- In Focus -
SONOPP's July Newsletter, 2006

Calendar of Events

MONTHLY MEETINGS
Fourth Monday of each month

The Plaza
at Bagley & Engle
(formerly Quality Inn)
7230 Engle Road
Middleburg Hts., OH 44130
 440-243-4040

Board Meeting at 6:00 p.m.
(All are invited)
Dinner 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Meeting begins 8:00 p.m.

July 24
Rob Ledwedge
Studio Backgrounds

President's Message

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each of you for again entrusting me with the leadership role of this fine association.  It has been several years since I last served as President of SONOPP.  In those years, we have all seen many changes to the photography industry.  Many of our members from back then have retired, changed professions or passed away.  Our newer members may never have met most of these fine photographers.

SONOPP is a great association with a rich history.  One of my goals this year will be to properly recognize these leaders in the photographic profession.  Most of you may not realize it, but we established a SONOPP Hall of Fame a number of months ago. 
Those honored photographers will be listed on the SONOPP website in the near future and printed in future SONOPP directories.  This is a small gesture, but I feel an important one.

Another goal for this coming year is to grow the membership of SONOPP.  We currently have a very strong base membership of some the area’s finest photographers.

Unfortunately, SONOPP is either a well-kept secret to some photographers or it is plagued by some of its actions in the past.  It is time to reach out to new photographers as well as former members and show them what SONOPP is all about.  The ideas that can be obtained from just one program are worth more than the cost of dues.

Everyone (myself included) needs to get past their egos and past experiences and begin again to work toward common goals.  We are PROFESSIONAL photographers in an age where anybody can be a photographer.  We earn the majority of our income from photography.  We are the leaders in photography in Northern Ohio.  We need to work together to share experiences and help each other thrive in the marketplace.  I want everyone in SONOPP to be available to any member to lend a hand, give advice or just listen to a colleague vent their frustration.  We are all here to help each other.

My membership in SONOPP has paid for itself hundreds of times over.  I can’t even begin to put a price on the friendships I have formed over the years.  Any member that has been around for more than a few years feels the same way.  Like in any organization, you only get out of it what you put into it.  Come to the meetings if for no other reason that to talk to other members.  You may be surprised how much you can learn over dinner and drinks. I hope to see you all at the next meeting.

Patrick Rice, SONOPP President 2006 - 2007
In This Issue
The Featured Link
 The Photoshop Corner		 Member News
 Commentary

July 24 Meeting

Studio Backgrounds, by Rob Ledwedge

How to make your portrait studio fun and efficient

  • Is your studio atmosphere comfortable?

  • Is your studio fun?

  • Is your camera room efficient?

  • Is your client's experience memorable?

Rob will enlighten the importance of the background in your portraits.  He will show you how to design your camera room with painted muslin and canvas backgrounds along with 'sets' to appeal to every personality that walks into your studio.  He will go over some easy, economic and efficient ways to you to build your own backgrounds and sets.  And how to hang your muslin and canvas backgrounds.  He will explain how your studio's atmosphere will effect you, and your client's performance.  The first step to capturing a great portrait starts with your client being comfortable, not nervous and uneasy.  And don't forget... Let's have fun!

(See some of Rob's work!)

This Month's Featured Links

This month's link is to an article written by Richard Thornton and appearing in the PSA Journal, February, 1995.  It's a good article, although a little research would have revealed that in Benjamin Franklin's time, the respectability accorded the words "amateur" and "professional" were the exact opposite of what they are now.

Anyhow, check it out!

Amateur vs. Professional Photographers

Top
The Photoshop Corner

In the last issue we talked about easy ways to sharpen an image.  This month we'll talk about easy ways to lightly increase the exposure of an image (pun intended).

(Of course, SONOPP photographers always expose their images perfectly.  Every once in a while, though, an image is just a little bit underexposed ... but always on purpose.)

In Photoshop, open an existing image and begin to record an action: name it "Brighten 1/2 Stop" and attach it to function key F3 (or whatever you like).
  • From the Layers menu do "Duplicate Layer ..." and hit OK.  (Or just press Ctrl-J.)  From the Layers menu do "Layer Style, Blending Options..." and select "Screen" for the Blend Mode and "20%" for the Opacity.  Now flatten the image and stop the recording.

With this tool you can easily make adjustments with a single click.  On the left you can see the original, slightly dark image.  Three successive F3 clicks produce the results shown.  (So maybe it's a little less than 1/2 stop; I guessed at the 20% opacity figure.)

What are the advantages of using this little tool over, say, Curves or Levels?  Well, first of all it's much, much faster.  Second, because it's screen mode that does the brightening, the risk of blowing out a bridal gown is greatly reduced.  Try it -- you'll find that it quickly becomes one of your most-used tools!

Member News
One of our members became a new grandma twice last month!

Linda Ford now has new granddaughters Madison Marie (on the left) and Olivia Belle (on the right).  Madison was born on Olivia's 2nd weekaversary.

If you're having trouble finding our Executive Secretary and Treasurer these days, now you know why!

 

Commentary

This portion of our newsletter will feature many different items in the months to come.  Some of them will appear first, and then migrate to the "Perspective" section of the website.  For this month we have a PPA letter of interest.

Al Hopper, the PPA Director of Membership, Copyright, and Government Affairs, has graciously granted SONOPP permission to reproduce any of their weekly messages.

Here's one that is particularly useful for us:

 

Dear PPA Member,

When a member in Maryland called PPA for help with a copyright infringement problem, he didn't realize that he was one of an average 200 calls per month that PPA receives from members looking for some type of copyright assistance.

Often the call is a simple question or a member looking for resources.

Sometimes a member needs help dealing with a possible infringement of their work.  A specific infringement was the case with the member from Cumberland, Maryland.  A publication had taken an image off his web site, used it without his permission and the company had not responded to the photographer.

PPA, at a member's request, does what I call intervention about 20 times each month.  Copyright litigation can be an expensive and time-consuming process, and PPA is simply unable to provide legal representation to our members for copyright issues.  Additionally, if the photo in question isn't registered with the Copyright Registration Office, there are limitations on what can be done through courts to protect your rights. However, we've discovered that intervention is often the best way to handle many situations.

Intervention means that PPA weighs in on the side of the member, explaining the law and the potential penalties (always done in writing to provide a document trail.)  Generally, our objective is to inform, educate and stop the practice, particularly when we are dealing with a retailer.  When a company actually uses a photo, we want to push the company into contacting the photographer to "resolve" this situation (a nice way of saying "pay up".)

Does intervention work?  Not all the time.  However, when you consider the cost and chances you take with litigation (an attorney once told me suing is like rolling dice) it works well.

In Lance Bell's case, we received the following in an email from him:

"The letter that your office sent was firm, to the point, educating, polite and must have scared the h___ out of them. I got an immediate response and a check."

You can find more information on how to protect your copyrights in the Member's Only Download Zone section of PPA'a website  (http://www.ppa.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=65).  If you are looking for specific assistance feel free to contact our Copyright & Government Affairs Department via the Service Center (800-786-6277).
Intervention, assistance and resources to protect your rights - just more proof of the value of membership.

Sincerely,

Al Hopper Director of Membership, Copyright & Government Affairs
Professional Photographers of America