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.

Well that was depressing...

Driving back from a wedding last night we came across a gas station that (obviously) has not been in operation in some time, but the sign still displays the price of gas on the day they closed.

And I am sure at the time I was thinking "OMG, $1.03 for a gallon of gas, are you kidding me?!"

Oh for the good old days.

Welcome to Photoshop Friday...

Today we have put together a plethora of FREEPhotoshop resources and links.

First are the free actions:

50+ handpicked free actions, along with a tutorial on how to load actions into Photoshop

Here's another 50 Free Photoshop actions for amazing photo effects

Photoshop actions for portrait photographers (yup, there are 50 here too)

Fresh Sets of Free Photoshop Actions

Photoshop Actions to Improve Your Workflow

The Big Collection Of Amazing Photoshop Actions


Now, for some free Photoshop tutorials:

A great resource for tutorials is PhotoshopSupport.com

You will find another long list of tutorials Sketch Pad

The Fresh And Amazing Free Photoshop Tutorial Roundup

101 Photoshop tips you have to know

Be sure to check out Photoshop Cafe

30 Killer Free Photoshop Tutorials

What is the "golden hour"?...

The "Golden Hour" can be either the first or the last hour of daylight.

What makes it so special?

This is the time when the sunlight is the softer, more diffuse, and warmer than any other time of the day, heck, this light is so good it (almost) has the ability to make me look handsome.

As Vincent Versace says, "people think that early morning is for breakfast and that late afternoon is for dinner, early morning and late afternoon are for taking pictures...  the time to be shooting is when the sun rises and when the sun sets because that's the prettiest light... people think they are photographing the subject, they're photographing the light, the subject just happens to get in the way of it, it's how the light hits our subject that makes an image interesting".

And though it can be used to take great pictures of anything (such as landscapes) I use it primarily for shooting seniors.

Here are a couple samples of some recent "golden hour seniors".

Click on either image to view larger.

If you would like to find out when the golden hour will be appearing in your neck of the woods you can use the online Golden Hour Calculator. Not only is there a web version, but they also have a free (and a paid) app for your iPhone and your iPad.

Another App option (for both the iPhone and iPad) is the Magic Hour, it's free and has a count down clock displaying when the next magic hour will be or when you are in it, how much time is left.