Check out these images from our readers...

First. if you didn't know we had a Weekly Photo Tips Flickr group, we do. If you would be interested in joining (and I hope you are), you can find the details on joining here.

Second, just a few things about our group, I usually just look at the images and don't spend a lot of time looking at the stats, but last night I did look at the stats and was taken by surprise at just how big our Flickr group has grown. Right now we have 529 members who have uploaded over 3,600 images!

Third, when I post images from our readers I usually just post the images and say nothing, letting them speak for themselves, but today I am going to share my thoughts on what I like about each of the images.

This image is from Zero Cem, he shares a lot of images of the night sky, they are always colorful and beautiful to look at. I usually look at them with my mouth open and wonderment on my face. In this shot he was lucky enough to capture a falling star. I like the fact that he includes a sliver of land at the bottom of the image so that we have orientation. On the technical side, the rule of thirds is represented on both the placement of the earth and stars.

"Boats" is from psyco babble and as soon as I saw it, it evoked a feeling of stillness, of quiet and isn't that what images are supposed to do, evoke an emotion? Love the composition and the sky. The colorful boats "pop" off the image.

This image from D2 does just the opposite, you see the action and movement and can hear the motorcycle as it goes by. It is suggested to use the corners of your image to control the viewers eye movement and that is done beautifully here, the rider comes from the bottom right corner and is heading out the upper left. Well done.

I love nature/landscape photography and this is a great image from fatlab99. Great use of thirds here as well, bottom third of the field, top two thirds of the trees.

Another nature/landscape Birch Path from Ken Rowland.. He controls the viewers eye beautifully with the use of a vignette and placement of the path.

I am going to close with this portrait of Josiah from lkaldeway. What is not to like about this image, love the catch lights in his eyes, the way his face is framed in the image, and it has a feeling that essence of Josiah was captured in this shot. And how cool is it that they were having fun taking pictures during a power outage.

Be sure to click on each image to view it larger.

These are just a tiny sampling of all the great photos posted on our group page and thanks to everyone that participates. I always look forward to seeing your work. Keep it up!

A Photoshop Friday with suggestions, Q&A...

Before launching into todays "Photoshop Friday" here are the links to the last two "free Photoshop actions and tutorials" and a listing of "my favorite Photoshop podcasts".

Today we have two suggestions for Photoshop resources from our readers, both of which are outstanding and not really sure how I missed either of them.

 

The first is The Russell Brown Show, how I missed this one is beyond me. A bazillion video tutorials 5 to 10 minutes long and covering Photoshop CS4, CS5, and CS6.

The next is just as big of an omission gaff, especially considering I have been a huge fan for quite some time, Terry White.

If you are (relatively) new to Photoshop you will want to watch his latest offering, "10 Things Beginners Want to Know How to Do", it's just over 40 minutes long and worth every second.

Last week Ed asked the question: "I was wondering if you knew of similar resources for *video* (e.g. "Premiere Pro Killer Tips")"?

Why Ed, yes, yes I do.

Check out Creative Cows Premiere Pro tutorials, it's available on their website or via iTunes.

I've mentioned Creative Cow in previous posts, but not this particular resource. Creative Cow has video tutorials on sooooo many subjects, and one of the things I like is they will offer them in two "different Flavors", a low res version (SD) for quick downloading of the files that will easily fit on a smartphone or tablet, they also have a hi res version (HD) just in case you wanted to watch it on a larger monitor or TV.

If you follow this link you can see a listing of all the educational offerings available from Creative Cow.

Check out these 4 photography deals...

Here are four deals for photo gear you might find both interesting AND useful.

Each one comes with free shipping.

A Kata GDC Series R-101 Small Rucksack that has lots of room for a body, lenses, a flash (or two) and your laptop for over 50% off - just $49.95

This Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density ND Filter is always a popular item, it lets you go as low as two stops and as high as 8 stops and is on sale for - $149.95 (this is similar to the kind of filter used in our Scott Kelby long exposure tutorial)

The last deals we have for you today is the between two memory cards, a SanDisk 32GB Extreme Compact Flash memory card (60MB/S read/write, UDMA enabled) - $77.95

Or a Lexar 32GB Professional 400x Compact Flash memory card (60MB/S read/write, UDMA enabled) - $69.95

Finding & photographing fall foliage...

If you are interested in photographing (or just taking a nice ride to view) fall foliage, we have put together a bunch of links that will help you in that endeavor.

First, the links on shooting fall foliage:

1. Here are tips and answers to questions about shooring foliage from About.com

2. Quick Tips on photographing fall foliage from Canon

3. The state of Vermont has put together a page on fall foliage shooting tips

4. You can learn what Filters will enhance your Nature Photography here

Now, onto where (and when) to find the optimal time to shoot in your area:

1. The weather channel has put together a national and regional maps tracking peak foliage

2. VividLight.com has put together a great number of links tracking (and shooting) the changing of fall colors

3. Yankee Magazine has anything and everything to do with fall foliage on their site, daily reports, scenic drives, tours, and even a kids section

4. VisitingNewEngland.com also has a great deal of useful information on fall foliage

Below are state by state fall foliage links, tips, and videos, all specific to your state

AL - AR - CA - CO - CT - DE - GA - ID - IL - IN - IA - ME - MD - MA - MI - MN - MO - NH - NJ - NY - NC -OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - TN - VT - VA - WA - WV - WI

And we'll end this post with a video tutorial, lesson 1 of shooting fall foliage (here is lesson 2, lesson 3, and lesson 4):

Welcome to another Photoshop Friday...

Last week we shared with you lists of free Photoshop actions and online tutorials.

This week I am going to share my favorite FREE Adobe Photoshop podcasts.

Yes there are a bunch of places you can go and PAY for Photoshop training, but the links you find below are so good, so thorough, that it makes paying for it absolutely unnecessary (and kinda silly).

The things I like best about podcasts is that they are usually produced in smaller, bite size, easy to digest segments, you can download them to your computer, smart phone, or tablet and you can watch them on a schedule that works for you.

They are all available directly from their website or you can download (or just them watch) in iTunes.

And yes, as I mentioned free, so your only investment is time.

So lets get to it.

Any list would need to start with the mac daddy of them all, Photoshop User TV.

Another offering from the Kelby stable is Photoshop Killer Tips.

If you are a fan of Matt Kloskowski (which I am) you can also find him at Photoshop with Matt.

Richard Harrington can be found doing tutorials all over the place, he does a ton of them, including Understanding Adobe Photoshop.

Creative Cow has tutorials on many things, here is where you will find their Photoshop Tutorials.

Photoshop for Digital Photographers and another to check out.

I didn't do a search and make a list, I recommend these podcasts because I subscribe and watch every one of them.

If there is a podcast that you find useful but it's not on this list please drop us an email so we can share it with the class.

And we will finish up our Pinterest conversation next week.

5 Pinterest Ideas from Zach Prez...

(As part of this Pinterest 3 day super session, here is our past from February)

We have the honor of a very special guest blogger today on Weekly Photo Tips... ladies and gentlemen Mr. Zach Prez (the sound of thundering applause)...



5 Pinterest Ideas for Photography Businesses
Pinterest is the latest social network taking the photography and consumer community by storm. It turned the vision board concept (poster board with goals, ideas, and styles) into an online gallery where visions can be shared, rated, and commented.

This is photography gold, especially for wedding photographers, because brides are an ideal audience to pin wedding images to remember. As photographers, we supply the image that they pin (you can pin ANY web image and brides are scouring wedding websites and blogs), their followers see our work, and boom – a word of mouth lead is generated.

On my blog, I talked about the marketing opportunities available for photographers on Pinterest.

Here are 5 quick ideas to use Pinterest to grow your business.

1. Every webpage needs an image

If you’re using Pinterest you know the frustration of trying to save a page that doesn’t have a good image with it. I recently changed my photo strategy on my blog to include a “pinnable” image for each post. Flash sites don’t have images to be pinned, something to think about!

2. Make it easy for others to pin and follow you

Every page should have a Pin It button, preferably next to the image. Include a Follow Me on Pinterest button as well so your pins can stream through your follower’s Pinterest homepage. Visit the Pinterest Goodies page to grab these buttons. My favorite thing about the Pin It button is the ability to set the image and description that your readers will pin.

Don’t forget to add your Pinterest URL everywhere you currently promote your Facebook URL: email signature, business cards, forums, etc.

3. Write quality descriptions for your pins

Text descriptions support the image and tell people what to expect on the full page where the image lives. Use this as a call to action to tell users to click the image and visit your site. For example a pinned image of a newborn can have a description that says “Click this image to view 10 great newborn baby poses from @zachprez.” Now people want to click, and I’ve branded my name to be visible when anyone repins the post.

4. Watermark photos

You can’t control what people will pin, or the descriptions they write. Insure you get brand recognition and credit for the photo by watermarking everything. I started adding my Pinterest handle @zachprez as a way to brand myself in photos without a big logo or long domain name. People can instantly recognize me as the creator of the photo and find me on Pinterest.

5. Create boards clients will value

Do clients really want to follow a board with every photo you’ve ever taken? Probably not. But they do want ideas for their next photo shoot with you. What to wear, how to style hair, potential props, how to pose, etc. Then after the session they may want ideas about photo products (mugs, calendars, canvases, etc), wall hanging guides… you get the idea.

A great use of inspiration boards comes from Sacramento photographer Jill Carmel.

“I’ve created inspiration boards for every different kind of shoot I do: pregnancy, newborn, kids, teens and families. My customers can visit my Pinterest page and get inspired and involved when it comes to clothing, locations, and poses. Additionally, to back up my sales, I’ve included a board on wall display ideas, providing lots of options for putting portraits around the home. The more inspired my customers are about their session, the more emotionally invested they become in the resulting images. Pinterest helps me to get my customers more involved in their own sessions, resulting in happier people and larger sales.”

You can see Jill’s boards at this link.


Pin It

Pinterest is one of 55 ideas offered in a new eBook from Zach Prez and Wendy Roe called 55 Smart Web Ideas for Photographers.

Zach has 10 years of internet marketing experience and has been helping photographers succeed online for over 3 years. He is the author of 7 eBooks. Follow his Pinterest boards for photographers for more ideas on marketing.

The interest in Pinterest...

Here is a graphic from Modea that barely scratches the surface when it comes to just how popular Pinterest is.

And really, who is better suited for using Pinterest as a marketing tool than photographers?

I am surprised at how many times I have heard from a bride "I saw your images in Pinterest".

Click on the image to view it larger (and so you can actually read it).

If you would like to see even more impressive statistical analysis on who  Pinterest is being used and who is using it, follow the link to the post "Just Pin It" from Modea.

Should Pinterest still require an invitation to join just drop us an email and we'll send you one.

This week we will be following up with more posts on how to best your Pinterest to market your photography.