Recently I purchased a subscription to the Photovision video seminar DVDs. Even though I am not a working photographer, I am constantly looking for ways to help photographers improve their business and photography. I thought the Photovision videos could help.

I was right. Each DVD, hosted by Ed Pierce, contains two hours of video training by some of the best photographers in the industry. The DVDs are like watching a TV show where only the world’s best photographers share their secrets with you. Some talk about shooting technique, some talk about studio design, some talk about marketing; but all of them taught me something new.

For example, I was particularly interested in the video walk-through of Adobe’s Lightroom software. After a single 25 minute video, I felt I understood how the product could benefit several of the lab’s clients. The time was much better spent than reading a manual or playing around with the software. During another video I enjoyed listening to Julia and Jeffrey Woods as they explained the tricks they use for keeping a clients energy level up during a photo shoot in order to make more exciting photographs.

A one-year subscription (bi-monthly) to the Photovision DVDs is $149. Think of it as paying an expert about $12 an hour to help you improve your business and photography. It’s a deal you can’t afford to pass up.

UPDATE

In addition to their photographer training video, Photovision now has a large library of educational DVDs. For $69 to $149 you can learn studio lighting, marketing, posing, or any of a dozen skills taught by the industry’s leading professionals. Very cool.

The sales manager for Photovision stopped by to make sure we were stocking their calibration targets in our showroom. We like the 24″ digital target, and always recommend them to pro photographers.

However, recently we took the time to watch Ed Pierce’s free Instructional DVD that comes with every calibration target. In short, we were amazed. The information on the DVD is worth more than the price of the calibration target – it’s like getting a private training class from Ed for free!

From the DVD you learn – step-by-step – how to insure that you have consistent color and density on every photograph, regardless of camera, lighting conditions, or type of photography.

You can order any of Photovision’s targets online here http://www.photovisionvideo.com/ or you can purchase the popular 24″ target with instructional DVD from our lab. Just call Heidi or Dana at 888-858-8084 and ask them to include one with your next order.

We recommend you manually white-balance your digital cameras in the field every time the light changes. A custom white balance has several advantages over the automatic white-balance feature in your camera:

• It helps you correct for over or under exposure.
• It makes it easier to shoot the full dynamic range of white to black without muddiness or hot spots.
• It makes it easier to achieve good skin tones.
• It allows you to shoot JPG instead of RAW, so you can save smaller images on your camera’s PC card.

If you don’t know how to manually white-balance, you can start by reviewing the instructions on our website or the instructions in your camera’s manual.

However, since you’re going to need a calibration target anyway, I recommend the one from Photovision. Each target comes with Ed Pierce’s free Instructional DVD. The information on the DVD is worth more than the price of the calibration target – it’s like getting a private training class for free!

From the DVD you learn – step-by-step – how to insure that you have consistent color and density on every photograph, regardless of camera, lighting conditions, or type of photography.

You can order the popular 24″ target with instructional DVD directly from the lab at the same price they charge at Photovision. We’ll drop it in your next shipment of photographs and bill your lab account.