- In Focus -
SONOPP's October Newsletter, 2006 |
Calendar of Events
MONTHLY MEETINGS
(Fourth Monday of each month)
4181 West 150 St.
(In front of the Holiday Inn
at I-71 & 150 St.)
216-671-4681
Board Meeting at 6:00 p.m.
(All are invited)
Dinner 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Meeting begins 8:00 p.m.
October 23
Marci Allen
Weddings
November 27
Annual Print Competition
December
Holiday Party
President's Message
Just as I mentioned last month, SONOPP has taken a new approach to
this year’s membership drive. Members are the life-blood of the
association and we have experienced a steady decline over the last
few years. I encourage every SONOPP member to simply invite
photographers that they know to attend our next meeting. Our “open
meeting policy” ends after the October meeting. That means
this is the last meeting left this calendar year to get
photographers to see what SONOPP is all about.
 Last
month’s meeting with Steve and Julie Busch was arguably the best
meeting we have had all year. Their down to earth approach to
children and senior photography was very refreshing. The
Busch’s run a very successful studio, which was evidenced from their
work and the presentation that they made to us. Again, our
members were given great money-saving ideas for backgrounds for
photographs. Who would have thought that shower curtains could
be portrait backgrounds? There is no need to spend hundreds of
dollars on elaborate backgrounds when more than adequate results
could be accomplished at a fraction of the price. I am certain
that everyone that attended will have received $90 worth of value
from the ideas that the speakers shared.
While I’m on the subject of backgrounds, Off The Wall Backgrounds in
Canada is experiencing some financial problems and there are no
shipments from the company at this time. If you are awaiting the
delivery of one of their backgrounds you may want to contact the
company.
One of the best ways to market SONOPP to others is to talk about how
great this and other programs have been. When local
photographers realize that they are truly missing out on great
learning experiences, they will then seriously consider membership
in the association.
This month, we will have a presentation by Marci Allen on Wedding
Photography. Marci runs a very successful business and is
certain to provide valuable insights to the membership. Our
new venue, Mackenzies Grill on West 150th, has worked out very well
for the first two meetings and we will continue to use their
facility. I hope to see each of you there (and a few guests as
well)!
Patrick Rice, SONOPP President 2006 - 2007
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In This Issue
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This Month's Featured
Link
Many of you are familiar with Harald Heim's website, known as
The Plugin
Site. In a recent newsletter Harald made the following comments,
which are worth pondering for a moment:
"There have been a lot of new and exciting product releases this
month... One of them is that Corel now got control over
Ulead and its graphics applications. Whereas there has
been a great variety of graphics software companies in recent
years, now it almost comes down to only two: Corel and Adobe.
Both companies have been acquiring other companies and in the
process a lot of nice applications have been buried.
"This process has its good as well as bad sides. On the
one hand more people use the same software, but on the other
hand there is less variety to choose from. Additionally
smaller companies are usually more innovative than big ones, so
hopefully such companies will get their chance to develop their
full potential before they are bought up by either Adobe or
Corel. Otherwise we, the users, may lose more than we
win."
Harald has just release his B/W Styler (a Photoshop plugin for B/W
conversion). Here's what he says about it:
"B/W Styler simulates the whole workflow of B/W photography from
shooting a photo to processing it in the lab and framing the end
result. It recreates the look of films, lens filters, lab
effects and photo papers that are popular in traditional B/W
photography, but even goes beyond that. Starting with a
color photo B/W Styler lets you produce stunning B/W images that
are not possible with B/W film. B/W Styler uses the whole
contrast range of color photos to achieve dramatic B/W images.
B/W Styler transforms dull color photos into interesting B/W
pictures. Additionally you can enrich the B/W images by
colorizing them, manipulating brightness and contrast, masking
certain image areas, adding soft focus and glow effects,
simulating film grain, adding special effects and framing the
image.
"For more information, image examples and downloading a demo
version please go to
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| The
Photoshop Corner |
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This month's technique is called "Adding
Fill Flash," for use when your image has an area that wasn't
lighted quite the way you'd have liked. We'll set it up as an action,
so you can add it to your toolkit and apply it quickly. Here's what it
looks like in action: take the original image (1) and start the action,
paint with a white brush to brighten (2), and if you brightened it too much,
toggle the brush color to black, reduce the brush opacity, and paint some
more to get it just right (3).
Remember that SONOPP members have the privilege of viewing all
techniques (including previous ones) in
The Photoshop Corner, reserved
for Members Only. |
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Member News |
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The members listed in the box on the right have birthdays this month.
There are lots of them. They all want a cupcake except for
Michelle Cantley, who wants a kiss from everybody. |
Michelle Cantley, Oct 1
Dale Kincaid, Oct 8
Vincent Crawford, Oct 10
Dennis Cole, Oct 15
Linda Ford, Oct 17
Terry Biasci, Oct 20
Chris Holley-Starling, Oct 21 |
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In early September Linda and Bill Ford attended the NAPP Photoshop World
convention in Las Vegas. They learned lots of things and bought
some neat stuff. The final general session was on Saturday afternoon,
and it featured a Photoshop contest between two teams using techniques
presented at previous sessions. It also featured many prize
giveaways, including the convention's GRAND PRIZE: a state-of-the-art
2.9 GHz Dell Computer with a wide-screen monitor, 3.25 GB of RAM, and a 300-GB
hard drive, loaded with the entire Adobe Creative Suite.
On the right is a photo of the GRAND PRIZE WINNER, practicing
Solitaire on the trial run of his new computer, with his 3-month-old
assistant watching intently. |
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Commentary
More newsletters from PPA:
October 5, 2006
Dear PPA Member,
Whenever I'm asked, "Okay Al, what is the value of PPA membership in dollars
and cents?", the answer is easy. PPA has the highest valued membership
in the industry. We researched the open market cost of some PPA
services and found that selecting even a few items justifies the cost of
membership. To view our market research comparing the cost of
individual services with the benefits of membership, use this link
http://www.ppa.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=507 or visit the Value of
Membership page at www.ppa.com.
The bottom line is simple: PPA provides professional photographers with an
unmatched list of programs and benefits ranging from malpractice protection
and all-risk equipment insurance to the latest industry information and a
strong voice in Congress.
In my mind, the most valuable part of membership in PPA is having someone a
phone call away who is ready to help should you ever experience any
problems. That kind of customer service is truly priceless. Here's a
quick update on PPA's recently enhanced member benefit, the
Find-A-Photographer search engine. This valuable resource is now
powered by Portfolios.com and PPA members can upload 5 images and include
details about their business and services (not available to members in the
Aspiring category). You can set up your personal portfolio so prospective
clients can find you in multiple cities – they can even search by your
nickname.
Find out more by visiting the Portfolios FAQ thread on OurPPA.com (http://ourppa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3175
— you don't need to be a member of the forum to view this thread, buut
joining is free and allows you to interact with other photographers like
yourself).
Information, resources and benefits – with PPA they're always there when you
need them. It's all part of the Value of Membership. Sincerely,
Al Hopper, CAE
Director of Membership, Copyright and Government Affairs
Professional Photographers of America
September 28, 2006
Dear PPA Member,
In a surprising development, Congressman Lamar Smith has withdrawn the
Copyright Modernization Act, including Orphan Works legislation from
consideration. In his comments, Smith noted that he believed he had
enough support to pass the bill out of committee, but that there was no way
to have the bill enacted prior to the end of this Congress.
In January 2006, orphan works legislation was on the "fast-track" to
passage. However, Professional Photographers of America's testimony opposing
the legislation at hearings before the House Intellectual Property
Subcommittee this spring resulted in prolonged negotiations about the
legislation. PPA and its allies including ASMP, PACA and APA were able
to win significant concessions during these negotiations, and to slow the
progress of the legislation considerably.
While Smith's withdrawal of the legislation gives all parties a chance to
regroup and take a fresh look at the issue of orphan works, this is an issue
that shows no sign of disappearing. Congressman Smith has pledged to
reintroduce the legislation when the next Congress begins in January 2007.
That statement carries particular weight since, unless Congress changes
hands in the upcoming election, Smith will likely be the next chairman of
the full House Judiciary Committee. PPA considers Orphan Works to be a
serious issue that deserves attention and we will continue be on guard to
protect the rights of professional photographers as the process goes
forward. For more information on this legislation go to
www.CopyrightDefense.com.
Without a vigilant presence on Capitol Hill, this legislation would have
probably been enacted into law without a second thought as to how it might
have affected photographers. Keeping our eyes open and watching your back –
another benefit of membership.
Sincerely,
Al Hopper, CAE
Director of Membership, Copyright and Government Affairs
Professional Photographers of America
Other news of interest:
 Off
The Wall shuttered by tax agency
According to reports published in the
Regina
Leader-Post newspaper, Off the Wall
Productions appears to have been declared insolvent and had
its accounts frozen by the Canada Revenue Agency.
If you have paid for, but not received, merchandise from Off
the Wall it appears unlikely that you will be able to obtain
either a refund or the merchandise. Professional
Photographers of America has received reports that Off the
Wall's shipping company is holding all of the merchandise in
its possession as collateral for funds owed to it by Off the
Wall.
If you paid for your order by credit card, you may wish to
contact the card issuer to see if it is possible to have the
charge removed from your account. The telephone number
listed on Off the Wall's Web site has been "temporarily
disconnected."
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