:32:00.005-07:00

I have offered this for quite some time but just now getting ti on the BLOG.. Adventures in Photoshop is an Adobe Photoshop digital photography training guild for upcoming and professional photographers. It will take you from basic to advance in 16 easy to follow lessons. Clearly written and screen capture images to show you what your looking for.

Plus an added bonus include all digital images and files for you can work in the same files in the lesson to show you how to get the same results.

My photographic eye is only half of what I can do to enhance an image. To take it to he next level I love to refine it with the magic of Photoshop.

What you get on this CD:

An Adobe Reader PDF Manual the contains:

Chapter 1 - Basic Retouching & Working with Levels
Chapter 2 - Color Correcting
Chapter 3 - Advance Retouching
Chapter 4 - Super Soft Skin
Chapter 5 - Opening Up Dark Shadows
Chapter 6 - Making a Bridal Details Collage
Chapter 7 - Making a Senior Composite
Chapter 8 - Digital Infrared B&W Look
Chapter 9 - Making a Custom Logo Brush
Chapter 10 - Wedding Day Portrait
Chapter 11 - B&W Spot Coloring
Chapter 12 - Multiple Personality Collection
Chapter 13 - Bridal B&W Spot Coloring
Chapter 14 - Insert in a Digital Backdrop
Chapter 15 - Artistic Watercolor Technique
Chapter 16 - Artistic Texturing

PLUS A BONUS - All files and images contained in the lessons.

I sell this for $19.95

New Upcoming Webinars!

2009-04-09T17:28:00.006-06:00

Starting Wednesday, April 22nd we will be hosting online Webinars every two weeks at 6:00pm MST. Over the past several months I've recieved hundreds of questions on various topics. You know how the saying goes... "If it's a question in your mind there a good chance someone else has had the same question come to their mind also". Webinars are a perfect fit for educational material like photography.

Here the short list of upcoming topics.

April 22 - Creative Template Making
May 6 - Portrait Enhancements
May 20 - Adobe Lightroom 2 Techniques
June 3 - Portrait Posing

Cost will be $10 per Webinar or $175 for a years subscription.
Subscribe below and additional information will be emailed to you the following day.

Email me directly if you are interested in the yearly subscription CLICK HERE

Newly Released! WEDDING SUCCESS KIT

2009-04-08T20:06:00.006-06:00

Here is the BEST "Wedding Photography Success Kit" you will find. If you are just starting out and wondering what are the best things to do or a seasoned professional and need some new ideas. This will catapult you to the front of the pack. Give you fresh idea on how to attract brides, how to shoot them, design attractive wedding announcements and albums. Then design wedding/bridal collages and most importantly... start making the great money now.

What you get on this informational DVD:

* 150 Engagement Images
* 150 Pre- Bridal Images
* 150 Wedding Day Images
* 10 Wedding Announcement Photoshop Templates
* One 20 page Wedding Book Photoshop Template
* Two 30 page Wedding Book Photoshop Template
* Engagement Lighting Diagrams Tutorial
* Bridal Indoor Lighting Diagrams Tutorial
* Bridal Outdoor Lighting Diagrams Tutorial
* Wedding Price Brochure
* Wedding Advertising
* Bridal Fair Flyers
* Wedding Gift Certificates
* A Bridal Fair Follow-up Letter
* Two Different Wedding Contracts

The Wedding Book and Announcement Templates are Photoshop PSD files. They work in Adobe Photoshop CS or higher, Abode Elements, and a customer informed my they work in Corel Paintshop Pro. Fonts that I use in these templates are downloadable from dafont.com
Lighting Diagrams and Tutorials are video quicktime file that are viewable on a free download from Apple Quicktime player.
All Images are in Acrobat Reader PDF files that are viewable 4-up per sheet in Adobe Acrobat Reader. All other letters, flyers, contracts, brochures are also Acrobat Reader PDF files. Acrobat Reader is a free download from Adobe website also.

**** PLUS A BONUS OFFER ****

- FREE PDF manual of "Best of Marketing" (See more info below)

_________________________________________________

MasterTheImage.com in cooperation with Master Photographer, Steve Mackley, of Mackley Designer Portraiture is pleased to bring you this DVD.

Steve's Accolades

- PPA Master Craftsman Photographer, F-PPI, F-IPPA
- Nine time “Photographer of the Year”
- 2005 Best of State - KUTV Channel 2
- 11 time recipient of KODAK GALLERY AWARD
- 8 time recipient of the FUJI MASTERPIECE AWARD

This Kit is a collection of the very BEST images, templates, marketing ideas, and tutorials from PPA Master Craftsman Photographer, Steve Mackley from the past several years. Hundreds of outdoor poses as well as studio and urban landscapes. This will give you tons of new ideas to add to your collection.

* * BONUS OFFER * *

With this purchase we will include a copy of our newly finished manual, "Best of Marketing". A 45 page manual with all the great marketing techniques we've used at our studio. This will give you ideas of marketing to families, weddings, high school seniors, children specials, and dance groups. As well as
Yearbook ads, direct mail, flyers, brochures, gift certificates, cooperative advertising samples, plus comments of how we used them... plus much more.

Five Seat Left in 2-Day Workshop

2009-04-08T17:31:00.004-06:00

There are only five seat left in our "Image Success" workshop in Logan, Utah. This will be held 9:00 to 5:00 on Monday - Tuesday, April 27-28, 2009.

Master Craftmans Photographer, Todd Hicken and myself will be teaching the latest techniques in Lighting and Posing in the studio and out on location. I will be showing advanced digital work flow in Adobe Lightroom 2.0 as well and image enhancement in Adobe Photoshop. Todd will also be sharing some business and selling techniques he uses to sell to his high end clients. We will have several live (as apposed to non-living) models so everyone can practice each lighting and posing technique. The price for both day is $199.

TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT CLICK BELOW::

How to Retouch Glass Glare

2009-04-07T17:53:00.007-06:00

Steve's been a BAD BOY.... he hasn't posted in over three months! This reaffirms my theory thou... the slower things are the less you get done. And the more hectic times are the more is seems to get accomplished. Go figure!!

Anyway I've been meaning to post several questions I've received lately from you out there. So here one I've gotten several time. How do you retouch glass glare.

I really prefer to shot one shot with their glasses and one in the same pose without glasses. Then merge them together. But I explain both ways to fix them in the video.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

Three NEW Success Items Available for Christmas

2008-12-11T02:53:00.005-07:00

Just finished two new DVD Success Kits for Families Photography and Senior Photography and... A "Best of Marketing" manual.

Before you read on make sure you notice the BONUS OFFER at the end of the post!

The first DVD is called "Family Photography Success Kit and more"

If you are just starting out and wondering what are the best ting to do or a seasoned professional and need some new ideas. This will catapult you to the front of the pack. Give you fresh idea on how to attract clients, how to shoot them, design attractive collages and start making the good money.

What you get on this DVD:

- Hundreds of Family, Couples, and Children Images to Get Posing, Background, Lighting Ideas
- 25 Adobe Photoshop Collage Templates
- Video Lighting Tutorials and Diagrams
- Video Tutorials on how to use the Photoshop Templates

The DVD will be $45 plus $5 shipping (***Check out the Bonus Offer below***)

The Second DVD is named "Senior Photography Success Kit and more"

If you are just starting out and wondering what are the best ting to do or a seasoned professional and need some new ideas. This will catapult you to the front of the pack. Give you fresh idea on how to attract seniors, how to shoot them, design attractive collages and start making the good money.

What you get on this DVD:

- Hundreds of Class of 2009 High School Senior Images to Get Posing, Background, Lighting Ideas
- 25 Adobe Photoshop Collage Templates
- 15 Adobe Photoshop Gradation Announcement Templates
- Full Length Video Tutorial Senior Session from Beginning to End
- Video Lighting Tutorials and Diagrams

This Senior DVD will sell for $52 plus $5 shipping (***Check out the Bonus Offer below***)

The New Manual of marketing is called "Best of Marketing"

It is a 45 page manual with all the greatest marketing techniques we've used at our studio. This will give you ideas of marketing to families, weddings, high school seniors, children specials, and dance groups. As well as
yearbook ads, direct mail, flyers, brochures, gift certificates, cooperative advertising samples, plus comments of how we used them... plus much more.

This Manual will sell for $29 plus $5 shipping

************** BONUS CHRISTMAS OFFER!!!! *****************

Get both DVDs, Family and Senior Success Kits.
I will include the Best of Marketing Manual and free shipping!

CALL or EMAIL me today and you'll get the first one off the press!

*************************************************************

Have a super day and Merry Christmas!

-Steve

Where does the time go?

2008-12-05T10:02:00.002-07:00

Well, as was mentioned a few weeks ago, we've got a new DVD or 2 in the makes, and while we were planning on having it out the first week in December, we're a bit behind schedule, but it's a good thing. There is definitely a learning curve whenever you do something new, and this is no exception. We could crank the new DVD out, but I don't think it would meet the quality we want it to have without taking more time on it. Needless to say, we aren't too far behind in schedule. It's looking like it may be the beginning of January, rather than in December, but we'll see what we can do.

Test of the Canon 5D Mark II

2008-12-02T23:16:00.004-07:00

OK... so I am not a videographer. I just had to try out the video features of the New Canon 5D Mark II. I had an engagement shoot in Salt Lake City on Monday night and walked around after trying it out. I was very impressed with most everything about the camera. Video quality is incredible. Sound quality is very good. Worked great in low light. The depth of field control was something I could not get enough of. Love the sensor cleaning feature... if it really works. I guess time will tell.

Big Plans

2008-11-21T16:13:00.002-07:00

Come the first week of December, we're planning on releasing a few new DVDs, and while I can't go into specifics, let's just say you are going to want to check them out. Look out for more info coming soon.

CAS

2008-11-21T15:47:00.003-07:00

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we've just started using CS4 at work, and I also have it at home now. While there are a number of cool new things, probably my most favorite is CAS, or Content Aware Scaling. In short, transforming your image with CAS allows you to stretch or squish the image without it affecting the content. It works really good too, "straight out of the box" if you will. Below is an image I manipulated with CAS.

What is great too, if you don't want a certain area to be affected for sure, you can make a selection around that part, save it as a channel, and then when you go to use CAS, select it in the protect drop down menu, and there you go.

The only thing I've not liked about it is that it is VERY memory intensive, and I'm constantly getting out of memory warnings. I'm still tweaking how I have CS4 setup in hopes to fix that, but haven't been very successful yet.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T17:23:00.000-06:00

Nothing more to post today other than hope you have a Happy Halloween!

CS4 Me

2008-10-24T09:31:00.003-06:00

"Hi, my name is Brian."

"HI BRIAN"

"I stand before all of you, proud to say that I have been Photoshop CS free for almost a week now, and I'm not turning back. Gone are the lonely nights when I had to convert my RAW images to DNG before I could view them. Never again will I be slowed down by the evil that is File Browser. Most importantly, no more will I be forced to live under the thumb of not being able to multi-select layers. I've done it. I'm a CS-free man, and you can be too!"

If you weren't able to get what is going on from the title of this post, or from the above gibberish, last weekend I got Photoshop CS4. All I can say is WOW!

Overall, I don't have too many complaints. It took me a bit to get it to run well without always telling me it was running out of memory for even the smallest tasks, but that is just Photoshop in general. I've also lost my palettes once or twice and had to quit the program to get them back (it wasn't because they were hidden with tab either). All and all though, I can't really say anything bad about it.

Now for the good stuff. First off, it's sad, but the thing I'm excited about the most is the fact that I can now multi-select layers. I know that has been something with us since CS2, but only having CS at home left me in the dark ages.

My next favorite thing is content aware scaling. Unlike many of photoshop's programmed filters and auto adjustments that only semi work, depending on the image, I would say 9 out of 10 times, Content Aware Scaling works BEAUTIFULLY!!!!! without any further enhancement at all. For that other one time, according to a video on NAPP's site, if you make a selection around what you don't want to effect as much, turn that selection into a new alpha channel, and then use that alpha channel hand in hand with content aware scaling, the desired result you want is a lot more likely. Check out the video here:
Content Aware Scaling with Dave Cross

Camera RAW 5 is awesome as well. If any of you have ever used Lightroom, you know there are a lot of pre-editing you can do now in RAW even before you open the image. Camera RAW 5 has brought us a lot of that same editing. Post crop vignetting; location specific adjustments from the adjustment brush; etc, etc.

I could continue to go on and on, but really, in order to get a real feel of it, you've either got to watch someone use it, or try it out yourself. I don't think you can download the demo yet, so in the mean time, head over to NAPP's CS4 Video Tutorial site and check out a lot of the new features for yourself. If you need me, I'll be happily multi selecting layers over here. :)

It's Friday!

2008-10-17T11:02:00.005-06:00

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I missed last Friday from a little personal crisis I had come up. Nothing big too big, just big enough to divert my attention onto other things.

Photoshop CS4 as well as the other Creative Suite softwares, such as Indesign and Illustrator began shipping yesterday. Have you ordered your copy yet?

This last week, I had a friend of mine call me up and tell me another friend of mine was getting married, and that she wanted me to take a picture of the Logan LDS Temple. I've shot a couple of different pictures of the temple in the past, but nothing I've been too proud of. It's sad, but I consider the Logan Temple one of the less photogenic of the Temples. I was howevever able to not only find a shot I liked, but had a chance to play around with HDR again. Check out the resulting below:

To get this shot, I extended the legs of my tripod, but kept them compressed like a monopod, and then cranked it up as high as the thing would go. I'm actually up against the fence, shooting through it. I could barely see through the viewfinder to see the shot, and was using my corded remote to fire the shutter.

Restored!

2008-10-03T11:04:00.002-06:00

4-5 weeks ago, I made some posts about image restoration. I had planned on having the image I was working on done for the following week, but things got crazy here at the studio and I wasn't able to finish it until Wednesday of this week. Check out the finished version below.

Is it October yet?

2008-09-26T10:44:00.003-06:00

October is going to be one heck of a month. Not only do we have Canon releasing their new cameras, as mentioned in previous posts, but we also have Photoshop CS4 coming out as well. What more can you ask for in a month's period of time?

Here at the studio, we are really looking forward to CS4, especially since I'm still back at CS2. (Actually, I'm still running CS on the computer I have at home.)

Here link over at Adobe with more info about CS4:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/features/?view=topnew&promoid=DRHXB

Canon 5D Mark II

2008-09-19T11:00:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Canon's new 50D was coming out, a 15 mega-pixel camera sporting Canon's new processor, the Digic 4, and that something new might be coming out from Canon shortly. Well, low and behold, the Canon 5D Mark II.

Coming at us with a 21 mega-pixel full-size sensor, live view mode, HD video recording capability and more, the 5D Mark II gives a full size helping of Canon goodness. A full rundown of the specs, including price (US: $ 2,699) can be seen over at DPReview.com. Canon also has it listed on their site.

All I can say is October is going to be a good month. :)

Free Range Photos

2008-09-12T12:10:00.004-06:00

HDRI - High Dynamic Range Imaging is the subject for todays post, and something I've been really interested in lately but haven't had much of a chance to play around with. In short, you take a couple of images of the same thing, each at different exposures to compensate for highlights, lowlights, and inbetween and then put them all together. This can be done by hand, or there are some programs that'll put it together for you automatically.

Popular Photography has a really good article on HDRI over at their site.

Here is my take at HDRI. You can see the 3 different images, taken with a different exposure for different parts of the image, and then all combined in the lower part.

Cameras & more

2008-09-05T10:00:00.002-06:00

Making it that much harder for me to decide what I want to upgrade my camera to, Canon recently announced a new 15 megapixel camera, the 50D. Just checking out the specs over at Canon's site, it looks awesome! Take note it lists the new Digic 4 as the processor. I may be jumping to conclusions, but I think this means we'll be seeing a bunch of new stuff coming out from Canon over the next little while.

Canon also announced recently the Rebel XS, a 10MP version of the XSi. Both the XS and XSi have had really great reviews from Popular Photography and others, and would make excellent entry level cameras.

Last week, I posted about an image restoration project I've been working on. I don't have the image done yet, but here is a shot of what it looks like so far.

When love and hate collide......

2008-08-22T16:00:00.006-06:00

When my older brother was in high school, he took some classes at a local tech collage on Photoshop. After seeing what could be done with the program, it became a passion of mine. Currently I'm contemplating what I should be going into school for, and all I can really settle on is it has to be using photoshop in one way or another.

Working at our photo studio, most of the projects I work on are in relation to the images clients order. Every once in a while though, I get a project that deals with something I both love and hate, all at the same time. This would be photo restoration. Anybody who has done any restoration work knows exactly what I'm talking about.

This past week or so, I had such a project come in. While I haven't made enough headway on it yet to post a before and after, here are a few others I've worked on in the past.

This one was one I did for my parents. When they were married, they had a photographer there, but for some reason, the only images they have now are 2 proofs of the same image. One, as you can see, was put into a scrapbook, and the other was put into a frame without any glass. This led to yellow discoloration and cracking. Taking the 2 of them and adding 18-20 hours brought the result on the right.

This is one I worked on last month for a client. I'm really pleased with not only the result, but also the time that went into it, which was just a little under an hour.

Stay tuned for next week, when I'll post the result of my current project.

Back on track

2008-08-18T23:56:00.003-06:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been since the 27 of June since I posted last. I had committed myself to post something every Friday, and was doing pretty good for a couple of weeks, and then as you can see, fell off the bandwagon.

Well, with the entire web as my witness, I am going to start posting again. Keep tuned on Fridays. More stuff to come. :)

Speaking at WPPA Quarterly

2008-06-30T23:38:00.002-06:00

Just got back for the Jackson Hole, Wyoming where Master Photographer, Todd Hicken and I spoke at their summer quarterly. We took some very hard situation and show how to make the best of them. Went the BAR-J Ranglers show later the evening. Great people and lots of fun! Thanks to professional photographers of Wyoming for all the good times. Here a few best images...enjoy! Steve

Layer Masks in Photoshop Elements

2008-06-27T13:58:00.005-06:00

I still remember the day my eyes were opened to the magic that is the layer mask. Gone were the days of being extremely careful cutting everything out, using undo with the erase tool, etc. Open was the door of black and white, the constant pressing of the "X" key, etc. It was a much better world!

Sadly though, many of you don't get to live in this world. Those of you who use Photoshop Elements are unable experience the simplicity of pushing a button to create a mask on a layer and the "instant tunnel-in-a-can" effect masks can have. (think old Looney Tune cartoons)

A friend of ours pointed out to us though that if you open up a PSD that has a layer mask already applied to a layer, you can work around this. Hearing this, I was shocked and astonished, mainly because I hadn't thought of it myself. HELLO!!!!! HERE WAS THE ANSWER!!!!

While not the only work around, this one definitely needs a second look.

First off, download and extract/unzip this file:
LayerMask

Once you've done that, open up Elements and open up a file you want to apply a layer mask to. Select all by pressing ctrl-a (or command-a for mac users), and then ctrl-c (command-c) to copy the image.

Now, go to file, open and open the layermask.psd file. Once it opens, select all again by pressing ctrl-a (command-a) and then press ctrl-shift-v (command-shift-v) to paste into this selection. It should paste the image you just opened and copied into the layer we just opened that has a layer mask.

All that is left to do now is to crop in on the image. To do this, since our image is already selected, all we need to do is to go up to the "image" menu, and go down to crop. Your done! You have an image with a layer mask on it. Use this as the base to any edits you would do to this file, and you are set!

Other links of interest:
Layer Masks in Elements

Beginner Lighting Setups

2008-06-18T00:21:00.002-06:00

Just received an email from Calumet tell me about a great offer of $200 any Travelite Kits plus free shipping. If your looking for a starter set I might check this out.

Here's the link

Save up to $200 on a Travelite Kits at Calumet Photographic!
Free Shipping over $75 - no code necessary - end 7.31.08

Adobe Photoshop Express

2008-06-13T17:10:00.005-06:00

Adobe has been working on a web-based image editor, known as Photoshop Express that will allow you to edit your images from any computer anywhere in the world. All you need to do is upload them, then edit them. While certainly not as powerful as full blown Photoshop, Express definitely shows some potential. Plus, Adobe gives you 2GB free to upload images to for editing, sharing, & more.

You can try out the beta by clicking here.

Also, check out a quick demo from Lee Keller and Kim Cavanaugh below:

Applying Edge Treatments

2008-06-13T10:10:00.007-06:00

Had a customer ask me how we apply the edge treatments that we sell on our DVD to our images. So I created a small video tutorial to demonstrate that very thing. I'll post amother tutorial next week on how we use our templates.
Enjoy!
-Steve

Never Quit Trying!

2008-05-28T22:47:00.001-06:00

I saw this on David Jay BLOG and thought it was worth passing on!

Enjoy -Steve

Mark your calendars now!

2008-05-15T14:21:00.004-06:00

With the success of our past classes, we've been looking to be teaching a class in the Provo/Orem Utah area. Yesterday, Steve and I were talking and decided July 12th is the day, so mark your calendars now. We aren't sure on the location yet, but we're most likely going with the Provo City Library. I'll post some more info as we get it nailed down.

In the mean time, if you'd like some more information about the class, what we'll be teaching, etc, check out flyer here. You can also send us an email.

Quick & Dirty Light Tent

2008-04-14T01:28:00.006-06:00

Back in February, Steve received a question about product shots lighting. He mentioned the Photoflex LiteIGLOO available from Pictureline.

I've always wanted to play around with something like this. In doing some searching online a couple of weeks ago, I found various quick and dirty light tent tutorials. The one I put together was very similar to this. I had a chance to play around with it the other night, and I just wanted to show-off the AWESOME results you can get even from something like this.

Other than a custom white balance applied before shooting, a little cropping and vignetting in Photoshop, no color correction or anything has been done to these images. Check 'em out below. :)

Logan Two Day Workshop

2008-04-11T16:42:00.009-06:00

Master photographer Todd Hicken is coming to town to help me teach a two day workshop on June 9th and 10th. If any of you know or have heard of Todd he is a very successful photographer. We have been friend for several years and I admire allot of his business skills as well as his photographic talents. He's sales averages are from $3000 to $15,000 per session! WOW!

"Raising The Bar" is the title of this two day workshop. That is exactly what will happen! A complete demonstration on advance posing or "un-posing" as I call it. To help your clients look their best but not looked posed and uncomfortable. I will show techniques using dimensional lighting. How to use different light sources, outdoor, indoor, and the studio. How to get the very best in every situation.

Then Todd will "lay down the law" on business savvy! He will show how he gets the most out of every sale. What you must do to tip the scale in your favor and quit being a starving artist.

The workshop is a 'hand-on' type of environment and will be held on Monday and Tuesday, June 9-10, 2008. The cost is $299 per person. You'll make it back in you first sale... ten fold! You can receive $100 discount off your registration fees if you bring along two friends.

Here is a FLYER that has a little more information. EMAIL ME with other questions. See ya there! -Steve

Seven New DVDs and My Book!

2008-03-31T01:47:00.006-06:00

Just finished putting together a collection of DVDs that will be very useful guilds to allot of photographer both seasoned and up-incoming. Also a re-releasing a book I wrote a couple for years ago that I've updated for the newer versions of Photoshop. This is a very good book for beginner and intermediate photographers. I will post more about each one of these titles later.

"Best of Families" is a collection of best poses we've taken of groups of families over the past couple years.

"Best of Weddings" is the best wedding images we taken and "Start to Finish I" is a complete wedding from start to finish. This two DVD set.

"Templates" is bar far the greatest! This is a collection of all our templates we produce for all our clients. From senior, baby, wedding announcements to family, senior, children composites. These will bring you instant success.

This set of three DVDs is the Greatest images of all our great seniors from the past three years 2006, 2007, 2008!

"Adventures in Photoshop" is 16 lessons of step by step guilds to better images, B&W, toning, hand colored images, composites, infared images, plus lots more!

...more later! - Steve

New Seminar In Idaho Falls, Idaho

2008-03-31T00:52:00.003-06:00

Announcing a new seminar date in the Idaho Falls, Idaho on April 26th, 2008. The classes in Logan and St. George were a huge success. We have gotten some super feed back.

"Steve, I had such a great time at your photo class and learned a ton." - Russ Ferguson, Vice President, Ready Technologies

"The seminar was wonderful! I was surprised at how much I knew, how much I had forgotten and how much I needed to learn. I feel energized and ready to try new things. I appreciate your sharing so much with us, and not being afraid to show your
mistakes too. Thank you again." - Jana Atkinson

"Thanks so much for the great information. I am so glad I attended the class." -Bonnie King

From more information download a FLYER or EMAIL ME

Fanboys!

2008-03-12T13:17:00.006-06:00

As many of you know, we are big fans of Canon and they're cameras. Though we personally use the 5D and the 20D here at the studio, I just wanted to let you know about the new Rebel XSi that'll be coming out in April and would make an excellent entry-level DSLR. Check out the specs from the link above.

STUFFED!

2008-03-12T13:12:00.004-06:00

WOW! With less than a week to Saturday, our Logan class is FULL!!! Don't let this stop you from coming to one of our other classes though. We still have some spots available for our St. George class on March 20th, as well as our Idaho Falls class. We are already planning our dates for our summer classes as well, so keep an eye out for those.

Check here for more info:

Only Four seats left...

2008-03-04T15:53:00.003-07:00

Just a small note... there is only four seats left for the Logan Seminar! Call me if your thinking about attending. It start 8:00 am Saturday March 15th and run until 5:30 that night. With a lunch from noon till 1:30. Of coarse small breaks here and there... we don't want anyone head exploding from cranial overload! It's going to be hard to jam pack 20+year of photographic experience in the 8 hours. But I'm sure we'll find a way... LOL!

Still lots of spot in the St. George seminar on March 20th and the Idaho Falls is still...... TBA.

Here's a link to the flyer again

Enjoy! - Steve

Product Shots Lighting Question

2008-02-15T16:40:00.006-07:00

Just had a question from a friend about how to light small products on a white background. The first picture below is a samples he was going for and the second is the results he was getting.

What you need to do is a couple of thing:

1) In exposing for a white background with not much detail you need to over expose it by at least 1.5 to 2 stops. Your camera or light meter will average white to 18% grey and if exposed at that exposure it will look grey.

2) In taking shots of small objects I would use a small light tent or igloo. Pictureline in Salt Lake City has a wide range of these table top igloo.

3) You sometime need to get the light coming from underneath the product. I sometimes shoot on white plexiglass to get the desired results.

Hope this helps with your next small product shot!

Later -Steve

Good deal on Soft Boxes

2008-02-13T09:47:00.003-07:00

If your in the market for lighting, here is a pretty good deal on some soft boxes. 50% off is nice especially this time of year. Denny Manufacturing is a good company to get backgrounds and photography accessories. These soft boxes are not the top of the line but good starter soft boxes. I am in love with the light that comes from soft boxes. The bigger the better! To go this special on their website click here. Enjoy -Steve

Tutorial on JPEG Color Correction

2008-02-08T15:49:00.004-07:00

Here is a little tutorial on how to color correct your jpegs images if by chance you shot them in the wrong color mode or an unwanted color cast. Before I started shooting in RAW mode I use to use this technique allot. Let me know what you think and even other tutorials you may like to see.
Later.... Steve

St. George Seminar Scheduled

2008-02-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just confirmed the dates for our seminar in St. George, Utah. March 20th we will be teaching the "7 Steps to WOW!" The morning will be comprised of how the take the best images possible (in only seven steps) and then the afternoon we'll be teaching you how to use Adobe Elements and Photoshop to take those images to the WOW level (again... in only 7 steps). So I guess it's really 14 steps with a lunch in between! Any way you get the drift! This will be a class for all skill levels. It's that easy! Here a link to the program outline.

We have had several calls for Logan seminar so get your reservations made to secure your place!

See ya there... Steve

Highlights from PMA 2008 Convention

2008-02-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Just went to the PMA 2008 Convention in Las Vegas this past week and frankly I was not as impressed as other years that I've gone. I went down for several reasons. One to help my friends at QUICK PRO CAMERA GUILDS watch their booth and answers questions to possible retailers. And second to see any new trends and gadgets coming into the photographic market.

Can never have enough gadgets plus I saw a couple of cool things:

3D Laser-Tak Industries introduced a laser etched portrait on stone. Pretty cool for your high-end clients Take a look their website. They said if youu give them a 5x7 they will send you a free demo! Email me and I'll give you the link.

Corel has introduced Painter Essentials 4. It's is a easy to use version of their higher end platform Painter X. Which the full version cost $390. Essentials 4 retails for only $79. Hopefully we'll be scheduling some training in the near future. I love painter X and use it for some cool painterly effects. But it can be king of confusing. Glad they came out with a knockdown version.

If you ever find yourself clipping out people, trees, groups, etc. from the background your going to love this software. Vertus fluid mask 3 is awesome program with those hard to cut out dealing with hair or tree. I thought I was pretty effient in clipouts. After watching this program work in hair and tree I was sold. The software runs $239, the show special was $40 off. Email me and I give you the link good till Feb. 12th.

I saw some really cool frames from a company called UMBRA. Always looking for something different.

Well got it go... see ya! Steve

"7 Steps to WOW!" Seminar Schedule

2008-01-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Announcing a seminar we will be teaching in the upcoming months. The title of the seminar is "7 STEPS TO WOW!"

We are having one here in Logan, Utah on March 15th. And still trying for some dates in Southeast Idaho and Southern Utah. More info on that later...

Here a link to the SEMINAR FLYER. CALL 435.753.0085 or E-MAIL ME to reserve your spot today!

Some of the HOT Topics!

Posing
Lighting
Composition
Developing your creative eye
Color Correction
RAW vs. JPEG
Workflow
Layer Masking
Templates
Actions
...just to mention a few!

The schedule will be the morning session will cover the seven best thing I've learned in the past 20+ years to raise your photography to the WOW stage.

And then the afternoon session will be the seven best tricks in Adobe Elements or Photoshop to make you images have that WOW factor!

In the Beginning...

2008-01-25T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well... here it is! The very first posting for something that I hope will develop into something very informative and helpful to allot of people in the field of photography. I love photography and I love helping people. I would hope this could develop into a place where everyone, interested in photography, could come learn, share, ask, and ultimately help raise the level of images.
I as well as you know that if anything is a real success it generally has to help others in some way or another. That is my main goal. I also know that if this works it will be by the effort of allot of people. A group usually can accomplish tons more than any one individual can. Ready... Set... GO!