SE April 2010

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE SOUTHERN EXPOSURE online publication of seppa

Mary-Fisk Taylor

Learning Lessons the Hard Way

Victoria Kelly

Yep, There’s an APP for That

April Showers & Solutions

Jamie Hayes

cover art “Got’ cha…!”

Joe Campanellie

APRIL 2010

from the editor I hope you are ready to get your minds filled! The April issue is so full of information that I am sure you will want to print out the pages and keep them stored for reference.

Are you planning on entering the affiliated print competition? There are four writers speaking specifically about competition. I URGE you to compete. You will only become a better image maker.

Ego, schmego. Leave it at the door and get four of your best images together and see what happens.

You may even surprise yourself.

Our good friend Jamie Hayes takes us on an outdoor adventure that we can all relate to. What would you do on a rainy day? All the answers are found in this incredible lighting demonstration.

Mary Fisk-Taylor takes us all on a very important legal journey. Get out your pens and pads, you will want to take notes.

Do you like those way cool grunge effects? Suzette Allen teaches us how to do it. I did a practice run on it this morning, and even I can do it!

You will love it.

One more thing, did you know “There is an APP for that?” Well, there is. Victoria Kelly shows you how to get your own studio APP. I’ve got one for my studio. You will love it.

Have a great month!

Doug Peninger

M. Photog., Cr., CPP, F. Ph. Editor SEPPA 1st Vice-President ncdoug01@triadbiz.rr.com

the Pages SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

April 2010

Learn

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Cover Artist

9

Melanie Burney

12

Kevin Newsome

Joe Campanellie

Print Competition 101

Humbug

13 16 21 24 27 33

8

Attend

38

Georgia Convention

18

East Coast School

19

PPNC Eastern Guild

26

Mississippi/Alabama Convention

32

PPA - Imaging USA

37

Florida School

1

11

12 20 36

“Kylie” by Victoria Kelly Victoria has used Photo Duds to enhance this image.

40 42

Cheri MacCallum

My Take on the 12 Elements

Victoria Kelly

Yep, there’s an APP for That

Jamie Hayes

April Showers & Solutions

Janel Pahl

Part One: Giving theGift

Suzette Allen

Making a Grunge Brush

Mary Fisk-Taylor

Learning Lessons the Hard Way

Janet Boschker

Print competition & Children

Shop

Showcase Miller’s

Academy Productions White House Custom Color Pro Photo Imaging Little Dreamers Designs CCI Lab 3

eb

bog

Board of Governors

Executive Board

Chairman of the Board Kevin Newsome kevin@newsomesstudio.com Mary Alice Ross maryaliceross@gmail.com

President 1st Vice-President

Doug Peninger ncdoug01@triadbiz.rr.com

Delaware

*** Peggy Parkinson

District of Columbia

Joe Tessmer

Florida

***Debbie Alcorn Terri Crownover

Secretary/Treasurer Anthony Rumley anthony@anthonyrumley.com

Georgia

Print Exhibition Chair Randy McNeilly

randy@mcneillyphotography.com

Executive Director Thomas McCollum seppa@bellsouth.net

***LaRita Hulsey Sherri Noftsinger

Maryland

2nd Vice-President George Singleton george.singleton6@verizon.net

Southern Exposure Southern Exposure magazine is an online publication of SEPPA and is published monthly.

Mississippi/Alabama

***Darrell Ivy Gill Brady

Editor Doug Peninger NCDOUG01@triadbiz.rr.com 336-883-7104

North Carolina

***Sherry Whitt Janet Boschker

Ad Sales & Business Manager Thomas McCollum seppa@bellsouth.net 888-272=3711

South Carolina

***Wilber Jeffcoat Jimmy Wood

Deadlines Article & Ad Submission 5th of each month Proofs 20th of each month On-Line Publication 1st of each month SEPPA 2712 Marcia Drive Lawrenceville, GA 30044 888-272-3711 www.4seppa.com

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***John Stein David Corry

Acceptance of advertising does not carry with it endorsement by the publisher. Opinions expressed by Southern Exposure or any of its authors does not neccesarily reflect the positions of the Southeastern Professional Photographers Association.

Tennessee

***Kendall Mathes Jan Wilson

Virginia

Robert Holman ***state presidents representative

As your state president and SEPPA representative changes, please inform Tom McCollum, so we may update our records.

SEPPA state links

Additional information of state events within the SEPPA District can be found using the state links below. Please view their websites by clicking on the web address and you will be re-directed.

DELAWARE

mississippi/alabama

www.delawarephotographers.com

www.ppma.net

District of Columbia www.ppsgw.org

Florida www.fpponline.org

north carolina www.ppofnc.com

south carolina www.ppofsc.com

georgia

tennessee

www.gppa.com

www.tnppa.com

Maryland

virginia

www.marylandppa.com

www.vppa.org

5

Cover

Artist Joe Campanellie

For close to 25 years Joe Campanellie, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, F-ASP has forged a national reputation as a children portrait photographer. It’s what he and his wife Mary Jean built their studio on.

But a few years ago he started to feel that burning down deep inside that a lot of us get for new creative challenges and direction.

That urge brought him full circle and back to his original roots in photography. After attending a seminar by one of the world’s foremost avian photographers, his new “passion” was born. What began as a series of trips to Florida and Alaska to decompress soon became a body of work that re-defined him as a nature photographer. And this new passion has reaped many rewards, both professionally and artistically.

Joe was a very busy man at Imaging USA this past January, claiming some of the industry’s most prestigious honors, including the American Society of Photographers’ Gold Medallion Award, a PPA Diamond Photographer of the Year Award, a PPA Imaging Excellence Award and the attainment of his ASP Fellowship Degree. It was his new-found love of avian photography that motivated him to aspire to the ASP Fellowship Degree. He has also been awarded 25 Kodak Gallery Awards, including two Gallery Elite Awards, and “Image Maker of the Year” for the past 5 years in both Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Quote: “I learned through my nature photography how important it is to give yourself permission to explore your own creative pursuits in order to avoid burnout. I feel very strongly that giving yourself permission and the time to “play” is such an important part of the creative process.”

Note: Images chosen for the cover of Southern Exposure are first place or distinguished award winners from the annual affiliated judging.

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“Got’cha” was photographed at one of my favorite tidal lagoons in Florida. If anything, my new interest in avian photography has taught me that patience is “the” key factor. Just when you are ready to leave is usually when the action starts to happen and you create your best images. The lagoon was extremely quiet that morning until a few Great White Egrets showed up for their morning meal.

Knowing that they can be extremely territorial I decided to wait for the action to start. It didn’t take long either. The egret portrayed in “Got’cha” had just caught a fish when another egret tried to steal it so he took off. I knew right away that this image was special. My only hope was that I had him framed properly as well as in focus.

“Got’cha” Awards: ASP Gold Medallion Award ASP Loan Collection Print SEPPA Distinguished Award Kodak Gallery Award Maryland and Pennsylvania Illustrative Photograph of the Year

Melanie Burney, assistant print salon chair

PrintCompetition Competition 101 Pr int 1 01 How to Register for 2010 SEPPA Affiliated Print Competition

All Rules are Online & Pre-Registration is Open Print Judging Dates are: April 9 & 10 It is that time and many of you have already found the online registration forms and have registered your cases but this is a reminder for the rest of you. Simply visit www.4seppa.com and click on the Print Competition link and you will see the registration.

The Deadline for Online Registration is April 1, 2010.

All cases registered after that date will incur a $50 late fee.

No cases will be accepted after April 6, 2010.

Three Canon “Par Excellence� Awards will be awarded again this year!

This Award will be given for Photographic Open, Commercial & Electronic Imaging. For More Information check the SEPPA website.

Numerous other Awards will also be given.

Remember the Buddy Stewart Scholarship is for a First Time Entrant that has the highest case average. You must enter 4 prints to be eligible.

Should you have any trouble or questions regarding the online registration please contact Melanie Burney at (912) 367-0369 or melburney@gmail.com. All other questions should be directed to Randy McNeilly at (704) 482-0011 or randy@mcneillyphotography.com.

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Kevin Newsome

a

Few Moments with…

Major news networks and magazines all have editorial features.

SEPPA is lucky to have our very own Kevin Newsome.

Kevin is featured each month as he gives us his latest rant. Some things may hit home, some may be surprisingly poignant. When it’s all said and done, it’s just Kevin’s opinion and he thought he should share it. We, at Southern Exposure, hope you will enjoy this month’s installment of “A Few Moments With...”. This month, HUMBUG. (Click on the title, HUMBUG, and you will be linked to the video.)

Do you compete in print competition? Think about it.

HUMBUG HUMBUG

Cheri MacCallum

My Take on the

12 Elements

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.

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”.

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

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 com“Get better. Try new things. Enter print competipetition. We need to be able to take criticism to learn and grow. If a judge tion and get your work trashed and decimated in a offers a criticism, don’t be offended and don’t be so emotionally attached to public forum, take notes and enter again. Bring to your image that you can’t listen to advice. I suggest going to see a state, a boil, don’t reduce to a simmer, burn the pot and regional or national print competition to see what it’s all about. grab a bigger one.”

Cheri MacCallum continues on Page 14 13

The 12 Elements 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 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.

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.

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 whose work we recognize because we know their style. While we shouldn’t copy someone’s style exactly, we can be inspired and borrow style elements from 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 the 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.

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5) PRESENTATION – Presentation is how you 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 Art 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 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. For 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 example, 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 you 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 when 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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Victoria Kelly

“There’s an

APP

We’ve all seen the television commercials...the perky music starts playing, the hands holding the iPhone start paging through the apps...and the voice says something like this: “Let’s say you wanted to see the “who’s who” by checking out a new picture everyday...or wanted to keep up with all the stuff that’s happening in your favorite photography studio...or maybe even wanted to book an appointment for your senior pics...let’s say you wanted to connect with us on Facebook or Twitter...well, there’s an app for that!”

It’s time to face facts...the photography industry is more competitive than ever and to truly stand out we must market smarter and more creatively. More importantly, we must work to give our clients the proper tools to market for us. One of the first lessonst in Marketing 101 is that word of mouth is the tried and true way of getting qualified new business.

When clients are talking with others the best thing we can do is arm them with a portable “tool” that encapsulates all of the marketing we are already doing into something they always have with them--their phones.

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for that”

Let me introduce you to ProPhotoApps.com. and to Joy Vertz of Shoot the Moon Photography in Mequon, Wisconsin. She’s the photographer behind much of the feature-rich design of an iPhone app that enables each studio to have its own custom branded presence as a free download for clients in the iTunes store. It should be noted that the initial idea for ProPhotoApps spent most of its first year kicking around on paper before being delivered to the tech side for development. One of the first things you’ll discover about the app is that it has a real-time component allowing the studio owner to update news and other information which immediately shows up on the iPhone.

(This piece of the design was a bit of a technological hurdle and currently has a patent pending.)

The app itself is very easy to set up... the purchase price of $249 includes the initial submission to Apple and the hosting of your individual web portal for one year. You’ll design your studio icon and decide what to call your app...I settled on “VKPhotography” because it’s my Twitter name and Facebook page.

You’ll also need a short bio for your studio...this information is displayed in the iTunes store as the description for your app.

After filling in the other pertinent information like your website and contact info, you’re just about ready to press the button and submit to the support team at ProPhotoApps.

They’ll do a final check of everything you’ve included and then bundle your package off to Apple.

Now comes the fun part...one of the primary features is the “daily pic”...you can upload up to 90 images into your web portal library that can be cycled randomly or with an assigned date to be displayed. I made a small template that includes a clipping mask inside a deckle edged rectangle so that each image looks like a vintage photograph and wrote an action that would do a “save for web” into a folder to upload to my library.

If you’re a Blackberry or Droid user, not to fret...plans are in place to deploy for those platforms sometime around late summer 2010.

I’m so sold on this little gem I’ve managed to snag a pretty sweet deal for you...enter “seppa” into the code box when making your purchase and you’ll receive $30 off from April 1st through May 15th. Who loves ya, baby?

In the end, we are becoming a digital nation and the iPhone app will give your clients instant access to all of the marketing you’re currently doing in one handy little device. So the next time you hear that catchy little tune on your television, you can smile to yourself and say, “yep, there IS an app for that”.

It takes about 2 weeks for your app to be reviewed by Apple and loaded into the iTunes store. I took that time to build my “news” stories so that I wouldn’t be rushed to get information about upcoming events and such ready when the app went live.

Another feature that really got me excited is the booking request. Your clients can request a session for a specific date and time and an alert email comes to your inbox.

After using your web portal to confirm the request an email is sent back to the client. Nice, eh? You can even tailor specific content to each client by utilizing the “for you” feature.

Since your interaction with the app is done via the web portal, having your own iPhone isn’t a requirement. But I’m willing to bet that a lot of your clients have iPhones, and if they don’t, they have an iTouch and will probably add an iPad to their collections. (And then there’s the reality that it totally ups your “cool” factor...a “must have” if you’re photographing tech-savvy seniors.)

contact CONTACT

Victoria Kelly vkelly@victoriakellyphotography.com www.victoriakellyphotography.com 17

White House Custom Colour, Your Professional Photographic and Press Printing Partner

Photographic Prints

Gallery Wraps

Color consistency and quality make WHCC the choice for many professional photographers. We offer photographic prints on Kodak Endura professional papers in lustre, glossy, and metallic in a variety of sizes from wallets to 30x40 and larger.

Fine art and photographic Gallery Wraps are available in three different paper options, three protective laminates, two depths and custom sizing. Orders include free UPS ground shipping and typically ship in two days.

Press Printed Cards

Press Printed Cards are available in 4x5.5, 5x5 and 5x7 sizes as folded and flat styles as well as 5x7 Wide Format, 5x5 Trifold and 4x5.5 Accordion. Cards come in quantities as low as 25, include envelopes, and are offered in five papers.

Press Printed Books WHCC Press Printed Books are unmatched in print quality, craftsmanship, and turnaround with most books shipping the next day! Books are available in nine sizes with eight cover options including a custom metallic photographic cover. Inside pages are printed on a magazine style text weight or lay flat hinged paper in standard or pearl.

White House Custom Colour is a full service, professional photographic lab and press printer. In addition to the showcased products, we offer a full line of products and services to make a positive impact on your goals for continued success in building your photographic business. For more information visit our website, www.whcc.com Visit pro.whcc.com/go/Start today to open your WHCC account.

Jamie Hayes

April Showers

Well, Bring Lots of Problems

Well here we are in the rainy month, as if the snow hasn’t been bad enough! This month’s image is a great example of additive light, using strobe outdoors in bad lighting situations.

original portrait

contact CONTACT Hayes & Fisk: The Art of Photography (804) 740-9307 www.hayesandfisk.com jamie@hayesandfisk.com

We create lots of portraits of siblings that need to match the first child’s portrait. Having to create the exact same lighting as a portrait you created several years earlier is no easy task! Creating the same lighting on a rainy day verses a sunny day is even more challenging, but not impossible for the photographer with the proper lighting skills. Understanding both additive (the use of strobe added to the subject) and subtractive (the use of diffusion panels or scrims to subtract light from the subject) lighting techniques will equip you with all the tools that you need to work in ANY difficult lighting condition.

Jamie Hayes continues on Page 22 21

Thus we have our challenge for this month!

I created the first portrait for Jackie’s oldest daughter on a sunny day in the morning (Original Portrait). I knew that I would be creating a complementary portrait for each of her children at the same age, in the same dress and they would be displayed in Jackie’s home in the same room. This is usually an easy task for me because I have used the same additive style of lighting for 16 years, deliberately! If I don’t change the style of lighting for an outdoor portrait ( we will go into great depth on this lighting technique next moth!) I will be able to remember how I created any portrait anytime, right?!!

Fast forward to child number two on a misty, rainy morning who is about to pop out of the back of the dress that her sister fit into perfectly. (Available Light Only Photo) At this point most photographers would have just rescheduled the session, not me!!! Using a few strobes and one warming gel I have to “ make it work.” That’s what being “professional” is all about, using your knowledge to work in any situation, right?!!!

Available Light Only Photo 2

First I must use the same main light that I used before. The same soft box and same strobe must be used to match the contrast and shape of the subject’s face as close as possible.

(Photo 2) (Photo3) Next I placed a 3x4 soft box behind and slightly to the left of the subject at 1 ½ stops brighter than the main light to create the highlight on the back wall of the gazebo and to give separation to the subject, matching the original light created by the natural sun light in the original portrait. I had to try different angles and zoom settings on the Profoto strobe to achieve the same look as in the original image.

(Photo 4) (Photo 5) Now for the hair light. I used the zoom reflector on my Profoto 600R covered with a warm Amber Rosco gel over the front of the reflector to add warmth and detail to the back of the girl’s hair and the plants and flowers in the gazebo.

Profoto strobes allow for more precision “focusing” of any light modifier attached to the front, even Soft boxes! Using a smaller more contrasty light again closely matches the sun light in the original portrait.

(Photo 6 & 7)

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Photo 3 Main Light Only

Photo 4 Photo 5 Soft Box Added

Photo 6

Photo 8 shows the overall view with the accent light just outside of the frame to the right. Photo 9 shows the relative position of the 3x4 soft box and the hair light strobe.

I used NIK White Neutralizer, Skylight and Viveza 2 to enhance the images and create the warmth that the sun provided in the original portrait. I couldn’t live without NIK Filters, just buy them ALL OF THEM!!!!!

Having a repeatable additive lighting system for outdoor portraiture will allow you the comfort of knowing that whatever mother nature throws at you. you can handle. You can’t do that with a reflector!

Photo 7

Photo 8

new portrait Photo 9

Final Image

23

Janel Pahl

This is the first installment of the second section of a thesis from Janel Pahl, as she takes you on her lifelong journey. Janel will be the opening day speaker for the 2011 convention in Athens.

the

GIFT

Part one of:

Giving the Gift

May 1st was always a special day of the year

*Janel Pahl has given permission to the editor to re-produce her thesis.

Please see previous issues to review part one: Receiving the Gift.

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for my mother and me. She taught me the tradition of May Day at a very early age. “You make the baskets with the construction paper and I’ll go clip some flowers,” she would instruct me.

Sometimes I would weave different colored papers together for one basket, or simply fold the paper corner to corner. We would fill the baskets with fragrant roses, purple iris, white spiarhea and smiling yellow daffodils. “Remember,” my mother would say, “be very quiet, ring the doorbell and then RUN”! My heart would beast fast as I crept up to our neighbor’s door. I would reach out, push the doorbell and run like I’ve never run before.

I never got caught. I loved that feeling of leaving a gift anonymously. Today, after teaching my children the same tradition and watching them run up the street with baskets full of flowers, I think of my mother and what she taught me about generosity filled with love.

Eventually with much diligence, I “saw the light”. That was a turning point for my photography. Not only did I learn to place my subjects in beautiful portrait light in the studio as well as outdoors, but I also saw the light in my purpose as a photographer. Pulling together all that I had learned from so many people over the years made my life and my art richer.

Each person that touched my life contributed to my style.

Each positive and supportive word from those people lives within me and contributes to each image that I create. My images transformed from stiff and plain to ones with beauty and emotion. For my clients, the images brought tears, smiles, hugs, and thank yous. For myself, I received a deep sense of satisfaction knowing that I had touched them in a special way.

How wonderful to create a gift for others that will truly be cherished and enjoyed for many years to come.

Knowing the importance of where my art had taken me didn’t really dawn on me until I met a most courageous woman named Cynthia Dickerson.

I had photographed she and her daughter in my garden, knowing that she had cancer. After a year and a half never coming in to see the proofs a friend of hers called and asked me to make up a 30x40 canvas for her quickly because she was dying. Through the understanding and compassion of the people at my lab, I had a finished portrait within a week. Cynthia called me the next day and told me how much she and her husband loved it. In fact her husband came home twice within the day just to sit and stare at it. At that time I realized that there were many other beautiful images so I quickly put together a small album of twenty prints. I went to her house, fully expecting that I would simply leave it on the front porch. When I arrived, the front door was wide open and Cynthia was sitting on the sofa.

She motioned me to come in and I gave her the album. Very slowly and carefully she looked at each page touching each photograph. When she finished she quietly closed the book and looked directly into my eyes. The expression on her face was peaceful and serene. Her words came out slowly but with incredible strength. “Janel, you have given me life.”

Janel Pahl will continue in May, with Part Two of “Giving the Gift.”

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Suzette Allen

Grunge Brush grunge brush

Making a

and clean up with profits!

This month we will make a great Grunge Brush from a simple photo of cement, and then use it for distressing, creating edges and all sorts of fun things! You will be amazed at the many uses you will find for a simple grungy distresser brush! It’s not just for Seniors anymore!

Step One: Start with a simple shot of cement or rocks or grass or dirt or anything with a bit of texture, but not too much. Color doesn’t matter. (See Photo 01) If you want to download this photo, feel free to log into www.ShopSuzette.com and download it for FREE! (visit the Free Downloads Section).

Photo 2 Photo 1

Step Two:

Photo 3

Go to Image>Adjustments>Threshold (See Photo 02) and adjust the slider to get a variable tone of B&Ws that makes a nice texture. (See Photo 03) This may take a bit of experimentation to know where to stop. Click ok. Now you have the start of a good brush, but remember the portion that makes the brush must be black, not white. So you may need to inverse the image to get the desired area in black. In this case, I needed to, so I pressed Ctrl/Cmd+I. (See Photo 04)

Photo 4

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Photo 5

Step Three: Before you can make a brush, you need to be sure your image is SMALLER than 2500 pixels on the longest side, so go to Image>Image Size to make sure it is—if not, change it to be 2500 or less. Otherwise, the brush preset creator will be unavailable.

Maximum size for a brush is 2500 pixels.

(See Photo 05)

Step Four: Once your image is the right size, either draw a marquee around the area you wish to use, or press Ctrl/Cmd+A to select all, then go to Edit> Define Brush Preset.

(See Photo 06) Ta-Da—you just created a rough distresser brush!

(See Photo 07) Odds are, it needs to be refined, though, so the next part shows you how to do that.

Photo 6

Photo 7

Step Five: Now I want you to minimize your rock document, (you might want to further modify or try again, so don’t close it yet), and create a new document that is 10x10 at 300 dpi. Then choose the brush tool, scroll to the last brush in the list (the one you just made) and select it. Set black for your foreground color at 100% opacity and stamp that brush right in the middle of the page. (See Photo 08) If you used my rock image, you probably have a straight edge and a couple nice ragged edges.

We need to rough up ALL the edges!

Photo 8

Step Six: Using the same brush you just made, switch to white at 100% opacity and use the brush to paint over the edges of the black brush mark to rough up the edges that are straight. Just dab on white to make the top and side edges ragged. (See Photo 09) Photo 9

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You may need to rotate your brush to avoid using the straight side, so go to the brush palette (window>brushes) and click on Brush Tip Shape. (See Photo 10) Rotate the little bulls-eye on the right side to roll over the brush to further soften edges.

(See Photo 11)

Photo 10

Photo 12

Photo 11

Step Seven: Once you are satisfied with the shape of your grunge brush, make a marquee around it and go again to Edit>Define Brush Preset to make a new brush.

(See Photo 12) (you will probably throw away the first one) (to do so: on the brush menu or palette: flyout>delete brush)

Photo 13

Step Eight:

Photo 14

But wait, there’s still more to do! Now I want you to go to the brush tool and choose the new brush you just made and then use white again and distress THAT brush even more! This one should be more faint and loose. (See Photo 13) When it looks good, go again to Edit>Define Brush and make a third distresser brush. (See Photo 14) You will probably use this one most.

Step Nine: Ok, now is the refining process. Start fresh with a new 10x10 (or fill the one you have been using with white again for a fresh drawing board). If you choose the last brush you just made and swipe it on the palette, you will probably get something that looks like this: (See Photo 15) Not that great, huh?—you can really see a repeating pattern, even though it is a random design.

No sweat—we will fix it right now!

Photo 15

Step Ten: Now you can open up the Brush palette again (window>brushes) and let’s get creative. The problem is the brush needs to rotate and scatter a bit so we don’t see the repeat. So check the first box, and click on the WORD, “Shape Dynamics” and set the top slider, “Size Jitter”, to “0” and control to “OFF” (no size jitter) then move the “Angle Jitter” over until your brush rolls over a little. I did 40% , but do whatever looks good. Set the Control for the Angle Jitter to “OFF” so it rolls over consistently. Try a new swipe and see the difference! (See Photo 16)

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Step Eleven: Now you could go one step further and let it scatter a bit. For that, click the next menu down “Scattering” (click the word! Not just the box!). I added about 63% scatter (just a teeny bit) and the control is “off”. Do whatever looks good and try another swipe to test it. This is what I got: (See Photo 17) Photo 17

Photo 16

Step Twelve: Now this looks great, but the brush will not stay that way unless you save it! So go to the flyout on the Brush Palette to “define brush preset” and name your new brush: “grunge scatter” (See Photo 18) The brush will look identical to the plain one in the brush menu, so go ahead and throw away the plain one now. (flyout>delete brush).

Wow—You just created an awesome distresser brush that is great for all kinds of things! Here are a few samples of images I have made with this exact brush and others that are very similar: It works great for a spongy color effect around the edges of composites, and for texturizing backgrounds for added dimension too.

(See Photo 19, 20, 21)

Photo 19

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Photo 18

Photo 20

Photo 21

I have also used it to take other brushes and distress them to get a more stylized look and create even more variety in my brush options! Don’t forget to create a new brush after you distress them.

(See Photo 22, 23) Once you have given some of your brushes a new look, remember the only place you can organize and group your brushes is in Edit>Preset Manager.

Have fun getting grungy and creative at the same time!

Photo 22 Editor’s Note: Suzette Allen has graciously given permission to the editor of Southern Exposure to publish portions of her Suzette’s Smart Series. This and other articles are re-printed with permission from the author.

Photo 23

contact CONTACT You may contact Suzette Allen at: suzette@suzetteallen.com or visit her website, www.suzetteallen.com 31

Mary Fisk-Taylor

Learning Lessons the

Hard Way This month I want to take a minute and talk to you about something I know a lot about, MAKING MISTAKES. I can spend time sharing marketing ideas, sales plans and even discuss posing and lighting, but the thing that I feel very confident discussing is the mistakes that I have made along the way.

I have co-owned a photography studio for over 15 years and recently opened a new studio with my family, but that is not the mistake I am talking about!

Several weeks ago I received a summons from the county sheriff and much to my shock a client was suing me in small claims court. I was shocked and needless to say very upset by this situation. I reviewed the claim and remembered this client, her session and her complaint but never thought she would have the nerve to sue me.

We had photographed the plaintiff’s daughter’s senior portraits back in the summer and from the very beginning they were difficult clients. However, in an effort to satisfy the client we worked through broken sales appointments, a grumpy teen-ager and even a re-shoot for the yearbook photo due to a hair malfunction.

I really thought we had handled this with the utmost customer care and service. After all, we had truly bent over backwards, even honored a last minute and suspiciously bogus gift certificate just to get through this session.

When the client finally ordered the portraits we all walked away from the studio that day pleased. They finally agreed with each other on the order, finally approved the teen-ager’s hairstyle, picked their portrait sizes and paid their money. Great! Home stretch now I thought, just get the artwork finished, get the portraits printed and deliver this order. No problem, right?

Wrong.

Mary Fisk-Taylor continues on Page 34.

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At our new studio we include the image on a DVD with printing rights, so when we delivered the portrait order three weeks later, we also delivered a DVD to the client. She picked them up, looked them over, shook our hands and drove away. But then, two weeks later comes the irate phone call. The client called and wanted us to reprint all of her portraits. Of course I was surprised and wanted to know why, what was wrong, what mistakes had I made? Color, artwork, mounting, what could it be? Well, it turns out that this client loved the portraits and the only thing that was “wrong� with them is that I had cheapened the work with my logo/copyright in the right hand corner of the portraits.

I was speechless. After 16 years in business I had never had this complaint and quite frankly did not even know what to say. I proceeded to explain to the client that this was our logo, our copyright and just like every portrait on display in our studio, every image in our mall displays, every image I had ever printed for a client we always included this signature. I told her that if there were any defects or flaws with the prints I would be happy to make new portraits for her but I was not willing to print any portraits without this logo. She hung up on me.

So, a client who wanted me to print portraits without a logo/ copyright on them sued me. When the summons arrived I immediately contacted PPA (Professional Photographers of America) and worked via telephone and email with the Indemnification Trust program. The attorney, Mr. Stephen Morris and a paralegal I worked with were amazing. I cannot say enough wonderful things about them. They sent me great information and ideas, a complete guide regarding this case and how to handle a smallclaims-court claim. They were my biggest cheerleader through this catastrophe.

The day I arrived in court I felt very confident, I had all of my information from the Indemnification Trust attorney, I had a letter from my lab that explained the necessity of printing portraits with the logo/copyright on them, I had pictures of my entire studio with portraits all over the walls displaying our logo and I had my entire family by my side. I could not possibly lose this case, right? Wrong. I lost, plain and simple I lost the case.

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Now, in my opinion the judge was very grumpy and kind of mean but she made things very personal in court, which I found alarming and defeating. She actually said to me at one point that she has great pictures of her kids from Portrait Innovations and they do not have tacky logos on them. TACKY, she used the word TACKY! Seriously she actually said that! She also told me that she would never buy pictures with logos on them because it is not her job to advertise for me. Regardless of all of this opinion she told me that unless I had my client sign something that explained to her in black and white that she would be receiving portraits with a logo/copyright on it then I was wrong in the eyes of the court.

contact CONTACT Mary Fisk Taylor mary@hayesandfisk.com 1-804-740-9307 Twitter @maryfisktaylor facebook - maryfisktaylor

Obviously I did not have any such wording in my invoice, model release or sales contract that my client had signed. Never occurred to me in a million years that I needed such a thing. Assuming that this was my right as a business owner or even that it was implied by the multiple samples displayed in our place of business it was still not enough. So, I had a choice to make, reprint everything without our name on it or pay the plaintiff a full refund, including the full cost of the bogus gift certificate and her stylist’s charges. I chose to pay the money because there was no way I was going to print portraits without our logo/ copyright.

I wrote the check and walked out of the courthouse so defeated.

I could not understand how I even ended up defending what I felt was so right. I emailed the Indemnification Trust attorney’s office through PPA and Mr. Morris immediately responded with shock and disappointment. His support and follow up was really important and it did make me feel better. I felt even better when he told me that through my PPA membership and the Indemnification Trust I would be reimbursed for what it cost me minus my deductible. That was a great surprise and it made me feel somewhat better about the whole terrible situation Mr. Morris also sent me some quick notes and suggested that I add the following to all of my invoices, sales contracts, etc. to avoid something like this in the future: “Client understands and expressly agrees that the Studio (your name here) places its logo on the front of all final photographic prints it produces for its clients.”

We now have this on all of our paperwork and even though I may not run into this problem ever again, our studio is at least covered on this issue.

Maria Matthews, the PPA Copyright & Government Affairs Manager, also contacted me. She sent me a very supportive email and wanted to offer the following reminders:

On Contracts

It is extremely important to make sure everything about your studio procedures/policies, and the nature of the assignment gets recorded. Establishing a paper trail is one of the best ways to ensure that both photographer and client are on the same page and have a successful relationship.

On the Trust

PPA members should know the Trust is here to help when incidents arise. Since it’s not insurance, there is no need to fear being dropped or experiencing a sudden rate change. Unless a member tells us they are experiencing difficulties with a client (whether or not the client has threatened or filed a lawsuit) we cannot ensure they have the protection they need. The sooner an issue is brought to the Indemnification Trust attorney’s (Stephen Morris) attention, there’s a better likelihood of a happy ending.

Similarly, it is extremely important to ensure PPA members maintain their membership (i.e. stay current on dues) so there’s never a moment they are without coverage.”

Lesson learned, the hard way, but learned. Now I can look at this situation and understand why and how it happened and know that I am wiser because of it. I think that one of the best things that I got from this was a brand new appreciation for PPA and what my membership truly means to our studio and me. So, thanks PPA for your assistance and guidance through this journey of professional photography.

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Janet Boschker

Working with

Children…

Print Competition…

Well, ‘tis the season for entering prints, so thought I would take a break from my usual topic and expound on my recent experience helping a friend of mine get ready for North Carolina’s annual print competition. My friend Debbie DeVita called and asked me if I would help her make her prints. We have been good friends for about 15 years and while she has taken a break from competing, I have become more active as the years have gone by. “Sure, come on down (she lives 2 hours away in the mountains, I am in Charlotte), but bring what you think is ready to print, and also bring the raw files in case we decide to do something else”, I said. The image I was most drawn to was the black and white of this beautiful little girl – we’ll call her Gretchen. Her expression was so wistful and compelling…….. I just knew it would tug at the heartstrings of the judges, and the composition was interesting. BUT……. after making a test print and viewing

judging lights (f16 @ 1 second @ iso 100) we saw that the quality of the image she brought as her finished version had issues. it under

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• The skintones on the face were washed out compared to her chest and arm – there was no distinct transition between nose and cheek – no evidence of specular highlights – ear on the highlight side was as bright as the face, giving a feeling of flatness.

• Obvious burning in of the corners with a loss of detail in the hair on the highlight side and heaviness on the shadow side bottom corner. (those actions can get you in trouble!)

• The keyline is way too bright and heavy becoming a distraction from the expression, and compositionally there is no real reason to push the image high and to the left – also a distraction.

I pointed these things out to my friend and asked her what she thought we should do to correct any or all of these things. Her solution: print it darker and all things would right themselves.

So we did. Twenty percent darker overall. This was a light bulb moment for my friend! The image was not at all saved, it got muddy, lost detail in the shadow areas and was obviously not the way to go. I think this happens a lot - you send your image off to the lab and instruct them to “print for competition” but there is only so much a lab can do with a jpeg. So the blacks get blocked up and you get a 78 or a 76 instead of the merit you are working so hard for.

So. Back to the raw file we went.

When processing an image for competition, I have always found that I do better when the image I begin to work on has detail throughout. The lighting has to be good, with nice highlight and shadow detail – yes, there are many things that can be done now in photoshop to “correct” image quality problems……. But it is very hard to get by with under the judging lights. If ever you look at an image, see flaws, and say to yourself “maybe the judges won’t notice”…. GET ANOTHER IMAGE to work on. Yes, you may get by one or two judges, but SIX? Probably not. Start with a well exposed, in focus image and you will have much more chance of success.

Now back to our image of Gretchen. Hopefully you can see the difference in image quality in the first and final image….. nice detail, gorgeous specular highlights (which we have enhanced a bit) on the nose, lips and angel kiss. We have taken down the ear on the highlight side, just enough to make it recede, but not enough to make it look muddy. The corners are burned in ever so slightly to keep you in the frame, but not enough to lose detail in the hair. For me, if you can see the burn, it is too much. Last, we have stroked the image with about a 4 pixel midtone gray – it’s there, but it’s not distracting. And we let the original composition of the image remain with an equally weighted mat – the original composition is strong enough – the leading lines of the hair and shoulders bring you right into the child’s expression which is where you ultimately want to be drawn. To me, Debbie had a strong merit image and the final score in North Carolina’s print competition was 81.

Janet is continued on page... 41

contact CONTACT Janet Boschker www.northlightphotography.com jbnlight@aol.com

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Now let’s look at a not so successful image that she entered – another beautiful little girl, great expression, pleasing pose, good lighting. It scored 75. Why? This is so perplexing for many that are new to competition or those that are struggling to get over the hump of 78-79. So, as we look at the second image critically, let’s admit that it’s a little confusing to have clothing that is the brightest part of the image – it takes your eye away from the face. The high contrast of the smocking adds to the confusion. The background is kind of a mid-tone, which doesn’t particularly lend itself to a feeling of depth. And the composition is, well, kind of ordinary…. The dreaded “average” word comes to mind.

It all comes down to impact - which is achieved many times through good composition and design. And let’s be honest, most of our everyday work is average, or if we really work at it, above average. So how do we get to the merit image?

HARD WORK…… I just hate it when that is the answer.

Every time you compose an image, ask yourself, what could make this better, more compelling. We all get caught up in the everyday grind of making a living, but we can improve our everyday work simply by critiquing our sessions on a regular basis. I’m not talking about beating yourself up, I’m talking about really looking at your work and applying the 12 Elements (find these on the PPA website). Identify your weaknesses and work to strengthen them. Get a book on basic design elements and learn how you can control the viewer’s eye – study color harmony and come to understand how color affects our emotions. Experiment and play – get out of your rut! At the end of the year, you will have images that you love - that speak to you, that you feel good about. You will grow by competing in ways that you never imagined – and along with it, you will have established your own style. It won’t happen overnight, it is a journey… but rest assured….

IT WILL HAPPEN!

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