Last month's meeting (click herefor some scenes)
featured a really superb presentation by John VanSteenberg, who for 30+
years has been providing photographers both small and large with the
tools and ideas they need to prosper in the competitive world. In
my opinion, it was the best presentation of the year, because it focused
on the real difficulties photographers face, not the imaginary ones.
And John, pulling no punches, told his audience exactly what they had to
do to regain control and beat the Uncle Harry's who are stealing their
business. An incredibly
practical presentation!
Sadly, less than half of the SONOPP membership chose to attend.
That means that more than half our membership missed out on a really valuable,
eye-opening presentation. I've always assumed that gaining such
insights is why our members pay their dues each year; if so, then why do
they not take advantage of what their dues purchased?
Three weeks earlier Dale Kincaid and I presented a three-hour seminar
showing how to use ProShow Gold and ProShow Producer to create really
awesome DVD shows in a simple, easy manner. It was aimed both at folks
who had no experience with the PhotoDex programs, as well as folks who were
already using it and wanted to know more. Sadly, less than a third
of the SONOPP membership chose to attend. Although we had a full
house, there were more outsiders than SONOPP members.
Clearly there's something I'm not getting. I've come to accept
the fact that nobody contacts me with information for the Newsletter
(except Dale Kincaid), or contacts me with requests for The Photoshop
Corner. "Busy people," I say to myself.
But VanSteenberg with his latest insights and ideas? You folks don't know what you threw away.
May 21 Meeting
"Are You Ready For Your Next Crash?"
The guy in the center is in
trouble -- among other things, he just lost all the
images from his last two weddings. Toni and Mario
are poised to leap in and solve his problems.
(Strictly speaking, Toni leaps in while Mario shouts
encouragement from the couch.)
Your data is your business!
Protect it! Crashes do happen but
you don't have to fall victim to lost
data, time and money! Learn about
the various precautions you can take to
protect your data and have reliable
backups!
If you
use a computer, you'll want to hear
these two...
This Month's Featured
Links
If you attended David Ziser's presentation last year, you
probably signed up for his newsletter. For those who didn't, in this
month's newsletter he gives a really interesting tutorial entitled "How
to Make a Signature Brush." (It takes a while to load, so be
patient.)
Speaking of David Ziser, for those of you who use Canon
cameras, here's a tip from David:
I got some nice comments on last month's camera tip.
Here is another. Does anyone other than me think these
new digital cameras come out of the box with the default
contrast settings just a bit high? I have been a film
shooter for a long time before switching to digital.
Then when I made the switch, I didn't think I was
getting the same "visual result" as with my film images.
The image was just a little too "snappy" for my tastes.
Here is the tip - when I was shooting my Nikon D1X a
few years back, I set my contrast down one notch. The
result was much closer to what I was getting with film.
When I switched to Canon almost 3 years ago, I found the
20D had even more contrast than that of the Nikon D1X.
Here are my current settings for the Canon 20D, 30D, and
5D - I set the contrast down 2 notches and the
sharpening up one notch for the default "Portrait"
settings and save this as "User Parameter1. See the
settings accompanying this article. The results are much
more pleasing to my tastes. For other camera
manufactures, you will want to run your own tests. Give
it a try - the result may be better looking images.
This month's technique is called "Detecting
The Invisible," of which one
application is the automatic placement of a logo in the center of an image:
As y'all know, last month's Newsletter was a no-show. As a result,
you didn't get a chance to say "Happy Birthday" to the members with
April birthdays. So....
The members listed in the box on the right all have
birthdaysthis month or
last month.
Please bring a
cupcake for each of them to the May Meeting!
Bob Kunesh
Jerry Clay
Karen Neldon
Mark Madere
Commentary
In the deep south, very far away from Cleveland, Ohio, lies the little town of
Akron. Although it is very far away, Akron is quite modern in many
ways, and in particular, has a superb organization known as the Akron
Society of Professional Photographers (ASPP).
The President of ASPP is shown on the
right, and he begs leave to announce that this month's meeting of ASPP,
which occurs (as it always does) on the 3rd Monday of the month (just a week
before the SONOPP monthly meeting, and only 15 days from today), will feature a presentation from Nicole
Florio, CPA, of Meaden and Moore, specially aimed at small business owners.
(It should be known that Meaden and Moore is an international accounting
firm, and one of the largest in the United States. They do work for a
wide variety of businesses, large and small.)
Here's how to sign up for the show (ya gotta do that) and get there:
The ASPP meets at the Akron Wellness Center on Route 18 in Fairlawn,
Ohio. From the North, simply take I-77 South to the Route 18
West exit. The exit ramp takes you directly onto Route 18
heading West. Turn right at the first traffic light. The
Akron Wellness Center is immediately on the left. The meeting is
held on the second floor.
Dinner is $20 (optional) and reservations are a must. Any one
of our members can make reservations with Patrick, but the deadline
is the Thursday prior to the meeting. There is a $5 meeting
fee if you are only attending the meeting.
30+
years has been providing photographers both small and large with the
tools and ideas they need to prosper in the competitive world. In
my opinion, it was the best presentation of the year, because it focused
on the real difficulties photographers face, not the imaginary ones.
And John, pulling no punches, told his audience exactly what they had to
do to regain control and beat the Uncle Harry's who are stealing their
business. An incredibly
practical presentation!
I got some nice comments on last month's camera tip.
Here is another. Does anyone other than me think these
new digital cameras come out of the box with the default
contrast settings just a bit high? I have been a film
shooter for a long time before switching to digital.
Then when I made the switch, I didn't think I was
getting the same "visual result" as with my film images.
The image was just a little too "snappy" for my tastes.
