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New ideas coming your way!

I want opinions and feedback! Do you like having the weekly challenges, I notice that we don't get much interaction or feedback from it. I just want to make sure that we are getting the best of this page.. 

Maybe we can vote on what challenge is best? Maybe you can just submit your best picture from the week and it will work better? 

Now here are the other things I want to bring up. I'd like to do one featured vendor and one featured photographer a week on the blog. This will help advertise and bring in new fans on each ends. I like to personally learn more about business owners and help them out in anyway I can. 

I am also going to be doing 25 days of Christmas deals, where any vendor can pick a day and run a deal... If you are interested in doing this please also contact me so I can give you the rest of the information.. [email protected]. 

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Fashion challenge

This week's challenge is fashion! We are surrounded by it everyday.. We have to look cute when we go out, so do our clients! They love to dress up for pictures. 

Fashion can be more than just a family session who is coordinated well though... It can be from a fashion show, it can be a professional model, or it can be still life images of what fashion is.. get creative of what fashion means to you and create that image! 

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Featured Vendor

We have our first featured vendor! Check her out and give her a like! These are super adorable and creative. The holidays are just around the corner, it's never too early to start your holiday shopping! 

How long have you been in business & where are you located?

I launched this brand new company in August 8th, 2013. 

What is your speciality item & why?

Floating lockets - build your own living locket and personalize it the way you want it! 

How do you gain inspiration on colors, textures, etc? How are you different than your competitors? 

We offer locket bracelets and leather bands with sliding charms, our competitors do not!

What are your business goals over the next few years? 

To build a reputable name and expand into other jewelry items: pet products, cleaning items, and all natural healthy products. We are constantly adding new charms & items.

Do you have any sales or deals going on right now? 

$10.00 off your first order off $30.00 or more 

What is your contact info & social media info?

https://www.facebook.com/OurHeartsDesireByLacyNiccole

http://ourheartsdesire.com/home.aspx

Lacy [email protected]

530-534-5069

Make sure to check her out! Ubber cute gift ideas and lots of love from her! PLUS theres an awesome deal going on right now! 

Are you interested in being featured? Then shoot us an email- [email protected]! 

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New weekly challenge

As we know, I have been putting this back on hold. I have not seen much interaction on the blog or facebook, so I wanted to stop posting as much. I want to know what YOU want to learn, do, etc! 

Now that we have more visitors on our page, I think this could be more successful! This week I will be writing a tutorial on how to crop out people from one image to use in another. 

This week's challenge is *fashion* Let's see some fun model fashion session. Any ages are welcomed, as well as any sex. I think this is a fun project because I do love fashion! I will post my image by the deadline (saturday). Post to the wall! 

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A quick pause.

I am going to get a little personal here, but it is for the best. I started this site/blog/idea when I originally wanted it to go over well. It was going well, but now it is at a stand still. On top of me trying to open/run my two other businesses, I started a full time job that I love and adore. There just isnt enough time to do it all! 

I am not saying I am going to give up or shut this down, but I would like to see more interaction. I want to know what you want from this site/page. I know the site isn't even live yet, I started it and made it about half way through! I want to hear from YOU how to handle this and make it better, so that fans will come here to enjoy, learn, and have fun! 

I think that I need more direction on how to handle this page! I want this page to beneficial to you as the photographer. Maybe you know so much and have been doing it for so long, but don't want to share. I understand that too, I never really enjoyed talking to other photographers about how I did this or what I was doing next etc. I learned though, over the years, how important this really was. You can learn and grow from one another, you can feel good about helping one another. Everyone has their own style, so regardless if you give a tip or secret, it won't ever be the same. 

It seems that this world we live in, gets more and more frustrating each day. A new 'photographer' comes up everyday. Not to say that they aren't talented or can't make it, but we all need to help one another out. 

Please - respond with how we can make this better, and how I can make this site/blog better!

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Tutorial Tuesday -- adding sunflares

Last week's weekly challenge was sunflares, so what better way to add them in digitally? I thought that this would be fun to learn and be able to experiment with. I used Photoshop CS6 for this example, but you can use any Photoshop version for the most part it will have similar ways to do it.

 SO here -- I picked an image that would look decent (still yet giving a 'real' feeling to it). 

From there -- you can always double click and make a copy of your image. Make sure this is NOT the original, but that I mean keep the original without the sunflares, the RAW image, & the edited. 

From there - filter at the top, until you find renger then 'lens flare'. 

It will bring this up - you can experiment and pick and chose which one you like the best. You can see the differences between each of them in the 'live box' above the settings. 

Then -- click OK. It will create this feeling!  Mine is not the greatest as I could of moved it and made it less transparent (which you can do by creating layers of it!). I just wanted to show how you can actually get this effect! 

Have you tried this effect & want to share it with us!?  email it to [email protected]! Want to see a different tutorial? E-mail it to us, we'd love to hear from you! 

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action weekly challenge

This week's challenge is 'action.' Take it how you will what action means. With fall starting to come, I feel that a great action shot is having the leaves fly into the air and capturing it with your clients catching them, laughing, and having a good time! 

With that all being said, there are so many other forms of action -- water, jumping, sports etc. So take this one as 'free' week of what YOU consider to be action and do it well. 

Just remember if you are shooting sports, to make sure you shoot in (S) mode and that the shutter is either quick or slow, depending how what kind of effect you want to create with it. For a longer feeling of action, make the shutter long. Do some research if you need to on how to capture this & make sure to share with us anything you find! 

Till next time -- 

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Sun flare results

This week challenge was sun-flare. I actually got out to take the images, but did not get to edit it yet. I have been sick. However, I wanted to share with you all what others have submitted. 

During my time of capturing some sun flare images, I realize that it was harder than I thought! There needs to be a high shutter speed, with stability, as well as the aperture being primarily at about f/4.

How is sun flare different than a 'sunset'? Well sun flare is when it has the circles (green, yellow, red etc) around the image somewhere. Sun flare is when light enters the lens and scattering before it reaches the camera's sensor; this results in the light streaks around the image. 

Sun flare, aka lens flare, can be annoying if it is an image and you don't want it to be there. However, when done correctly, it can be beautiful and powerful! 

Quick tips: 

--camera must be facing toward the sun

--manual mode of the camera 

--backlighting 

Image from Beth Hutter | B&B photography 

Angela Butler Photography 

till next time -- 

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Tutorial Tuesday - texture overlays

Many people have asked for some feedback or tutorials on several ideas, each Tuesday I am going to be giving you the feedback that you need. 

With that being said first off is how to create a texture overlay, this doesn't include how to add sun flares or anything along those lines, but rather having to know how to create a texture to put on top of an image. 

First off in Photoshop your going to want to create a new doc with the size of a standard paper (8.5 x 11). 

Then you will want to unlock the background image (just double click on it). Then from there you will want to find a color you want to use and create that using the paint bucket. 

Now you can go into the filter panel and find some interesting fitlers. (In this demo I used the smudge stick). 

Now create a new layer - and use the same color you used before and then use the gradient filter affect. I suggest using light colors.. nothing bright. 

Now go ahead and save that image... doesn't matter what you save it as, but make sure to save the original image still by using a psd. 

Now open the image you want to use to put the texture on. Copy and paste  the texture overlay onto the image.. 

Now where the "soft light" option is on the toolbar for layers mess around until you find which effect you want to use. Then you can bring the opacity down/transparency, so that the effect is now as vibrant. 

Here is the final result:

This doesn't take THAT long, but on the same note you have to know how to create it and the idea you want behind it. When I first started out using these effects and creating my own I decided that I wanted find effects and styles I liked before even starting on it. 

It takes some time to mess around with it to get it just how you like it. Even if you purchase these effects from several vendors, you still need to know how to apply them to the image just use the last couple of sentences (messing with the soft light & opacity). 

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This week's challenge - sun flare

There's nothing like summer time, good times, sun, water, fun etc. The weather is beautiful followed by the light is beautiful. I love shooting in natural light and love the sun flare. 

I decided that this week's feature is sun flare... Really focus on the affect of sun flare, this typically is when the sun is highest and brightest so during the 'sunset' time frame.  It might help to have a tripod because as we know when the sunset is hard to shoot sometimes of how unsteady our hands are. With that being said you are going to want a nice shutter speed. 

Please only submit the real images that are sunflare, by this I mean the actual pure light sun flare and not by using overlay or textures in Photoshop. Really try to achieve this image quality. 

I have not achieved this, so I am going to take on this challenge as well and can't wait to release this challenge. 

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Self portrait challenge revealed

This week's challenge was *self portrait*. I think that this was a rather fun and interesting challenge. These challenges are done for you, as the photographer, to think outside the box. Sometimes we get stuck and don't really have inspiration and stick to the same cliche images, with no real creativity. There isn't anything wrong with it, but you should continue to learn and grow as a photographer! 

Here are two self portrait images:

check out her work:

https://www.facebook.com/MemoryMarketplace?directed_target_id=0

Memory Marketplace! 

This image is so fun and different. There is still some time to enter your self portrait if you'd like. Otherwise we will start to get ready for next week's challenge! 

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Weekly photographer feature

How long have you been in the business? And where are you located?

I have longed to be a photographer for as long as I can remember.  I am really blessed to finally be able to pursue that dream.  I opened my business just over two years ago.  I am now in the process of re-branding and plan to re-launch in Spring 2014.  I am located in Maple Ridge, BC, about an hour east of Vancouver.

  What is your specialty & why?

I specialize in prenatal, newborn and family photography.

  How do you gain inspiration on colors, textures, ect?  How are you different than your competitor?

I gain inspiration from my everyday surroundings; maybe a beautifully lit area in the park or bright, colorful flowers in a neighbor’s garden.  I love to create soft, whimsical images.

  What are your business goals over the next few years?

These next few months I will be busy redesigning my business.  I am rewriting my business plan, updating my portfolio and designing my website and new business cards.

In the next few years I hope to build a strong client base and expand into new photography specialties, including engagement and wedding.  I will be working to push myself and continue to improve and grow as an artist.

  Do you have any deals or sales on right now?

Not right at this moment, however I will be offering amazing portfolio building specials in the coming months.  Details will be made available on my facebook page.

  What is your contact info & social media links?

I can be reach either by phone [phone]), email ([email protected]) or through facebook (www.facebook.com/MysticalMemories).  My website (coming soon) is www.MysticalMemories.net.

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Tutorial Tuesday

We are starting to do "tutorial tuesday." If you need help or feedback on anything pleas always feel free to leave a message and we'd love to help and share some of our experiences with yo. 

Up this week is "watermarks." Watermarks is what you put over the image to claim territory, but also to protect your work so no one else goes and steals it. These are simple to do -- they don't even necessarily have to be your logo. Something quick and simple with do the job just fine. You don't want the watermark to overpower your image, but rather just serve the purpose of territory and safety. 

First, open up the program you use... I use photoshop so make the image 1200 x 600 pixels. You can always resize it later. Once you get in there double click on the background image to unlock it, then hit the eye ball to hide it. This will give you the transparent effect. 

  Using the type tool, type out what you want it to say. It will look something like this. Go ahead and save it. Always save it as a psd then followed by that save it as a png. You can always use the png and import it onto an image that way or just drag and drop it all depends on what format you have. 

Now, you can just copy and paste the text onto an image and leave the watermark there. From there you can rescale it, since it is a layer. I would make it small so that it doesnt overpower the photograph. Also, you can change the color if needed. I typically save one white, then one black. That way when I have a dark image I use the white one and vice versa. Followed by that if you want it to not be as bold, you can make the transparency lower so that it is "hidden" and not really the first thing noticed on the image. You can use any text, any size, any shape etc. It is all done in a similar way. 

  If you have any questions or are interested in learning something shoot us a message so we can help you! 

Till next time-- 

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Weekly Challenge - self portrait

This week's feature is self portrait. Yes, yes as a photographer we never get in front of the camera and most likely do not enjoy it that much. However, I always find that it's important to experiment with self portraits. A lot of times, I will do family portraits with "self portraits" by setting up the tripod and a release shutter button. 

I think that it is important to experiment with this. Do you want to do a traditional self portrait or something fun and creative? Do you have a bio picture already? Maybe try something for that page! Get behind the camera, set up the tripod, and also set the release button. 

Have some fun with the idea of it and don't be imitated - we are all here to learn, grow, and have fun. 

Here is an image that I did a few months ago for self portraits. We needed to do passport images, so since everything was already set up I just changed the backdrop real quick and poped in front of it! 

Lastly- if you are interested in being a featured photographer or vendor, please contact us today so we can get some features. 

Right now, we are running a free special on advertising on our website that is coming up to be live soon. So if you are interested and would love additional information contact us today: 

[email protected]

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Water challenge

This past week's challenge was water. I think water can be something great to use as a "prop." Sometimes as photographers we get caught up with actual props rather than what is around us. 

By using water, trees, flowers etc it gives a fun and exciting feel to it. It is a nature kind of portrait. Always know what the customer wants, but also know how to create something that you think will be outstanding. You are the photographer after all, so use the ideas you have. 

Here are two water entries that were entered that I think were outstanding and gave a different meaning behind photography. 

Check out this entry from Kitt Houng Photography 

& visit more of her work here: https://www.facebook.com/Kitt.Huong

This is another interesting 'water' feature and at the same time portrays lifestyle photography. 

Check out more of her work 

https://www.facebook.com/MysticalMemories

Stay tuned for next week's feature!

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Featured Photographer

I am going to be trying to do a featured photographer once a week. If you are interested please contact us [email protected]

This week's feature is Photos by Vickie 

How long have you been in business? & where are you located?

2011  Stephenville Texas and limited times in Sierra Vista Arizona

  What is your specialty & why?

Seniors and Sports   I started sports events in 2011 and really enjoy offering athletes affordable photos of their once in a life time experience in some cases and my seniors because they are only a senior once and giving them affordable quality photos that they can look back on years down the road is something they will cherish for a life time.

  What is your five best images you have ever taken with the camera descriptions (please attach images)

First I would have to say a couples session I did recently which included their horses, the couple was standing between the 2 horses kissing and it just turned out lovely

Second would have to be the same session but my youngest daughter standing next to a horse with a pair of boots, shorts, white shirt and cowboy hat holding the lead rope

Third is a couple I did, they had only been married 6 months and the wife was in a bad accident, once the scars had healed she wanted photos of the 2 of them since they didn’t have any, they are laying on the ground together looking in each others eyes and all you can see is pure love between them.

Fourth  I would have to say my son sliding into home base at his baseball game and scoring the winning run after he just participated in th

e 5th grade track meet the entire day before the game and won all his races J

And lastly would have to be my Senior from last year, Nia graduated HS a year early and went off to college, I was shooting her photos at Texas Cannon in Arizona last spring break   the sun was setting and we were getting worn out and she sat on this rock and I had her lay back and look at me and the image turned out perfect, to this day I still use it for my senior magazines

    What are some goals for your business over the next few years?

I want to become known for affordable yet quality photos everywhere and become so known I have to hire

More photographers in order to shoot all the families and athletes wanting photos.

To open a large spacy studio with rooms designed for each area of shooting.

To branch out to other areas (Arizona California and more of Texas) yet stay affordable for everyone

  If you could give advice to new photographers, what would it be?

Never stop learning- if you have no clients, no edits- practice, try to learn something new every day whether its something about your camera, editing, posing, anything never stop learning. Never give up bc someone didn’t like your work, not everyone is made for each other, you will find those who don’t like your work, and you will find those who love it and will stay by your side through all your learning phases.

  How do you plan for a photography session?

Talk to the client find out what they have in mind, the type of session THEY want, then research poses, props, and locations per what the client wants

  What is your contact info & social media links?

Email- [email protected]

Webpage- www.photosbyvus.weebly.com

Facebook- www.facebook.com/photographybyvickie2011

Twitter- https://twitter.com/photosbyv

Instagram- http://instagram.com/photosbyv#

Send her some love on her social media accounts.. 

Till next time-- 

[clickindeals]

Water Weekly Challenge

This week's challenge is water. I have enjoyed water and thought that as photographers we can create some awesome water effects. Not only water can be used as a landscape but also as a portrait. I have some photographers use water in their sessions and they have been beautiful. 

Capturing the rain can be tough, if you don't know what settings the camera should be in. I find that it is best to always continue to mess around and grow each day, as I have stated before. 

Anyways - here is one of my images from Smokey Mountains. It was tough to freeze some of the water to have the milk like effect to it. Fast shutter a tripod and long aperture will do the trick. 

Can't wait to see what you all come up with! Have some fun. Post to our facebook wall with your business page. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clickin-Deals/264448263701030

Till next time