January 26, 2009

Click To Listen>>  Photography Podcast. PPS #54
Review in iTunes, or Vote on Podcast Alley
Subscribe in itunes

Today’s topics: Industry & PPS news. Getting your photography noticed.
Host: Gavin Seim ~ Seim Studios

Here Is Podcast #54 forum discussion:

Show Notes & Links:

The Canon 5D MK2 firmware 1.07 is available.

Also here’s some 5D MK II High ISO samples I posted.

PPS contest winners & sponsors are announced here.

Gavins’ Interview on pieces of the picture.

Planning an HDR workshop in Washington. Also thinking about going to Ireland next winter. Email Gavin you have thoughts on Ireland, or are interested in attending the workshop.

Check out the OnOne Plugin Suite4 Straight Dope Review.
OnOne has given PPS’ers a 20% off discount good till Feb 28th.
Use Promo Code PRPHT2

I’ve started the HDR portrait & wedding group on Flickr, as well as the Incredible HDR group. You can also join the main PPS Flickr group.

Follow Gavin on Twitter.

Power Workflow 2.2 presets have been released.
Use Promo Code PPS to save 15%

My new wedding photography site is working well.

Here’s the bridal show booth picture and info.

Pocket Wizards and Radio Poppers are RF add on’s instead of using built in Infrared on your flash.

Canon RC1 remote works on 5D MK II. It’s cheap too. I’m getting one.

Gavin ordered the Black Rapid strap.

Lightroom 2.3 beta is on available Adobe Labs.

Let’s talk about online galleries and photo selling.
Smugmug
, Zenfolio, Exposure Manager, Instaproofs, Collages. Even install your own with somethihg like Pictures Pro.
What do you like and why?

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January 21, 2009

The big PPS Winter/Christmas contest ended on Jan 1st and the winners have just been chosen:
Special thanks to this years sponsors. Stop by and visit them:


I wanted this contest to be totally fair. First I gathered all the entrants email addresses into a single list, including doubles for those who earned double entries by linking to PPS. Then I randomized and numbered the list using Alpha B, and then used a Web number picker to choose winning numbers for more than $2000.00 in prizes. Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to all who won, you’ll be contacted soon.

Even if your not on the winners list, watch your inbox. All entrants will receive a special free effects pack from Seim Effects that has some brand new effects in it including the new Golden Sun presets. You can also fan Seim Effects on Facebook for more specials and freebies.

Stay tune for the next contest by watching the site. You can also become a PPS fan on Facebook. That way you’ll be notified when contests come up. Don’t forget click thru and check out the great products from our sponsors. You may want to buy them anyways since their all so cool.

An The Winners Are…. (insert drum roll here)

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January 19, 2009

I wanted to tell you all about our bundle discounts. Their pretty simple, but can save you a lot. The Seim workflow is lead by Power Worflow2, but is meant to co-exsist with the other effects like B&W Presets and then finish up with actions like Creative Essentials and Hollywood Effects. Bundles are a great way to get more Lightroom presets and  Photoshop actions for less.

All you have to do is add multiple items to your cart. Then add the promo code BUNDLE and it will give you 15% OFF your entire instant order. Any combination of two or more products is eligible for this so you can grab a couple packs, or the whole Seim Effects series. Have fun… Gav

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December 27, 2008

The Product: OnOne Plug-in Suite 4 for Photoshop: Overall PPS Rating, 7/10
Includes Six plugins. We’ll review each separately below. Review by Gavin Seim

OnOne has given PPS a 15% off discount for readers. Use Promo Code PRPHTPC

The Hot:

  • Product interfaces have become mostly unified making them easy to work with.
  • When purchased as a suite, it’s a good value. You’ll have plenty to play with.
  • Effects and tools are effective and generally simple to use and customize.
  • Aperture & Lightroom* integration on certain apps

The Not:

  • No auto update makes in version updates a hassle and easy to overlook.
  • When purchased separately there’s STD/PRO options adding confusion and making the prices too high (not unlike many plugin companies. These so called Pro versions do not have enough extra features to warrant the cost. The full suite does include the pro versions where applicable however.

The Bottom Line:
This is a great collection of plugins. If you want to broaden your editing arsenal in one shot, Plugin Suite 4 is a great place to start. While the whole suite is the best value, all plugins can also be purchased separately.

*One thing to note is that Lightroom integration is little more than export plugins and not self contained integration in LR. This is probably due to limitation with Lightrooms support for plugins, but it’s still a  disappointment.

Promo’s and discounts:
OnOne gives PPS some specials as well. Promo code PRPHTSHW is good everyday for 10% off any OnOne product. Also thru Dec 31st, here’s a promo page that will save you $100 on the suite. Note that OnOne has no say in this review, and it contains only my honest opinions.

Individual Product Reviews:

Genuine Fractals 6: Review 9/10
Genuine Fractals is a standard among many photographers when it comes up scaling image resolution. I use it whenever I make large prints. It can quickly take those pixels and make a 300DPI file for whatever print size I need. It can even add sharpening in the same pass (though I usually sharpen separately) GF just gives something more than built in Photoshop up-conversion methods and I really like it.

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December 25, 2008

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. The blessings of Christ abound around us. I’m thankful for my family, my customers and my colleagues. Here’s a little collage of self portraits we made in the studio yesterday. It would be tough to send cards to everyone since I know so many people.

Since this is the Pro Photo Show edition, I’ll talk shop a little. I did these self portraits with the 5D MKII. I used a white paper backdrop and two Alien Bee’s strobes in the studio. One aimed low and behind us to totally whiten the paper and another in front aimed downwards and bouncing off the floor to fill the front.

The layout was done very simply using InDesign just like I would do a wedding album page, though on an 8×10 layout. That’s all there is too it. Nothing amazing, but I did have fun.

Lastly don’t forget about the PPS Christmas contest. It’s our gift to you, and even if you don’t win one of the big prizes, everyone who enter will receive a free effect goodie pack from PPS and Seim Effects early next year. You can’t lose, so if you haven’t already, go here to enter.

Again merry Christmas to you all… Gav

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