AUGUST 2010 ONLINE PUBLICATION OF SEPPA
Jamie Hayes Subtractive Ligting
Folks
Debbie DeVita
Suzette Allen
Easy Page Curl
Cover Art: “Corey” by John Fuller Royal
Kevin Newsome
Chairman of the Board
kevin@newsomesstudio.com
***Don Engler
Delaware
Joe Tessmer
District of Columbia
Mary Alice Ross
President
maryaliceross@gmail.com
Florida
***Debbie Alcorn Terri Crownover
Georgia
***John Carney Spencer Smith
Maryland
***Vanessa Ard David Corry
Doug Peninger
1st Vice-President
ncdoug01@triadbiz.rr.com
George Singleton
2nd Vice-President
george.singleton6@verizon.net
Secretary/Treasurer
Anthony Rumley anthony@anthonyrumley.com
Randy McNeilly
Print Exhibition Chair
randy@mcneillyphotography.com
***Darrell Ivy Gil Brady
Mississippi/Alabama
Thomas McCollum
Executive Director
seppa@bellsouth.net
***Sherry Whitt Janet Boschker
North Carolina
Southern Exposure Southern Exposure magazine is an on-line publication of SEPPA and is published monthly. Editor Doug Peninger NCDOUG01@triadbiz.rr.com 336-883-7104 Ad Sales & Business Manager Thomas McCollum seppa@bellsouth.net 888-272-3711 Article & Ad Submission 5th of each month On-Line Publication 1st of each month
South Carolina
Tennessee
**Wilber Jeffcoat Jimmy Wood ***Kendall Mathes Barbara White Robert Holman
Virginia ***state president representative
SEPPA
2712 Marcia Drive Lawrenceville, GA 30044 888-272-3711 www.4seppa.com
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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.
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 www.delawarephotographers.com
District of Columbia www.ppsgw.org
Florida
Mississippi/Alabama www.ppma.net
North Carolina www.ppofnc.com
South Carolina www.ppofsc.com
www.fpponline.org
Georgia
Tennessee
www.gppa.com
www.tnppa.com
Maryland
Virginia
www.marylandppa.com
www.vppa.org
SEPPA is a regional affiliate of Professional Photographers of America and hosts an annual District Image Judging. To learn more about PPA, click the logo below.
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We’re Having a Heatwave In my mind, this may be one of the hottest summers of recent memory. As I stated in the July issue, I am not a fan of the hot temperatures. To those of you who adore it, I salute you. August, at least in my area, brings about the debutante season. It’s always such a magical evening to see all the deb’s in their long white gloves and formals. You can see, on parents faces, the pride and joy they feel for their daughter. What always strikes me about deb presentations is the story telling that is taking place. Each young lady is escorted on the arm of her father or marshal. She is now entering a new stage in her young life. Tears are shed. Tradition continues.
It’s not too early to start making your hotel reservation for the 2011 SEPPA Convention.
Isn’t this what photography is all about? We are there for the special ocassions or dates in the lives of our beloved clients. We are given the great responsibility of capturing all the incredible emotion and memories of the day.
The hotel is a simple crosswalk away from the Classic Convention Center. Their direct number is 706-353-6800.
The host hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn. Room rate is $125 per night.
http://www.hiltongardeninn.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=AHNDTGI
I invite you take a moment to reflect upon the special times you have been a part of over the years. Rediscover some images that really spoke to you and challenge yourself to go to the next level. Autumn will be here soon. The cool, crisp air will usher in another season. I will look back on the summer and have great memories.
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thePages
Learn
southern exposure august 2010
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John Woodward
16
Kevin Newsome
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8 13 17 26 34 40 “Contentment” by Susan Michal
Attend Maryland 2011 SEPPA Convention PPNC Western Seminar Georgia School Imaging USA Georgia School
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Janel Pahl
The Ultimate Gift Layering Portraits
Retouching
Jamie Hayes
Subtractive Lighting
Victoria Kelly
iPad
Cover Artist
John Fuller Royal
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Folks with Rick Gibbons
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Suzette Allen
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Mary Fisk-Taylor
Debbie DeVita
Easy Page Curls
Oh, My Goodness
Shop Showcase
Nations Photo Lab Academy Productions Millers Little Dreamers Designs Pro Photo Imaging White House Custom Color CCI Lab
Janel Pahl Editor’s Note: August brings us the second installment of the final section of Janel Pahl’s thesis: “The Ultimate Gift.” Janel Pahl has graciously given permission to the editor to reproduce her thesis and images for Southern Exposure Magazine. To read the thesis from the beginning, download PDF’s of previous magazine issues.
My assignment was to photograph 115 campers ten different times throughout the week.
Child abuse is not selective.
In spite of all their pain, these children were having the time of their life. The atmosphere of the camp was so filled with love and safety, that children who had never been known to smile before, were seen with grins from ear to ear. Photographing these smiles was one of the most important assignments that I have ever had. With God’s help I accomplished my goal. The memory books recounted the wonderful events of the week. For some children, these books are the only possession they have. My purpose at the camp was not only to take “snapshots” for these memory books, but to create images that I am capable of. Most children there have very low self-esteem. Creating beautiful portraits for these children has become very important to me. Along with the “fun stuff”, I make sure each child has at least one or two beautiful portraits in their book.
Its evil form will choose children of any nationality. It strikes the beautiful as well as the homely. I was prepared for the emotional scars within the children, but I was never prepared for the visible scars. These children had gouges in their heads, patterns of knife scars on their arms, cigarette burns and still healing scabs on their faces. Many children refused to take off their t-shirts when they went swimming.
Participating in that week changed my life forever. It made me realize even more than ever how precious and vital love is in our lives. Without giving love or receiving love, one can become bitter and lost. If we can accept the fact that we cannot change the world, but that making a difference in just one person’s life is extremely valuable, then life truly would be richer for all.
These photographs were to be put into a memory book, at the end of the week for each child. That’s roughly 1,115 images in three days. (Not including the rejects). To keep track of the photographs that I had taken, I punched holes in their name tags every time I photographed them. It was so freeing to just walk around and take pictures, not worrying about posing and “perfect” light. Just shoot with my 35-mm and get caught up in the emotion of that entire week.
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Portrait photographers are truly lucky. Consider an artist about to create a painting. He will begin with his brushes and paint in hand. He stands before a beautiful scene and begins to paint life into his canvas. He is basically starting with nothing. We as portrait photographers have been given one main ingredient before we even start, and that is love. Mothers love their babies, grandparents love their grandchildren, and husbands love their wives. All we have to do is add the setting, light, but more importantly the beauty and emotion. To be able to give such a gift of life and love has truly brought richness to my life. I pray that in the future I will always be able to share my gift with clients as well as fellow photographers.
“When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.� Eleanor Roosevelt
You may contact Janel Pahl at: janelpahl@aol.com or visit her website at www.janelpahl.com
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The Power of Competition
Angela Wijesinghe, PPA Marketing Specialist Happy New Year (new competition year that is)! PPA’s International Photographic Competition is the gold standard for photography competitions and features the best of the best photographers from around the world every year. Having an image “go loan”—chosen for inclusion in the world’s most prestigious photo exhibit—is an achievement pro photographers cherish. The 2010 competition is wrapping up this month, so while the calendar says the year is only half over, it’s time to start fresh with a whole new view on how competition can help you grow your photographic skills and your business. New Rules and Procedures The Photographic Exhibition Committee (PEC) is the governing body of PPA photographic competitions. In conjunction with PPA ‘s board of directors, PEC manages the rules and procedures to ensure they are the best they can be, while protecting the integrity of PPA competitions. In 2009, PPA’s board of directors also appointed a task force to consider important competition changes, based on a PPA membership survey. “The goal with these modifications is to provide what PPA members want in their photographic competition while keeping it as strong and viable as ever,” notes PEC Chairman Dennis Craft, M.Photog.Cr.Hon.M.Photog., CPP, API, F-ASP. Districts, Not Regions Five competition districts replace the twelve regional competitions, starting this fall. “We hope that this change makes the affiliate competitions less burdensome on each association group,” says Craft. The only effect this change has on photographers is in where you submit your district competition entries. “We all should be taking advantage of competing at the district level,” Craft adds. It’s a great way to test-run your images before the International Photographic Competition. What’s your district? Every PPA member is assigned to a district based on where they live (or the address in their PPA member record), and a map is available here: www.PPA.com/community/affiliates.php. Contact your affiliate association or Jim Dingwell (jdingwell@ppa.com), PEC Administrator, if you have questions.
Size (Almost) Doesn’t Matter Starting with the Southwest District competition in the fall of 2010, all photographers will be able to submit different sizes of print images in all PPA photographic competitions—they won’t be restricted to a 16x20 presentation. Keep in mind, though, that while your images’ shapes and sizes have more flexibility in the 2011 competition, there will still be some requirements. The presentation must be a minimum of 80 square inches to a maximum of 480 square inches, with the largest dimension no longer than 24 inches. The Category You’ve Been Waiting For In the 2011 International Photographic Competition, the Photographic Open category will be split in two: Photographic Open and Illustrative. Due to popular demand, this category split will allow for images of similar subject types to be judged together. “This is something that many photographers have asked for, and PEC listened,” Craft says. The new Photographic Open category will accept wedding images, portraits, etc. The new Illustrative category is for landscapes, flowers, nature images, creative digital composites and that sort of imagery. Digital Submission Makes Its Debut In the 2011 International Photographic Competition, people can enter digitally in every category. Digital submission was introduced in the 2010 competition, with a handful of categories allowing digital or print entries. In 2011, every category will have that choice. Why? Well, 70 percent of PPA members said they would be more likely to enter photographic competitions if they could submit digital files. “No longer will PPA tell you what format you must submit,” says Craft. “Print or digital…you decide what’s best for your image.” Just remember that how you submit is how the image will be displayed at Imaging USA (if you earn a spot in the exhibit). Prints will be displayed as they’ve always been in the traditional International Photographic Exhibit. If you enter a digital file that qualifies for the exhibit, your image will be rotated on large monitors with other award-winning digital entries.
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The time has come...
...to earn your degree!
The SEPPA Board of Governors, at the annual meeting in Franklin, TN, approved the all new SEPPA Degree Program. The Southeastern Photographic Fellowship is now a reality! You can earn your new SPF Degree in two categories. The orange ribbon will indicate a concentration in print credits. The purple ribbon indicate a concentration in service to the organization. Both ribbons will be complemted with education and or service credits. You may also, achieve both ribbons separately for a purple and orange ribbon. SEPPA will post the Credit Chart and submission forms at a later date. Be sure to check back. All events, beginning April 1, 2010 will be eligible to submit for credit.
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CONVENTION HOTEL RESERVATIONS It’s not too early to start making your hotel reservation for the 2011 SEPPA Convention. The host hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn. Room rate is $125 per night. The hotel is a simple crosswalk away from the Classic Convention Center. Their direct number is 706-353-6800. http://www.hiltongardeninn.com/en/gi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=AHNDTGI
John Woodward
Always
Build from the Back
and create layers
One of the basic concepts in photography is the idea of creating depth and dimension. The “difficulty� has to do with the finished product. In recording a three dimensional subject and then reproducing it in two dimensions, the photographer is hard-pressed to recreate the feeling of depth without layers.
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In product photography layers help define and frame the product. Use layers to create compositional values. Control of focus in layers creates an immediate feeling of depth. In all cases you should work from the back to the front so you can avoid confusing backgrounds, compose correctly and give the viewer the ability to walk into the scene. Combining layers and “sculpting with light” will assure depth and dimension.
The two “Ls” are lighting and layers. Whether you are in the studio or in the field, you need to build your scene from the back to the front. In the studio that means concentrating on the background color and the positioning of the hairlight. You will then position your subject and determine whether you need more layers either behind or in front of your subject to obtain the feeling of depth. Giving the hands something to do is very important because it helps tell the story.
Editor’s Note: John Woodward has given permission to the editor to reproduce his series “All I Know.”
You may contact John Woodward at: woodward2@aol.com or become his friend on Facebook
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Kevin Newsome
RETOUCHING retouching
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, RETOUCHING. (Click on the title, RETOUCHING, and you will be linked to the video.)
Jamie Hayes
Subtractive Lighting Using Diffusion Panels to Lighten the Background
photo 01
I know, you have, by now, realized that I am big fan of additive lighting (using a strobe to add light to the subject) for most of my work. It’s not that I am totally against the use of diffusion panels, scrims and reflectors, it’s just that I work alone which eliminates subtractive lighting as viable option for me. You see I just can’t ask a client to hold a reflector when they are paying me to do all of the work. photo 02
So this month I thought that I would show you that I actually know how to and can create a beautiful image without the use of a single strobe, although the last image is my favorite and, you guessed it, I added a little strobe! I know, but I just can’t help myself. My job is to get the shot, no matter what!!! In the first image you can see that the sun was so bright that we put sunglasses on the subject just so she could keep her eyes open. Raw sun light is striking her face from camera right, her left, at about a 45 degree angle. Notice how the light, although harsh and very contrasty due to the size and distance of the sun from the subject, nicely sculpts her torso (wish my abs were that defined!)
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In photo 2, I placed a Larson 42x72 inch reflectasol with a translucent white fabric between the girl and the sun. I made a two and two-thirds stop adjustment to the exposure by opening the aperture from f/16 to f/6.3 Thus achieving a shallower depth of field by placing the foreground shrubs and the background more out of focus. But the real magic is that I have lightened both the foreground and background. This is a technique that I first saw Dean Collins demonstrate in a seminar in 1983 or 1984 in Atlanta! Wow he was the king of lighting!!! See if you subtract light from the subject and the foreground yet the background still receives the same amount of illumination from the raw sun light you shift the key or color density of the these areas into a lighter shade of the original color. Pretty cool!
photo 03
Only one problem that I see, other than the fact that this style of lighting will cost you more in labor than that of the same shot using a strobe, is that I have lost all of that wonderful detail in her abs! I’m sure that she will not like this as her final image. So my solution is to of course add a little kiss of strobe to her abs from a direction that emphasizes her torso. Well, there you have it. Yes, I know how to use a diffusion panel and yes I can still create a great image using this technique. However for me, it’s the accent light that makes it a Jamie image!!!
Camera: Canon 1DS Mark III Lens: Canon 35-350 L Series 3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens set at 250mm Exposure: 1/125 sec @ f/16 and f/6.3 100 ISO RAW File Capture and jpeg Light Meter: Sekonic L-358 Light Modifiers: 42x72 Larson Reflectasol with a translucent fabric, 17x17 Soff Box Strobes: Profoto Acute 600B
Hayes & Fisk: The Art of Photography 804-740-9307 www.hayesandfisk.com jamie@hayesandfisk.com
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Unless you’ve been living in a galaxy far, far away you’re aware that Apple launched its new iPad in April. And, to paraphrase the words of Steve Jobs, it IS a magical and revolutionary thing. So...since I like to consider myself on the “bleeding” edge of new ways to use technology, I decided I would purchase an iPad of my very own so that I could give it a really serious workout in the studio.
I logged into the iTunes store and began a review of the new apps that had been created especially (or optimized) for the iPad. I chose CreditCard Terminal, GoodReader, DropBox and AirSharing. I also purchased the iPad versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers. I included an iPhone app, Keynote Remote, so that I could run my Keynote presentations on my Mac from my iPad.
I’ve discovered that there are two groups of people with regards to the iPad: those who don’t “get” it (because they probably haven’t touched one, yet) and those who do. I fell in love with it the minute I felt it in my hands. The packaging is sleek and shiny, and the colors on the screen are luscious enough to make your mouth water. The iPad comes with your choice of WiFi or Wifi + 3G and in 3 storage capacities: 16, 32 and 64 Gb. I purchased the WiFi 32Gb version.
Here’s a little mini review of each of my choices:
It’s ridiculously easy to get your music, videos and images on your iPad. It syncs with iTunes and you can decide just how much of your library you want to pull across. Remember, I have the 32Gb version so I do watch how much space is allocated to music, videos, movies and images. Now, with all of that technical stuff out of the way, how does a photographer incorporate an iPad into the studio hardware lineup? With apps, of course, and I’m going to share with you a few winners. (Victoria’s note: these apps are the ones I chose to work best for me; you may find you prefer others.) My first priority was to get some images loaded. I imported a folder of portfolio images into iPhoto and attached my iPad to iTunes. Next I imported some playlists and two of my favorite movies. Then it was time to get serious about making my iPad a working tool for the studio.
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CreditCard Terminal: this app is definitely the backbone of my “iPad as business tool” foundation. You must have an authorize.net account (which I already had) and a Merchant Focus account to be sure that funds are delivered properly into your bank account. The whole process is pretty straightforward: you must get the client’s card number, CVV code and billing address zip code in order for the system to get a match and make an authorization. It’s even smart enough to pull in the contact information
(if you’ve previously entered it into your Address Book) to save you from entering it while processing a transaction. If the client is present, there’s even a signature screen that can (optionally) be signed. A receipt is emailed to the client’s inbox and a merchant receipt comes to YOUR inbox. Batches are closed at the end of the day and funds are on their way to you within 24-48 hours.
DropBox: You’ll definitely want this app in your iPad arsenal. There’s also a desktop version, and any document or image you drag into your Dropbox on your desktop shows up in your iPad DropBox as well. And it’s FAST! There’s no more waiting for an email attachment to download or worrying about the 5Mb attachment limit that many email applications have in place. AirSharing: even though my iPad is fabulous for containing information, there is sometimes the need to have a printed copy of a document. AirSharing will attach to a wireless network printer and you can print documents straight from your iPad. Pages, Keynote and Numbers: if you’re a Mac person, you probably already have iWork installed on your computer. These are slightly scaled-down versions of their desktop counterparts but all the things we know and love about these applications are here. (I am, in fact, using my iPad version of Pages to write this article.)
GoodReader: a jewel of an app for reading PDFs. You know that something has to rate an “A” on the Victoria Kelly “what have you done for me lately” scale or I’ll toss it aside faster than yesterday’s paper. My test for this app was whether or not I could conduct a business meeting using only my iPad and leaving my beloved MacBook in the studio. I took all the PDFs that I was likely to need for an upcoming meeting and sync’d them with my iTunes so that they would be readily accessible. When first launching the app, you’ll see a list of your PDFs on the left sidebar. When one is selected, a preview of the document appears on the right side of the screen. It was easier than I expected having all of my documents in one place, and I wasn’t fumbling through my papers in a meeting.
Keynote Remote: I use Keynote for all of my presentations and this little app is just icing on my iCake. I did a presentation at a recent guild meeting, running my slideshow on my MacBook with Keynote remote. (I used my WiFi connection to link my MacBook with the iPad.) It was great to be able to see each slide with the presenter notes on the bottom of the screen. Now...how did it perform in its first “live” situation? I was in my favorite Starbucks a few days after purchasing my iPad and loading up my chosen apps. I ran into an acquaintance, we started talking and she shared with me that her son was a rising senior and did I by any chance do senior pictures? Out came the iPad...I showed her the portfolio I had loaded, we consulted the calendar for a session date and I processed her credit card on the spot. Can you say “sweet”? If you’ve been thinking of adding an iPad to your hardware stable but felt you couldn’t justify the purchase of a new “toy”, it’s time to see it in a new light: as a small and compact business tool. No, it will never replace your laptop, and it’s not going to replace your phone. Steve Jobs was right...it’s in a magical and revolutionary place all its own.
contact CONTACT Victoria Kelly vkelly@victoriakellyphotography.com www.victoriakellyphotography.com
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Fuller Royal began creating images as a 13-year-old Boy Scout working on his photography merit badge. Now, 36 years later, he prepares to enter his 23rd year as a professional photographer. He and his wife Janet have operated Fuller Royal Photography, in Whiteville, NC, since October, 1989. Fuller earned his PPA Master of Photography degree in 1999 and his PPA Photographic Craftsman in 2000. He holds his Fellowship Degree with the Professional Photographers of North Carolina, which he joined in 1991. His portraits have placed two dozen times at state and regional competitions, including seven first place honors. His work has received one Kodak Gallery Award and three Fuji Masterpiece Awards. Fuller’s specialty is high school seniors. He has spoken on seniors and marketing at PPNC seminars and conventions a dozen times and has taught senior photography at East Coast School.
He served as editor of PPNC’s Focus on Carolina for 10 years and continues as a contributing writer. Fuller has expanded his photographic interests to include more children’s portraits and digital paintings. Fuller and Janet have four daughters –triplets and rising high school seniors Allison, Sarah and Lillie; and rising fifth-grader Natalie. “Corey” won the FUJI Masterpiece award for a portrait at the SEPPA affiliated judging, held in April.
Editor’s Note Images chosen for the cover of Southern Exposure are first place, distinguished or other award winners from the annual affiliated judging.
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Rick Gibbons From the editor: Our friend, Debbie DeVita passed away Thursday, June 24, 2010. This installment of Folks was already completed and ready for the August magazine. It is with great joy and sadness, we reflect upon the life and love of our departed colleague and friend. Happy Trails, Debbie. We love you.
Photographers deal with fantasy on a daily basis.
The high school senior who wants to look 21, the middle -age lady who wants to look like a high school senior or the bride who wants to look like the size two model wearing her dress in the magazine. We feed on and nurture those fantasies and, if we are pretty good at sales techniques, use them to our advantage. It’s not a big leap, then, to postulate that some of our childhood fantasies remain with us into adulthood. They become our dreams for our retirement years, our favorite vacations or maybe our daily hobbies. Such is the life-long passion of Debbie DeVita in Boone, North Carolina. Debbie grew up in a rural area outside Winston-Salem, NC. Her earliest memories include a love of all things equestrian. Her bicycle was an imaginary horse that served its purpose well until first grade when she met her new best friend‌ who just happened to own a horse. Debbie later asked for and received riding lessons for Christmas. Ten hour-long lessons at the ungodly price of $6 per lesson put her on a real horse, an experience she has never forgotten.
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Her parents bought her a horse in high school, but she had to earn the boarding fees by baby-sitting. The fees became too expensive when college time drew close, so she had to find her horse a good home. It was several years later upon meeting her friend John and his Arabian, Traveller, that she renewed her interest in horses and became enthusiastic about endurance riding. Debbie realized her dream to own an endurance horse when she found Tyrone in 2000. She and Tyrone have so far partnered for an accumulated official 1000 miles, but she estimates about 15,000 miles on Tyrone’s odometer. The highlight was in May 2008 when she and Tyrone finished in the top 10 in an endurance event and graced the cover of Endurance News, the sport’s official magazine. Tyrone is now retired and enjoying life at Leatherwood Mountains (www.leatherwoodmountains.com) near Boone where he enjoys the company of other horses in the middle of acres of scenic pastureland and a gated community of other passionate equestrians. Her second Arabian, AJ, was named after her late father who passed away in 2007. AJ just turned six and already has two 50 mile rides to his credit. He and Debbie travel the east coast participating in rides affiliated with the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC). Endurance.net is the place to check out all the details.
For Debbie, it’s about the relationship, the fantasy, the “disease of talking, eating and sleeping horses.” Horses have taught her about natural partnerships, how to communicate and even about nutrition. Most of her spare time she can be found at Leatherwood Mountains, riding or maintaining Tyrone and AJ. She even gives “her boys” mani’s and pedi’s every 4 to 6 weeks. Keeping their hooves rounded and balanced with a “barefoot trim” keeps them in top form and decreases the need for shoes. Seeing her with trimmers, files and rasps looks as natural as seeing her with a Canon 5D in her hands. AJ and Tyrone came trotting over to Debbie at the sound of her voice when we visited the complex in Wilkes County. It was nice to be around horses again if only for a rainy afternoon. The beauty and strength is difficult to capture in words or images. And the affection and partnership so apparent between Debbie, Tyrone and AJ is even more difficult to explain.
The dreams and fantasies of the wind in her hair as a child on her ten-speed … only a million times better on the back of the real thing.
to contact Rick Gibbons with a nominee for features in your area rickg@triadbiz.rr.com or call 336-883-7104
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Suzette Allen
Photo 01
(See Photo 01) We have all seen crazy page curls, and most of them are pretty dramatic, but this is an easy little “lift” on the corners of your placeholders or images that spices it up and gives a bit more dimension. The great part about it is the technique is actionable! How awesome! I’ll let you write the action, since it is pretty simple, but here are the steps to make a quick “visual” page curl, just by tweaking the shadow.
(see Photo 02)
There are two parts to the process: 1) Drop off the shadow to its own layer 2) Tweak the shadow to make the image look curled up
Photo 02
Part one: Make a placeholder and drop off the shadow to be its own layer I have an 8x10 template for children with a cute background. Now I’m adding a placeholder of plain grey, but you could easily do this with an image layer as well. If you are doing it with an image, just drag the image into the template and follow the directions the same way as the placeholder, like I will demonstrate. Step 1) Make a blank layer and use the marquee to make your selection for the placeholder. I wanted it to be a 4x6 ratio so it will show all of a full-frame image, so I used the Fixed Ratio option on the option bar and entered 4x6. (See Photo 03) After you make the marquee selection, fill it with a med grey. Edit>fill>grey color
Photo 03
Step 2) Add a layer style of Drop shadow only. Double click on the layer to open up the layer style dialog and choose drop Shadow. Make it about 50px distance and 50 px blur. Not too blurred, because the image is not lifted off the page very far. Click ok. (See Photo 04) Step 3) Make sure your layer effects are showing in the layer palette (arrow turned down and “effects” show). Right-click on the word “effects” and a dialog box pops up. (See Photo 05) Near the bottom is a command to “Create Layer”. When you click on that, odds are you will get a warning dialog that you can ignore, and then it will drop off the shadow to its own layer! (See Photo 06)
Photo 04
Photo 05
Photo 06
Part Two: Tweak the shadow to make it look curled Step 4) Transform the layer by Ctrl/Cmd+T and then choose Warp Transform from the option bar along the top of the screen to the right. It looks like a mini-windshield icon. Now you will have not just 4 handles, but 12 and a grid! (See Photo 07)
Photo 07
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Step 5) On the two sides that show the shadow, grab the middle two handles and pull toward the center, making the side bend in. the corners still stick out, visually making the corners look curled up! Do the side and the bottom as shown. (See Photo 08) You can get crazy and do some cool effects with this too! Just pull the handles in or out to bend the edges of the shadow. (See Photo 09) Step 6) Now you can add the remaining effects to the placeholder or image. Double-click on the layer to open up layer styles and add‌.I just applied a 20px white stroke to the ivnside to give it nice sharp corners. (See Photo 10)
Photo 08
Photo 10
Step 7) Make sure you link the placeholder layer and the drop shadow layer together by selecting both and clicking on the link icon at the base of the layer palette. (See Photo 11)
Photo 09
It is ready to clip an image to it and populate! (See Photo 12)
Photo 11
Photo 12
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To clip image to placeholder: drag on image and Ctrl+Alt+G [mac: cmd+opt+g]! (See Photo 13) There are lots of clever uses for the drop shadow—like making virtual “standing cards” for illustrating your products in pricelists or ads. These were manufactured images from flat files, dropping off the shadow as described and leaning it back by holding the control key while transforming!! Way cool, and faster than having to order the minimum 25 cards and then shooting it! (See Photo 14) (See Photo 15)
Photo 13
Photo 14
Photo 15
Doncha just love Photoshop? Suzette
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Mary Fisk-Taylor
I consider my clients to be savvy and smart, but I also know that they are “an average American consumer”. One thing that I know about the “average American consumer” is that as a general rule we all buy in the middle. Meaning we buy the medium drink, the mid-grade car, the average size appliance. As a consumer we tend to feel perfectly happy to buy in the middle. We don’t necessarily want to buy the budget or small item and we do not feel the need to splurge on the highest end product, so we usually land in the middle. With this in mind when we set up our studio product lines doesn’t it make sense that we make sure we put the product we want our clients to buy the most is in the middle? When we determine what we want our average portrait, package or wedding sale to be, if we put those products in the middle of our pricing structure then your clients will migrate there organically.
For example, in my portrait studio we definitely practice the Good, Better, Best and Oh My Goodness philosophy. I offer portraits on paper with full retouching and optional mounting and that is our good product. It is a solid but basic product. The next level for us is our Better product line and this is that retouched portrait mounted on canvas masonite. From there we move to our Best line which is our line of fully retouched, canvas masonite portraits with light brush oil work on it. For many years we only had those three options, and guess what, since our middle was the canvas line that is what we sold the most of. I really wanted to raise my average portrait sale and I knew that if I could sell more brush oil portraits we could make more money.
However, not matter what I did my clients usually left the sales room after purchasing a canvas portrait. What I finally realized was that our Best line or brush oil line was our ceiling, it was the highest end product we offered. And, I know that average American consumers will not buy there. So, that year I decided to add a “Whopper” or “Oh My Goodness” product to the price list. By doing this I not only created an incredibly high end portrait line that I could advertise, donate to high end auctions and hopefully sell but more importantly I gave my clients a much bigger buying range, therefore pushing my middle much higher! The new product line in our studio is a very high-end designer portrait that is fully retouched and finished on stretcher canvas. My artist will paint this with a palette knife technique and it is a very heavy oil treatment. These Masterpiece Oil start sat $12,000 so all of a sudden, my Best line of light brush oils becomes very affordable starting at $3,000. That year I tripled my brush oil sales and BONUS even sold two Masterpiece Oil Portraits!
I am by no means recommending my product lines to anyone else, however, I am encouraging you to look at your product lines and make sure that you have the different levels of pricing on your price list. Also, sit down and truly decide what you need your average portrait or wedding sale to be. When you decide on that crucial number you can set your pricing and products up for successful sales. All of my senior collections, event collections, wedding prices and Quick Take collections are set up this way as well. I always make sure that there are several options available to the clients that range from that good to best philosophy. If I do this then I can almost project my sales to the penny. Some people will buy the basic and some will buy the Whoppers but they average each other out, leaving my solid majority of clients buying right in the middle. Exactly where I want them to buy.
vMary Fisk Taylor mary@hayesandfisk.com 1-804-740-9307 Twitter @maryfisktaylor facebook - maryfisktaylor