Southern Exposure July 2010

ONLINE PUBLICATION OF SEPPA

John Woodward Diagrams & Photography

Suzette Allen

Simple Teeth Whitening

Cheri MacCallum Brush Texture 101

Cover Art: “Halls of Inspiration” By: Stephanie garr

JULY 2010

Kevin Newsome

Chairman of the Board

kevin@newsomesstudio.com

Mary Alice Ross

President

maryaliceross@gmail.com

Doug Peninger

1st Vice-President

ncdoug01@triadbiz.rr.com

Joe Tessmer

District of Columbia

***Cherilyn Nocera Terri Crownover

Florida

George Singleton

2nd Vice-President

george.singleton6@verizon.net

Secretary/Treasurer

Anthony Rumley anthony@anthonyrumley.com

Georgia

***John Carney Spencer Smith

Maryland

***Vanessa Ard David Corry

Randy McNeilly

Print Exhibition Chair

***Don Engler Peggy Parkinson

Delaware

randy@mcneillyphotography.com

***Darrell Ivy Gil Brady

Mississippi/Alabama

Thomas McCollum

Executive Director

seppa@bellsouth.net

Southern Exposure Southern Exposure magazine is an online 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 Proofs 20th of each month

***Sherry Whitt Janet Boschker

North Carolina

South Carolina

Tennessee

**Wilber Jeffcoat Jimmy Wood ***Kendall Mathes Jan Wilson Robert Holman

Virginia ***state president representative

On-Line Publication 1st of each month

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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It’s HOT!!!

I’ll admit it, I am not a fan of summer heat.

I know there are those of you who relish it. I salute you. Give me freezing temperatures any day. That being said, I do enjoy seeing the garden maturing and the longer days.

The July issue of Southern Exposure welcomes back our incredible team of talented writers.

They needed a well deserved break and brought back so much wonderful information, I know you will want to review the articles over and over.

As you read though each article, if you have questions, be sure to contact the writer. Their contact information is on the page with the article and you can be directly hot-linked to them.

Speaking of questions, our very first Double Exposure question came in about Print Competition for next year. Be sure to read all about it. Print Exhibition Chairman, Randy McNeilly, gives a thorough response to what I know is a question on the minds of several SEPPA members.

One last thought, have you made your plans to come to the SEPPA convention in March?

If so, be sure to go ahead and make your hotel reservation. The time between now and March will go fast and we want you to be there!

Have a great and cool July!

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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

thePages

Learn

southern exposure july 2010

8 12 15

Rick Gibbons

“Iris on Chair”

by Janel Pahl

2011 SEPPA Convention PPNC Western Seminar East Coast School Georgia School

1 7 21 27 32 33 42

Have a Business Plan

Folks: Bobby Carlson

Cheri MacCallum Brush Texture 101

Victoria Kelly

BookFresh: Online Appointments

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Janet Boschker

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Kevin Newsome

36

Maryland

2011 Print Competition

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34

Imaging USA

Doube Exposure

Mary Fisk-Taylor

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6 10 20 26 38 40

John Woodward

Diagrams for Outdoor Photography

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Attend

Jamie Hayes

Add a Little Color

3-5 Year Old

Telephone Tips

Cover Artist

Stephanie Garr

Suzette Allen

Easy Teeth Whitening

Shop Showcase

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

Jamie Hayes

Add a Little Color It’s Easier Than You Think

Ah it’s summer time again and a great time to market and create beautiful outdoor portraits. We find that our sales are higher from our garden portraits than any other product lines. I think there are two main reasons: first, our clients seem to prefer a more natural look and feel to their portraits and, second, we can create more variety in a shorter shoot time. I use a lot of the lens compression techniques that I have mentioned in past articles to make our images look very different from the pictures our clients create with their cameras.

First, and most importantly, we always start with a design session with our clients to see the interior spaces where their portraits will be displayed. This will give me a sense of scale, balance, lighting, colors and textures that I will incorporate into the final portrait.

This month I will discuss how I use container plants to easily change color in the foreground, mid ground and background.

Over the years I have found that the use of containers for annual flowers and evergreen plants can easily give you the flexibility to move colors around in the image to complete the composition. (Photo 2 main shot)

photo 02

I start planting in the early spring as soon as the garden centers start to build their inventory. Since most of our garden is covered with shade most of the day I select impatiens for color, hostas and liriope for textures. (photo 1 green texture) These will grow like crazy and the perennials will come back year after year. This year I tried a new variety of impatiens called “sun-patiens” which will thrive in sun or shade. As you can see in photo 1, I leave several sets of these in different colors in the original containers in which they were purchased. This is so easy because you don’t have to do anything except water them about every 3 days! By not transplanting them I have created a low to the ground bunch of color that I can move around the garden where I need them.

I love the larger containers with the built in handles. (see photo 5)

photo 06

photo 05 photo 01 Now I have planted the hostas in larger containers so they have height in the background (see the final image background) as well as in the ground with a good amount of space in between each plant. I leave enough space so that I can place one or more of the impatients containers either in the foreground or the background. I use one of the little blooms for the child’s hands and I have color in the foreground, midground and background.

photo 07

For the lighting I use additive lighting as I have mentioned in previous articles, metering for the ambient and adding flash at the same intensity. (Photo 3) So roll up your sleeves and get planting, you will be amazed how easy and fun it is to add a little color to your outdoor portraits.

photo 08

photo 03

Camera: Canon 1DS Mark III Lens: Canon 35-350 L Series 3.5-5.6 Zoom Lens set at 150mm Exposure: 1/85 sec @ f/6.3 400 ISO RAW File Capture and jpeg (for viewing purposes only) Light Meter: Sekonic L-358 Light Modifiers: 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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John Woodward

Outdoor

Photography One of the worst things you can do is “Fumble” and look disorganized in front of your client.

If you remember the main theme in most everything I do, success is achieved by “eliminating variables.”

Draw a 5 and then a 10 mile circle on a map of the area around your studio (or wherever you are).

Draw a six-pointed star in each circle. Using this diagram as an overlay, you can determine 6 to 18 locations for outdoor portraiture or portfolio work.

Go to each location and identify the best background. It might be a building or a lake or a tree by a stream.

In portrait situations you should always attempt to have the Sun as your hair and separation light, slightly behind and to the side of your subject. As an “additive school” photographer I will always use a fill flash to bring up the shadow values. Use your friends and family as test subjects until you have good enough samples to sell your locations.

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Determine which spots are AM and PM. In portfolio or fashion photography, you will generally use full light because most times your subject is the clothing the model is wearing. Most times you will use translucent light panels called “scrims” to bring the full power of the light down to a contrast range that the camera sensor can contain. In full light you should use “fill flash” to bring the shadows in to the sensors contrast containing ability.

These locations can be brick walls, trees, staircases, just use your imagination. Remember to use the sun’s rise and fall to determine AM and PM locations. The AM locations are marked with a red dot and the PM are blue. I will have several samples of each location to show clients. I use this system when I travel to cities which I will revisit from time to time. Washinton, DC, Orlando and San Diego are mapped. No, I am not going to give you my maps.

By making your own charts, you and I will always have different locations and different looks.

The beauty of the diagram is that no point is more than 15 minutes from the other. This will make scheduling easier. Pay attention to the sun’s transit. It will help you create dimensional light necessary for proper photography.

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

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 organzation.

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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Q

We have heard very little about the redistricting of the judging areas by PEC and PPA. How does this affect SEPPA and what does it mean for Kentucky and West Virginia?

Does this mean the SEPPA convention might leave Georgia where it has traditionally been centrally located?

TN member 2010

A

Probably the reason you have not heard more about the redistricting is because SEPPA will be the least effected of the five new districts. The combining of eleven “Regions” into five “Districts” has been a drastic change for much of the PPA world. Regions like Heart of America, Northern Lights, MARC and others may no longer exist or at least not host PPA approved judging. You can imagine the work involved in combining as many as three groups into one entity.

The redistricting decision by PEC (the PPA comittee overseeing print competion) was made to strengthen smaller regions who in this stressed economy were in danger of failing. An effort was made to balance the new Districts so each would have approximately the same number of print cases. This should ensure the organizations against losses on their annual judging events.

Because SEPPA was one of the larger regions we received little change. Kentucky and West Virginia are our new additions.

As other new Districts struggle to form governing bodies we are fortunate to have a Board of Governors, charter and bylaws in place. In fact our system of government was suggested as a model for the other Districts by PEC.

Q&A

West Virginia and Kentucky will have some decisions to make. It has been decided their prints will be judged at our annual event, there is no changing this. They do, however, have a choice whether or not to enter the SEPPA family as full fledged members. This would entitle them to all benefits such as print awards, free SEPPA Convention registration and full representation on the Board of Governors.

As for the SEPPA Convention moving, the Board of Governors voted unanimously at the last meeting to keep the Convention at Athens Ga. for the foreseeable future. So it looks like not much will be changing except for the additional print cases from our new member states. This can only be a positive thing for SEPPA. Once again it is good to live in the South.

Randy McNeilly, SEPPA Prnit Exhibition Chair

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Mary Fisk-Taylor

The Importance of Having a

Business Plan Your business plan is your company’s calling card.

It allows you to see your business through your investor’s eyes. As the name suggests it is a plan of your business; your communication tool; selling your marketing, sales and operations.

Every time you meet with a property manager about leasing space for your business or you have a meeting with a potential lender/investor it is your business plan that will do most of the talking.

Use your business plan to present your business concept in a way others can understand. You should focus on exactly what you want to achieve, where you want your business to go and how you plan to get there. Projected sales and monthly expenses will also be included in your plan. All of this information will influence your choices, including the type of location you will be looking for. Your business plan will monitor whether you are achieving these objectives and maximize your changes of success by allowing you to keep adding to it.

A business plan is the key to long-term success for new and old businesses. Your business must have a foundation to start from and you have to give your business time.

If you’re a new photography business you should think about things such as will you have a home studio, storefront space or shared professional space? You should also think about who your competition is and how you are better than your competition.

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Your Business Plan Will: o Help clarify/focus and research your businesses development and prospects. o Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies not just for the near future but also throughout your business o Serves as a basis for discussion with third parties such as shareholders, agencies, banks, investors etc. o Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed.

Your business plan is a framework, which your business must operate within. It will ultimately determine whether your business succeeds or fails. It acts as the key to raising finance.

Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success in raising funds or mobilizing support, but having no plan at all will more than likely result in failure.

Some of the things that are worth thinking about before you start writing your business plan are: o Clearly defining your target audience o Determine your businesses requirements in relation to the contents and levels of detail o Map out your plan’s structure o Decide on the likely length of your plan o Identify all the main issues to be addressed within your plan No businesses are the same, just as no plans are the same.

Your business plan might seem like a daunting task but the results it will produce will be worth it. If you are having trouble writing the plan yourself there are many websites that offer help or find a good Studio Management software, like SuccessWare, that will make this task so much easier.

Good luck and Successful Planning!

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

Janel Pahl

Part one of

This is the first installment of the third section of a thesis from Janel Pahl, as she takes you on her life-long journey.

The Ultimate Gift

contact CONTACT

You may contact Janel Pahl at: janelpahl@aol.com or visit her website at www.janelpahl.com

With her husband gone, Ruth, having been a stay at home mom with no work experience found herself desperately looking for a job to support her two teenage daughters. She eventually found a job as a secretary in a tiny plumbing office. Having to make ends meet was difficult to say the least, but her daughters were the most important things in her life. “If you buy this skirt and top and your sister buys the other skirt and top you will be able to have two different outfits because the colors interchange. But you are going to have to be willing to share” instructed Ruth. Janel and her sister walked out of the store happy to have their special “outfit of the year” carefully wrapped in a bag. Their mother just as happy and fulfilled, but she carried no bag of her own.

Being given a gift is one thing, knowing what that gift is and ultimately doing your best to share it is another. Photography is definitely a gift that God has given me. But photography is only a channel to a greater gift of kindness and love. Teaching photography to others is a way that I use to also teach the beauty of life, kindness and compassion towards others, and sharing the gifts that each one holds within. Sometimes there must be sacrifice to be able to share the gifts in the purest form.

Editors Note: July brings us the third 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 pevious magazine issues.

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

Rick Gibbtons

BobbyCARLSON Carlsen BOBBY A native of Danville, Virginia, Bobby Carlsen, MA, Ph.D., CPP (betcha’ didn’t expect a couple of those degrees) is a rising star in the SEPPA constellation. A member of both the Virginia and North Carolina affiliates, Bobby has recently begun a speaking career in the photography industry. And with good reason: he is rapidly building a very successful business in Danville and his life experience gives him credentials few in the industry can boast.

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FOLKS folks

Surprisingly for a photographer, Bobby’s first choice in college was as a math major. All discussions of left brain/ right brain aside, he decided, while still a freshman, that he would make a splendid doctor. Medical school subsequently became the goal. After several required courses in the physical sciences, he took a psychology course and became fascinated. Research and experimental disciplines became his concentration, graduating with a BS in Psychology in 1992 from Averett University and in 1995 achieving a Master of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology from East Carolina University. As part of his preparation for a career as a college professor, Bobby served as the instructor of record for several courses at ECU and later Virginia Tech, including upper-level courses, during his time at Tech, earning his Ph.D. in 1999. Now known as Dr. Carlsen, he returned to his hometown and his alma mater, Averett U, achieving tenure and associate professor status, not to mention the adoration of his students. What he had not counted on was the resistance to change or the politics of the department which soon overwhelmed his passion for teaching. He began to find increasing solace in nature and landscape photography, escaping with his family to their house at Smith Mountain Lake as often as possible.

In 2005, Bobby yielded to his creative side and opened a studio. We’ve all been there…”let’s turn our hobby into a career.” Bobby made the acquaintance of area photographers who encouraged him to investigate the Virginia Professional Photographers and the Professional Photographers of North Carolina. Previously unaware that he cvuld be a part of VPPA, PPNC and SEPPA and take advantage of the educational benefits that would help him develop his talents as an artist (right brain now), he registered for Monica Sigmon and Michael Taylor’s class at East Coast School in the summer of 2007. The epiphany of that week motivated Bobby to return to Danville and make a life-changing decision to drop one of his jobs, both of which he considered “full-time”. He left the University and charged full speed ahead, taking advantage of the techniques learned that summer to elevate his photography business to the next level. Three years later he is now in demand for speaking engagements in North Carolina and elsewhere, using his training and teaching abilities to excite a new group of photographers who are struggling with the same decisions about career choices.

He readily admits that all those degrees do not go unused.

Dealing with clients gives him every opportunity to use his skills of persuasion, knowledge of body language and the psychological basis of time-honored sales techniques to his advantage. You would almost think every time he rings a bell, someone hypnotically hands him handfuls of cash for his photography. The moral of this story? Do not underestimate the value of psychology in marketing and sales. Given any two photographers, equally talented and able to produce award winning images, the one who is adept at customer service and understanding the essence of their client wins every time.

contact CONTACT You may contact Bobby Carlsen at: bobby@bobbycarlsen.com to contact Rick Gibbons with a nominee for features in your area rickg@triadbiz.rr.com or call 336-883-7104

Cheri MacCallum

Hand Applied

Acrylic Brush Texture Painting portraits for our clients is a service to add value to the portrait. A great way to add even more value to your painted portraits is to add acrylic brush texture handapplied with brushes. And…it’ FUN! This of course has been offered by our labs for years to enhance canvas portraits.

With today’s imaging technology many of us are painting with pixels instead of pigments so the physical “feel” of the painting has changed a little with the introduction of programs like Painter. Of course the paintings painted with programs like Painter are beautiful, but they are missing one of the characteristics of a traditionally painted piece. When paint is applied to a canvas you can see the physical characteristic of the painted stroke . That stroke has highlights and shadows, (especially when it’s applied thickly) and it is called “impasto”. We can utilize the impasto features in our painting programs but there’s just something about walking by a painting and catching in the light, or, “seeing” the physical brush strokes. That’s where the acrylic comes in. We can apply clear acrylic with brushes over our printed paintings to add that missing physical characteristic feel of impasto.

I’m going to share how I go through adding the acrylic to my pro photographer commissions. A big thank you to Lynn Watkins in Cairo, GA, for allowing the use of her commissioned piece for this article!

There are many brands of the acrylic medium and finishes which can be found at most art supply stores. I prefer an extra heavy gel gloss with a light to moderate application. It’s just enough to see the stokes without overpowering. The more matte finishes tend to disappear and you don’t see them as well.

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I use 3 different sized brushes. A 2”, a 1” and a ½” brush.

Make sure the brush is something like boar’s hair. It needs to be stiff to stand up to the application. I use the brush size relative to what I’m applying texture to on the canvas. I generally use the 2” brush on canvases 30x40 and larger. This canvas is 20x30 so I will just be using the 1” and the ½” brushes. The 1” brush I use in the background areas of our painting here and the smaller brush on smaller detailed features. We have our painted file and it’s printed on canvas.

Here is my process: 1) I lacquer the canvas with a water based lacquer applied with an HVLP gun and let it sit for at least 24 hours. The protection that the lacquer provides is essential before texturing.

It adds a finish over the canvas so I don’t damage the canvas with the brushes.

2) I tape the canvas to a large piece of plywood. (image 01) I like to texture the canvas before it gets stretched because the “give” of the stretched canvas will affect the brush strokes.

I’d rather have it on a hard surface. I tape the canvas to the plywood with pieces of duct tape. You don’t need a lot , just enough to hold it in place.

Image 01

Image 02

3) I start in the background area with the 1” brush and I apply the acrylic as if I were actually painting it. Please note that at first the acrylic looks like Elmer’s glue, thick and white. Don’t worry it dries clear. The key to this is to make the acrylic brush strokes match the strokes that I made in Painter so that it more closely resembles a traditional painting as opposed to just making random swirls. I will work my way around the canvas saving the main subject for last. You can see where I change the direction of my strokes to match the tree on the canvas (image_02). I also make long sweeping strokes with the acrylic to match the long sweeping strokes on the canvas in the background here (image 03). You can see the shrubbery in front of the tree so I change my strokes to more of a “dab” to match the leaves. (image_04) 4) After texturing the background, I move to the ½” brush for smaller detailed elements in the painting. The smaller greenery and the faces have tighter detail and the application of the acrylic is more easily done with the small brush. Here again, I’m following the brush strokes that I did in Painter. (images_05, 06, 07) There’s not much of her face showing in this painting, but faces are not hard. I just follow the curve of the face overall and just take the sharp edge of the brush to do the eyes, eyebrows, nostrils and mouth. It just takes a few swipes of the brush. (image_08) Image 05

5) At this point most of the acrylic is drying and I go back and add some extra acrylic to some of the highlights areas on, and closest to the subject for some extra “pop”. In this piece those areas would be highlights in the hair, face, clothes, dock, basket and some greenery.

6) We are done (image_09), so off to clean the brushes with warm water. Don’t wait to clean the brushes. The acrylic will dry quickly and if not cleaned very soon after using, will ruin your brush…trust me, I know from experience. Let the acrylic dry for at least 24 hours before stretching your canvas. It will feel dry to the touch but could still be a little soft and could be damaged if handled too soon. There is no need to lacquer again.

Image 03

Image 04

Image 07 Image 05

Image 08

Image 09

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Victoria Kelly

I’m going to admit that I’m an internet junkie...an official late nite surfer, if you will. I love to shop online, sitting at my desk in my fuzzy bunny slippers sipping my favorite tea. If you’ve ever shopped online, even if it was just a book from Amazon, you know how convenient it is. And “convenience” for our clients is our buzzword for this month.

I decided a few months ago to try one of the online booking systems to give my clients the option of booking their sessions when they thought about it, not when they happened to be close to the telephone. Studies show that the peak hours for American adults to perform organizational tasks such as paying bills, answering email and scheduling appointments is between 7pm and midnight. Now---I know what you’re thinking---that one of the strengths of our business is our relationships and that chatting with a prospect/client about their wants and needs leads to a likelihood that they will book their session. I still do that--talk with them on the phone--but my primary clientele is high school seniors and most of the time the mom doesn’t have the senior’s schedule in hand and I get the “I’ll have to get Susie’s schedule and call you back to book her session” response. That might be great if the only thing you have going on in your day is sitting by the telephone or you have a receptionist who snatches up the phone on the first ring...I have neither of those things so I needed to find a different solution. And that’s how I found “BookFresh”.

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I was a bit nervous at first...how could I possibly let my clients book their own appointments? Would I really want to schedule an infant session in the middle of the day with senior appointments? How would I handle the time I need to be away from the studio? Would I end up with a client booking an appointment with so little notice that I had no time to prepare?

My studio has been live with BookFresh for about 2 months now, and I will admit it took about 3 weeks to get the kinks out of the system and adjust our thinking about our calendar.

But here are the basics: you describe your business to BookFresh...the days you’re open, the hours you’re open and so on.

And then you describe to BookFresh the services that you offer-this is where you put in every kind of session you offer, from preview appointments to executive headshots--and how much time you allocate to each session. After you’ve put in your sessions, you input your staff and which services are appropriate for each person. For instance, my assistant, Deb, doesn’t do any of the photography in our studio...but she does consultations and image preview sessions so she’s listed as providing both of those services.

I can even set up BookFresh to send a reminder email to my client 24 hours before their appointment. AND it’s even smart enough to send the client an email 24 hours after their appointment to ask for feedback on the service they received.

After you get your basic data entered into the system, it’s time to input your calendar. One of the reasons I chose BookFresh is because it will sync with iCal on my Mac. You can set it up so that data flows only from the Mac to BookFresh (or vice versa) or you can set it up to flow both ways, i.e., an entry on the BookFresh calendar gets syncd to the Mac and an entry in iCal goes to BookFresh. For our first attempt at online booking we figured we’d just go one way, from iCal to BookFresh.

BookFresh tells you the steps you need to take in order to import your calendar and turn on the feature to automatically update. In less time than it takes for me to say “cowabunga” our studio calendar was in BookFresh and I was mighty impressed. Now, here are a couple of “yummy” things: you can tell BookFresh that you need a certain number of hours or days in the future for a client to book an appointment. (That means a client can’t book a session on today’s date if that’s how you choose to configure the system.) I’ve also got it set so that each appointment is actually a “request” for a session.

An email shows up in my inbox with the client information and the date/time they’ve requested and I have the option of accepting the request or politely declining. You even have the option of customizing the wording on your “decline” email.

Each client enters their complete information--name, address, email and phone numbers--onto the form when they request their appointment. This information is stored in the BookFresh client database that you can use to generate additional emails at a later date.

And, oh, one of the greatest features of BookFresh is that it integrates with Paypal. How cool is that? Your client can book and pay for their session all at the same time!

There’s even a widget that will embed an animated box onto your website or blog for ease of use. I have ours embedded on the left sidebar of our blog.

BookFresh is a subscription service...there are no contracts or long term commitments...you pay a monthly fee and stop using it when you choose. There’s a 30 day free trial available and then your subscription kicks in at $19.95/month.

So...keep in mind that our buzzword for the month is “convenience”...remember that the next time you’re placing your pizza order on the Domino’s website and consider giving your clients the convenience of booking their sessions online.

Victoria Kelly vkelly@victoriakellyphotography.com www.victoriakellyphotography.com 29

Janet Boschker

I considered hiring an artist to produce the paintings for me, after all, I have loyal clients who are going to have this done, and again, why not hire me? As I considered the complications of communicating my clients’ desires to an artist, making changes and trying to please my client(difficult) as well as please myself (even more difficult), I decided against it. Still, I wanted to offer this as a product line, so I set out to learn to do it myself. The hardest thing was to put myself out there and take a class. What if I was no good at it? What if I liked the results, but no one else did? It was scary…… but I took a class with Jane Connor-ziser about 8 years ago……..went home and never opened the program again (I’m talking about Corel Painter). It just seemed so complex and I really didn’t have the time (that’s what I told myself, but really I was just chicken and had no idea how to market it).

EDU

I have always felt fortunate to live in the South when it comes to photographing children.

It seems the traditions of our region lend themselves to the classic portraiture that I love – so for that reason I am grateful to live here! I am referring to ages 3-6… the time that many parents want to capture in a formal portrait. Often the portrait takes the form of a painting – another good thing for photographers since this is a high end product that can be very profitable for studios today. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made to add this to my repertoire – a natural progression from the baby plan I had developed and found success with, and as we have been told so often, it is much easier to keep a client than it is to find a new one.

Fast forward a few years, and I discovered the wonderful world of Jeremy Sutton – he was teaching at Triangle School in Pittsburgh at a convenient time of year (April) so I signed up and went. This time, I had some clients who mentioned they were going to have portraits painted of their children – I gathered all the courage I could muster and blurted out “I am painting again – it’s something I have always loved and now can offer it to you”. What WAS I thinking? I was thinking I work best under pressure, and by the time I got to Jeremy’s class I had 2 paintings sold and one possibility lined up. It was crunch time.

The interesting thing was that Jeremy was not about giving you the formula of portrait painting 1-2-3, he was about cutting loose, getting loose and finding your own style. I was panicked.

But in that class I figured out that I could learn how to use Corel Painter to create paintings that were so true to the likeness of the child that I could indeed please myself and my client!

I sold the first two paintings, and did another on speculation.

I put them in the studio on display and sent out the images in my regular newsletter…. And to my surprise, I began to get inquiries that led to more sales. These were indeed my clients that had gone through my “A Year in the Life” baby plan!

UCATION Being the perfectionist that I am, I decided that I needed to study with as many different people on the subject of portrait painting as possible so that I was sure to be offering the best product I could… so I took a week with Nancy Emmerich last year at MARS school….. she was a wonderful instructor - her style was more realism than Jeremy’s, and she was about making a profit and using your time wisely. It was a fabulous class.

I could now combine the artsy style of Jeremy with Nancy’s realism and offer a wider range of styles in my paintings. I was developing a look that could become identifiable with my clients. I was really excited. But wait, there is more! I am looking forward to a class this summer with Linda Weaver, a renowned portrait painter in Winston Salem who works in oils…..there is just no telling what I will learn from her!

My point here is this: we are in an ever changing industry and an economy we have little or no control over. The only way I have found to cope is to continue to develop a vision for my work, strive to be better and more unique – cultivate relationships with clients past, present and future, and do what you love. Change will not come overnight – but little by little you will arrive at your goals.

There is no better way to grow in your work than to take the time and invest in your career by attending one of the PPA affiliate schools. In our District alone there is East Coast School, Delta School, Florida School, Georgia School, and Carolina Art and Photographic School. One of them is calling your name! Visit PPA.com, go to the Education tab, check out the instructors and plan to attend the one that best fits your schedule and budget. Most offer payment plans, so tuition will be painless and your experience will be nothing short of incredible as it takes your work and your attitude to the next level – whatever subject you decide to excel in – children, weddings, seniors – the opportunity is waiting – don’t miss it!

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

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Kevin Newsome

Pick Up Your Telephone 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, Pick Up Your Telephone.

(Click on the title, Pick Up Your Telephone, and you will be linked to the video.)

Stephanie Garr

Stephanie Garr Adams is a Certified Professional Photographer who has been working professionally for six years. Stephanie fell in love with photography as a young girl and while driving on vacation would ask to stop by the road to photograph the scenery. Her consistent interest in photography led her parents to buy her her first SLR camera. From a young age Stephanie always wanted to be a physician and had never considered photography as a career, although she always planned on having a darkroom in her home. But after receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and beginning the interview process for Medical School, she decided she wanted more flexibility in her family life than a medical career could provide and so enrolled in the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Western Massachusetts. Stephanie owns a studio in Richmond, VA, and specializes in environmental portraiture of families and children. Stephanie has won the CPP Award from the Virginia Professional Photographers Association, Best Architectural Photograph from VPPA for Tuscan Sunset, and Court of Honor at SEPPA for Temple at Twilight. Stephanie was married in December of 2009 and loves her husband, Isaac Adams. ‘What I love about being a photographer is creating memories and touching people’s lives.

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This image was captured while photographing in Tuscany. After attending the morning mass at a monastery in the Tuscan hillside, I turned a corner and saw this image of a monk in meditation. Seconds after taking this photograph the monk left. I was fortunate to come across this scene at the right time and this image is the result. “Halls of Inspiration” scored 100 at SEPPA and won Best of Show Illustrative and a Kodak Gallery Award.

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

Suzette Allen

Whiten YellowinTeeth 10 Seconds Flat

So often we have yellowed teeth on our subjects, and they hate it!

The media puts so much emphasis on whiter teeth--- why don’t we save our customers the agony over their yellowed teeth and fix them! You can offer to do it for FREE and be the hero, because it only takes 10 seconds! REALLY! I timed myself with my phone over and over (with no cheating, shortcuts or actions—NUTHIN) and my best time was 9.7 seconds! (my first try was 12.8 sec) Practice makes speedy! (see photo 01) As we all know, there are MANY ways to whiten yellow teeth…. You can carefully lasso them and use curves to lighten and go to the blue curve and pull up the highlights to add a little blue, OR you could take the paint brush and paint white on them in color mode at low opacity, OR use levels to lighten and hue/sat to desaturate….. blah blah blaaahhh…..

Photo 01

But my Favorite, SMART, SPEEDY SOLUTION is this:

Photo 02

Step 1: lasso through the lips—a quick, sloppy lasso is fine!

Keep it on the lips, but don’t worry about tracing around the teeth carefully! It should only take 1 second. (See Photo 02) Make sure you are not using a huge feathered lasso, though, anywhere between 0-10 pixels is fine.

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Step 2: add an adjustment layer of Hue/Saturation [Layer>New Adjustment Layer] or the speedy way is to click the adjustment layer button on the bottom of the layer panel…it looks like a half black/white circle.

Choose Hue/Saturation from the list. (See Photo 03)

Photo 03 Step 3a: the adjustment layer panel should appear. (if you are in CS4 and it doesn’t, it may be hiding behind your image!

Move it over a bit and peek.) if you just slide the middle slider to the left to desaturate, you have an UGLY grey mouth— wrong answer! First, pick the color family from the dropdown menu that says Master. Choose the Yellows—THEN slide the saturation slider to the left and the teeth will get less yellow! Amazing, it doesn’t seem to affect the gums or lips! [because there are no yellow pixels there!] Click OK (CS3 or earlier versions) or the close icon in the corner of the adjustment panel (on CS4) and you are good! (See Photo 04)

Photo 04

Step 3b: if the teeth are not only yellow but also need lightening, you can also take the bottom slider for lightness all the way to the right to lighten. It is tough to overdo because it is only affecting the yellow pixels, so you should get a real natural look without fiddling around with it!

IT’S SPEEDY! (See Photo 05)

Photo 05

In this image, her teeth are not excessively yellow, but in comparison to her husband’s super-white teeth, they look like they should be whiter. As you can see, it makes a difference

Photo 06 Photo 07 Almost anyone can benefit from this technique unless the teeth are super-white, and then it has no effect at all. If the teeth are not yellow at all, I use curves and just lighten. To be honest, in that situation, I never make a selection of the teeth; I just employ the existing adjustment layer from brightening the whites of the eyes, since it is already there, and use a soft brush to swipe across the teeth at 30% opacity! That is ALSO SPEEDY, and since I whiten the whites of every subject’s eyes, it is a built-in solution every time! (See Photo 06)

Photo 07 BTW, if you are not accustomed to using Adjustment layers, don’t be tempted to skip the Adjustment layer and apply it permanently to the file! The Adjustment layer gives you the flexibility of changing the opacity or applying it to other teeth, etc., and is a much better, NON-destructive way to work! (See Photo 07)

Making you Speedier [is that a word?] and Smarter every day.

Smart & Speedy Suzette

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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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