1st Prize: “Posey Truck” by Ron Crichton

The winners of our photo contest have been selected, and while many great photos were submitted, in the end the judges agreed on one image as their favorite: the Posey truck. Photographer Ron Crichton has combined decay with humor and fancy in such a way that you literally want to know the story of this once-proud vehicle. Even though it is old, it almost sticks it’s jaw out at you as if to say, “gas me up, and I’ll go another 100,000 miles.”

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Since the beginning of commercial photography, professional studios have used folders to frame, protect and present images to their customers.

Think of a professional photography like a gift. Gifts always looks better when they are artfully presented. If you think presentation doesn’t matter, ask a kid if they like opening wrapped presents at Christmas!

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Links to the ROES, LabPrints, and ImageQuix training videos are now available on the training center page on our website.

These 3-5 minutes videos teach you all the basics you need to know to get up and running with the software.

Over the next few months, we will be releasing additional videos recorded from our training classes that will teach more in-depth topics.

If you are a LabPrints user, please take the time to upgrade to version 5.11.4. There is a bug in older versions of LabPrints that can delay your order being printed and returned.

To see which version of LP you are running, click Help | About LP Digital Studio from the menu.

• Normally, when you start LP you should see a message saying that there is an update available. If you’ve been ignoring this message, please complete the upgrade.
• Depending on how many versions back you’re running you may be asked to upgrade 2-3 times until your software is current.
• If you don’t see that message, click the Tools menu, then click “Check for Updates” If updates are found, follow the prompts.
• If the software does not find updates, but you are still not running Version 5.11.4 or higher, click here to go to our website and reinstall LabPrints. After installation it should auto-update.

Upgrading LabPrints will never remove your old orders, orders in process, or force you to re-enter an order.

During his “Earn $100,000 a Year from Portrait Directories” workshop, Chris Wunder recommended LumaPix FotoFusion Extreme to quickly and easily create church directories or any book that combines images and data.

Several photographers asked if we would hold a followup FotoFusion class, so here it is.

Bob Winkler from LumaPix will present a “Building Books with LumaPix” workshop Tuesday, April 13 from 9am until 4pm at JD Photo Imaging on Corunna Road in Flint. Cost is $20 per person or $30 per studio, which includes a catered lunch and snacks. You can pre-pay by credit card or charge your lab account by calling 810-239-8671.

During this class, Bob will cover:

• Installation & features
• Products you can make (directories, books, albums, pages, etc.)
• How to quickly lay out a page (templates or freehand)
• How to easily build a book with text and images

By the end of the class, you will be able to create an entire photo book with images and data ready to send to JD for printing. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops to the class.

Bob Winkler is a professional trainer for LumaPix, so you can be sure this will be a information-packed day of training. Even if you didn’t attend Chris Wunder’s class, if you need a tool to quickly and easily create page layouts, you cannot afford to miss it.

Sandra Brown of SB Photography was the $5,000 Grand Door Prize winner at the Professional Photographers of Ohio’s 57th Annual Convention, Trade Show and Print Competition.

Brown is the owner of SB Photography, a full service professional photographic studio located in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. She will receive $5,000 of free printing and services from JD Photo Imaging, a professional photographic lab in Michigan.

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The folks over at PhotoArgus.com have collected several “cheat sheets” made by professional photographers that show the effects of different lighting setups in a studio.

These cards cover everything from portrait lighting to light falloff to minimum hand-held shutter speeds to the “rule of thirds“.

Several of the sheets are produced under the Creative Commons license, which means you are free to print them for personal use only. Others are for sale by the photographers who created them for between $1 and $12 dollars.

I’m sure 99% of you already know all this stuff, but they might be helpful to bring someone new at your studio up to speed. Enjoy.

The 2010 Detroit Professional Photographer’s Folio Competition will be held at the DPPA’s April 20th meeting. The rules for the competition are the same as last year:

• Open to DPPA members only.
• Folios will be judged in four categories – wedding, senior, portrait, and illustrative. You can enter one folio in each category.
• One or two photographers from a studio can enter a single folio in each of the four categories, but you cannot enter both as a single photographer and as part of a team in the same category.
• Each folio must include 5-12 images from the same session, not including the base/background image.
• Finished prints must be 10×20” mounted on matte board, with any studio identification (like a logo) covered. You should tape your business card on the back of the folio, and submit it before 7:00pm the night of the competition.
• Note their must be at least three entrants in a category to qualify for an award.

Remember, when it comes to any competition: the biggest winners don’t bring home ribbons – they are the ones who become better photographers for trying. In other words, to compete is to win.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 810-239-8671 or e-mail me at tom@jdphotoimaging.com.

Tom Hicks
DPPA Print Competition Chair

Orders for Senior Rep (also called Senior Ambassador) Books are starting to come in. If you are a senior portrait photographer, now is the time to place your order.

To get you started, we have a special for you: order any size Senior Rep Book, include an order for 96 Senior Rep business-size cards, enter the code “BOGOSEN” in ROES, and you’ll get the cards half off! To make it easy, you can order the Senior Rep Kit from the Press Printed Catalog in ROES.

And there’s more…

Order a Senior Rep book at the same time you order the cards with this code and we’ll give you a coupon for a free 16×20″ senior portrait print!

If you’re not a senior portrait photographer, here’s how it works:

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Professional Photographers of America’s 2010 Tour: A Night of Art and Business Education for $29.

The PPA Tour 2010 gathers the photography industry’s hottest speakers to share their know-how and help you find the unique style and success that is yours and yours alone.

Join Jeff and Allison Rodgers—and special guests—in 10 cities for an exciting evening, where you’ll learn strategies for firing up your business and adding spice to your art. We’re turning up the heat in a city near you! Visit www.ppa.com/ppatour for details.

Wednesday May 12 – Detroit
Doubletree Hotel Detroit – Dearborn
Erie, Ontario and Huron Rooms, Main Lobby
5801 Southfield Expressway, Detroit, MI 48228
Cost: $29 in advance, $49 at the door
Doors open at 5:30 pm for networking & demos.
Programs run 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm