First, I would like to begin by thanking Terry Biasci and Linda Ford for all of
their work at our Annual Holiday Party. Their efforts resulted in a door
prize for every one of the 33 photographers that
attended. It was wonderful to see SONOPP past presidents Carl Krist (with
his wife Joyce) and Ron Brown. We haven’t seen them around in a while and
it was great to see they are doing well.
Our speaker gave a very informative program to the group – easily one of the
best programs we have had this past year. Her helpful tips can add to any
business’s bottom line. (Click here for some scenes
from the Holiday Party.)
Congratulations to Michelle Cantley on becoming a first time grandmother since
our last meeting. Her daughter had a beautiful baby girl.
This month, Norwalk photographer Darrell Moll will present a new program to our
membership. Darrell has a great business sense and will share his insights
on how photographers should react in a changing marketplace.
PROGRAM INTRODUCTION: If you are a Portrait Studio
owner and have been in business for any length of time,
then you no doubt have noticed changes in our
profession. The advent of auto focus & especially
digital technology has been both a blessing and a curse
to all of us. Now it seems everyone thinks they
are photographers. Although the population in most
geographical areas has remained virtually the same,
there seems to be fewer customers, and more
“photographers” than ever before for the general public
to choose. How does A Portrait studio survive?
The answer is FAIRLY SIMPLE. WE MUST GIVE the clients
something others can’t.
Darrell Moll received his first camera when he was eight
years old, and photographed his first wedding six weeks
after graduating high school. In the spring of
1978, his sales career was launched when he went into
the insurance business. In 1988, he began to
migrate back to his first love, photography. In
July of 1991 he opened his present studio location.
Today Moll Photography photographs high school seniors,
families, weddings, commercial, & also does photo
restoration. Darrell & his wife Alexis have been
married 25 years, and have five grown children, and four
grandchildren.
In addition to his speaking skills, Moll has garnered
many awards in print competition. Since he began
entering in 1994, he has been awarded four Court of
Honors, 2 Judges Choice Awards, and has had two prints
selected for the Loan Collection. Moll received
his Craftsman degree in 1997 and his Masters in 1998.
In March of 1997 he became PPA Certified and an Ohio CPP
in March of 1994. Moll’s print entitled “Attitude
Adjustment” was the highest scoring image at the 2002
Mid East States Regional Convention. Darrell has
been a member of the Fuji Talent Team Moll became an
Approved Photographic Imaging Instructor in 2003.
He currently serves on the Ohio CPP Commission & is on
the Executive Board of the Professional Photographers of
Ohio.
(Click here to see some samples of Darrell's photographic
art.)
This Month's Featured
Links
Every now and then, a photographer needs a laugh. A
moment free from customers, Photoshop, studio problems, and balky lighting.
So here it is (but be sure to have your speaker volume turned up):
because part of longevity is backup. There are now better, smarter,
cheaper ways to do it. You definitely will want to read
David Pogue's recent New York Times article about Online
Backup:
This month's technique is called "Adding
Punch," when you want give an image some extra punch but not
quite as much as last month's method. It's implemented as an action, and is very flexible.
For busy SONOPP people, you can even download the action ready-made!
Suppose you're shooting senior pictures, and one of your images is a little
flat. Here's what you can do, with just two clicks:
Remember that SONOPP members have the privilege of viewing all
techniques (including previous ones) in
The Photoshop Corner, reserved
for Members Only.
Member News
The members listed in the box on the right all have
birthdays this month.
Please bring a
cupcake for each of them to the January Meeting!
Joe Drabik
Dave Neldon
Jim Williams
Bill Ford
Oh, yes, we missed a birthday last month:
Commentary
Many of you are familiar with Harald Heim's "The Plugin Newsletter" as
well as his website.
Harald's newsletters have a variety of informative
sections. One lists recent questions and discussion topics from
the Forums area on his website; another talks about the latest
featured plugins; and another, called GRAPHIC NEWS, lists new
products that can be used with Photoshop.
One of the interesting things that Harald does is
to conduct polls from time to time. His current one is "Which is your
favorite technique for selectively adjusting a photo?"
A recent and very interesting poll concerned the popularity of DSLR
cameras. FWIW, here's what he found:
POLL RESULTS: Which DSLR camera do you use?
------------------------------------------------
More than 1300 people voted for the DSLR camera that they use. Here are
the results:
Results by Brand:
1. Canon
42%
2. Nikon
26%
3. Olympus
6%
4. Pentax
4.1%
5. Fujifilm
4%
6. Sony
3%
7. Panasonic 1%
8. Sigma0.4%
9. Samsung0%
Results by Camera Model:
1. Canon 30D / 20D 16%
2. Canon 400D / Rebel XTi / 350D / Rebel XT 15%
3. Nikon D70(s) 7 - 8% (Estimated Value)
4. Nikon D200 7%
5. Canon 5D 5%
6. Fujifilm S5, S3, S2 Pro 4%
7. Nikon D50 3.8%
8. Sony A100 3%
9. Nikon D2X(s) 2.1%
10. Nikon D80 2%
11. Canon 1Ds 1.1%
12. Canon 1D 1%
Please note that the Minolta and Kodak DSLRs were not included in the
poll, because they are not produced anymore. One mistake that I made was
not to have a Nikon D70(s) item and to have it included in the "Other
Nikon DSLRs" item. I nevertheless added it in the results with an
estimated value of 7 to 8%, which was extracted from the 11% value of
the "Other Nikon DSLRs" item. There were also 13% of votes from people
who don't have a DSLR.
As you can see from the results more than two thirds of all used DSLRs
are from Canon and Nikon and one third of all used DSLRs are the Canon
30D and 400D/Rebel XTi and their predecessors.
attended. It was wonderful to see SONOPP past presidents Carl Krist (with
his wife Joyce) and Ron Brown. We haven’t seen them around in a while and
it was great to see they are doing well.
