Here are some pro photographer tips I’ve come across over the last few weeks.

Got any you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments below.

1. If you’re doing an all day wedding, take a full change of clothes and get changed just before the reception/dinner. It’s an absolute godsend to kick off the second part of the day in fresh, clean clothes – especially in summer, or if you’ve spent the morning running around after people outside.

2. Get closer. At a military photography course, they called it “using your bipedal zoom.”

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Betsy Finn, one of our young and talented clients, will give a talk entitled “Getting Technology to Work for You” at the Mid-Michigan Professional Photographer’s Association meeting on Monday, November 14, 2011 at 7pm. For more information, visit their website or contact Tina Timmons at tina@mich1.net.

Betsy is known locally and nationally as both a gifted speaker and a photographer who has combined her love of photography with her business and marketing sense, especially as it relates to technology and online marketing. She generously shares this information with other photographers on her LearnWithBetsy.com blog.

Prior to founding Betsy’s Photography, Betsy studied at Michigan State University and Hope College, where she earned a B.A. in Business Management and Photography. She has continued to further her knowledge through attending continuing education seminars and conferences offered by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Detroit Professional Photographers Association (DPPA). In 2010, she received a Photographic Craftsman degree from PPA.

Print Competitions are being held across the midwest in the next month. On the calendar I see:

• Oct. 17th PPWM Album Design Competition
• Oct. 25th PPNO Print Competition
• Nov. 8th MTPPA Print Competition
• Nov. 14th MMPPA and PPO Print Competitions
• Nov. 15th DPPA Print Competition

I encourage you to enter one or more of these competitions. Here’s why:

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The Sept. 12, 2011 Not Even If You Beg online Rally was a huge success. For those of you who missed it, or for attendees who wish to watch it again or pass it on to colleagues, the on-demand Rally is available as a downloadable video. You must register (free) at JD’s 3Lenses.com portal to view the video.

Kirk explained why not enough people choose you, and what you can do about it. Think your photography is great? Through a series of visual exercises, he shows you why in today’s market, even great photography isn’t enough to attract customers.

The video is definitely worth your time.

The new fall season of workshops hosted by your local professional photographer’s associations is fantastic.

Whether you’re interested in learning more about children’s portraiture, family portraiture, social media, seniors and models or commercial photography some of the best photographers in the country will be available in September to inspire you with new tips and techniques.

JD is also joining in. On September 12th we hosted Kirk Russell in the first of a series of marketing “rallies” for professional photographers, and on September 26th we’re hosting a full-day training seminar at the lab featuring Michael Timmons, who will teach you how to enhance your images using Nik, Topaz Adjust, and Lucis Art software.

If you’re ready to take your photography – or your business – to the next level, you need to make a commitment to yourself to attend as many of these workshops as you can.

Kirk Russell will present “Not Even if You Beg“, the first of a series of online rallies to help motivate professional photographers energize their business on Monday, September 12, 2011 at 2pm. JD customers can click here to register.

The first rally is a FREE fat-trimmed, bare-bone, pull-no-punches webinar that will quickly explain why not enough people choose you and what you can do about it.

Says Kirk, “For most photographers, life would be great if they would just attract enough people from month-to-month, and year-to-year.”

This 20 minute webinar will quickly and directly explain:

1. Why people are more price sensitive
2. Why you don’t have to worry about the competition
3. Why you don’t have to lower prices to attract enough business
4. The best solutions to 1, 2, and 3

Last season’s series of Kirk Russell’s marketing webinars sponsored by JD were very popular. Customers can still watch them online today.

JD Photo Imaging and Kirk Russell will present a new series of online webinars this fall to help you supercharge your marketing. The first is scheduled for September 12, 2011.

We’ll have more details next week, but for now, make sure you save the date on your calendar.

Register for free online, then click the 3L Webinars button on top for access to our previous webinars and to be notified of upcoming dates.

Photography is a visual medium. That’s why it makes perfect sense to watch videos about photography instead of reading about it. Spending a few minutes learning a new technique or tip each day will help keep you on the cutting edge of your profession.

Below are 10 YouTube channels (think of them as weekly TV shows) I’ve reviewed and can recommend to photographers at all skill levels. Most of the videos are 2-10 minutes long, so they would be easy to watch in the morning with a cup of coffee or during breakfast.

Start by reviewing each channel below. If you find one you like, log into YouTube, click the “subscribe” button for that channel, and click “email each upload” so you’ll get an email reminder when a new video from that channel is uploaded.

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An all day workshop with Master Artist Kathy Falls

Class size is limited. Reservations must be made by May 30th!
Call JD Photo Imaging at 888-858-8084 today to guarantee your place.

Offered for the FIRST time you will have in in-depth, hands-on workshop that will teach you how to embellish your inkjet canvas and water color fine art pieces. Kathy will take you to the next level showing the latest techniques for creating ‘embellished giclees’ (enhancing your inkjet canvas image with painting techniques).   You will learn these  techniques using pastel paper, exotic papers, water color paper, and inkjet canvas.

This will be a hands-on learning experience using fine art products with painting and drawing applications. You will not be working with a computer, this will be painting directly on the finished image. Kathy will show you the appropriate materials to use for each substrate and how to finish them that will preserve the artwork and the image.

At the end of the day, you will take home two 11×14″ inkjet canvas and one watercolor image that will be artistically painted by you! Kathy will provide the images that you will embellish, a $115 value!

Kathy has utilized these techniques and has had her work in many galleries in Michigan and Indiana. Most recently Kathy was awarded “Best of Show” in the 2010 Hillsdale County annual juried art show for an embellished giclee, and one Loan Print in the Professional Photographers of America 2010 International Print Competition, which she created using these techniques.

Details:

The workshop will be held on Monday, June 6 from 9 am. to 4 pm.

Registration begins at 8:30 am. Please be on time.

Lunch is included.

Cost of the workshop is $120, and will be held at JD Photo Imaging in Flint, Mi.

All materials will be provided. Class size is limited.

Kathy Falls is a Master Photographer, Master Artist, Master Electronic Imaging, Photographic Craftsman, PPA Certified Photographer, Certified E.I., Certified Photographic Specialist

Thom Rouse, an internationally known artist, will hold a 3-day workshop entitled “Fine Art Portraiture in Celebration of the Feminine Image” May 15-17 at Hicks Studio of Fenton (map). Cost for the workshop is $425 for 3 full days, and is limited to 12 participants.

Thom combines photography and advanced Photoshop techniques to create his fine art portraiture. Here’s a tutorial he recently posted in Professional Photographer Magazine and an article on Shutterbug.com that gives you an idea of the techniques you’ll learn in his class.

According to Thom, on the first day photographers will work with live models using concepts for “dressing, lighting and posing that celebrates the feminine image.” Then, on days two and three photographers will learn how to apply different fine art enhancements using Photoshop layers. By the end of the third day, “photographers will have a full set of layered images as a reference for applying the techniques to other images.”

If you are looking for a new portraiture style – or to enhance your current style – you owe it to yourself or your graphics artist to take this class.  The ability to create and display images like these on your website and in your studio will help you to justify premium prices for all your portraiture.

For more information or to register for this class, contact Thom Rouse at (815)761-1358 or thom@thomrouse.com. To see more examples of his work visit his website www.thomrouse.com