tips Archives

May 17, 2009

Analyze & Inspire Episode #1 – Grassy Perspectives

by Gavin Seim: Today I’m going to kick off the new analyze inspiration series I promised a few weeks ago. In a nutshell, I take an image that get’s me thinking in some way. I talk about what I see (or don’t see) in it and invite readers to chime in with their own ideas and inspiration.

Pretty straightforward random thoughts about what was done and why it’s good, or bad. Here’s today’s photograph. Let’s start by just looking at it…

I was experimenting with composition and lighting yesterday in the park when I took this. I actually had my face and camera down in the grass giving me this soft foreground perspective that covered a big area of the frame. I shot it on my 5D MK2 at 1/125, f11, ISO400, 58mm and I think I had a little off camera flash on the foreground grass. I did some quick post in Lightroom using the Nature Boy preset from my PW2 collection and darkened the foreground a little using a gradient.

Good: The composition is different which draws in my eye.

Bad: There’s no main focal point. The grass may lead me in but then I don’t know which element I’m supposed to be seeing.

Good: It feel like there’s something hidden here. My eye scans wanting to solve the mystery.

Bad: It feels a bit crooked which annoys me.

Good: I like the bold greens.

Bad: I don’t want it on my wall.

In my opinion this shot only gets 64/100. That’s a FAIL and I would not hang it on my wall. The fact that it lacks a MAIN subject pretty much kills it. That doesn’t mean it’s useless however. The reality is that I was not expecting a great shot. I was exercising my skills by trying things.

Below I approached it differently. Same image, but in LR I applied a warm infrared from Monochromatix. This changes the whole mood. I also like it this way. In many ways it’s more simple, but the key problem remains. I don’t have a main subject and without one, this shot does not fulfill my eye’s desires to fin something amazing at it scans.

Thinking out loud. I got something from this shot even though it’s not great. It has me thiking about perspective, lighting and patterns. What if there was a HUGE bull Elk in walking between those two tree’s just right of center. That would change everything. If I’m ever laying in the grass watching a huge elf, you can bet this exercise will come to mind.

This was fun. I’ve got myself thinking about new ideas by looking close at this image and talking about it. I think I’m going to like this series. This is the kind of thing KungFu Photo is all about. Now I’m ready for your thoughts and ideas.

infrared-vintage-park

May 16, 2009

lightroom, special effects, tips

An Overview Of The Seim Effects Collections.

by Gavin Seim: There’s plenty of info and a video on each product page of this site, but I wanted to make a post giving an overview of how I use Seim Effects in m fast photo workflow and what each collection is best for. I’ve found that having your workflow nailed down makes all the different in creative efficiency.

Power Workflow2: This is my starting editing tool, but certainly not the only one I use. Lightroom used with PW2 is the key to those fast 3hr wedding edit sessions I do. PW2 is a set of about 60 highly refined and organized presets that can be applied with a mousclick to one or thousands of images.

There’s categories, starting with the batch correction Super Series presets. I start my workflow by adding these to large batches of images from my session. This get’s me the basic but essential stuff like exposure, contrast and tone under control. There’s various Super Series presets depending on the shooting situation. Basically I pick the one that looks best for a batch of images and off I go. No rocket science yet. I may still have to do a few tweaks on a few images since no auto tool is perfect, but it get’s me close.

After the auto correction I sort down my images with a 3-5 star rating system. 5 being the best. I’ll then go over my favorite images and add other effects from the set. The Super Series is just the beginning. There’s lots of color and B&W effects to choose from and soon I have a nice variety.

MonoChromatix: Black and white can be so powerful. PW2 takes has some great monotone effects, but MonoChromatix takes it to the next level with a complete set of all monochromtic effects that perfectly complements PW2. When I think an image just looks great in B&W and want to get something really remarkable I’ll try some effects from this set until I find one that’s perfect. There’s everything from classic black and white to sepia, to infrared. I use these to get some really cool B&W looks, and it saves me the time of having to use a plugin in Photoshop.

Creative Essentials: Essentials is a great tool for someone who does not use Lightroom, but also for someone use mainlines in Lightroom and then does those special tweaks in Photoshop like I do. It’s simple and straighforward with some poerful tools.

Once my primary edits are done in LR I head to PS with a few of my favorite photographs. There’s things I can do in PS that just can’t be done in LR. Essentials is a great starter set of actions that includes a nice range of effects from tonal changes to really nice color tones, shatpening and softening effects.

Hollywood Effects: The set that started it all. It’s been thru some tweaks, but the name still says it pretty well. Hollywood and Essentals complement each other really well and when I head into Photoshop I use them both.

In Hollywood you’ll find plenty of cinematic glows, color modifiers and mood setters. Some of them can be intense, but since with my actions I make standard practice of having layers, masks and details, you can easily adjust the way an effect changes your image to get a totally unique look.

I keep a main workflow action set where my actions (as well as favorites from others) are saved in one set. Easy to manage and easy to backup. Then I put the action pallete into button mode and it’s like a console of photo tools a mouse click away.

That about sums it up. As I work everything stays saved back into LR and when I’m done I just export the final results. Event those not using Lightroom can still move their workflow along much faster by having both action sets loaded and ready to fire.

It’s a complete workflow for Lightroom or PS users that does an important job. Giving us more creativity while making us faster. I’m always working to devise new workflow ideas and improve effects so stay tine. You’re also welcome to contact me with feeback or ideas… Gavin

May 6, 2009

Biz Sense, Gavin Seim

Attend Some Workshops In 2009

I’ve been making a point to attend more workshops and sessions this year. There’s just so much to learn and I owe it to my business, my clients (and you readers) to absorb information. We should all take the time to learn expand and share. Speaking of which I twitter favorite tips while I’m at sessions. You find my twitter feed here. In person workshops just have something more than you can get online.

Last night I attended David Ziser’s Digital WakeUp Call. David is the legendary photographer who writes Digital Pro Talk. He’s also a great salesman and presenter and seeing him in person was a real treat. He talked marketing, workflow, lighting and more. Wow, it was a load of information and tips a short time. Not to mention that the extras you get make the low cost of admission more than worth it and that there were loads of great door prizes.

I also met some of you listeners there which was super cool. Afterwords David, myself and a few others who had helped David and his wife LeDawn (what a hard worker she was) with setup lounged around and talked shop for awhile. It was a fun evening.

If you can get to the WakeUp Call don’t miss it. You can get in for $59 if you sign up with promo code ZGSDWC09

Then last week I also attended the legendary Wall Portrait Conference lead by Ken Whitmire. It’s more spendy, but a six day INTENSE workshop focusing on taking your portraits and sales to the next level.

All I can say is WOW. Ken was such a neat old guy, and all week we had great speakers Like Bruce & Josh Husdon, Sam Gardener, and many more, filling our professional quiver with more arrows. Any photographer who’s not selling large portraits from their sessions as a norm needs to attend this conference.

The WP Conference is only once a year. I’m going to try and work out a discount for PPS’ers with Ken, so stay tuned.

I’ll be talking about workshops and all I’m learning more on the podcast, but the bottom line is get out there. Their worth the time and money. There’s even my own 3 day HDR workshop coming this fall where you’ll learn how to use HDR properly, avoid overuse and take images to the next level. Check it out here.

Gavin Seim

May 2, 2009

Biz Sense, Gavin Seim, PPS Photography Tips, ProPhotoShow

19 Tips for 300 Client Inquiries:

19 Tips To Get 300 Client Inquiries: Special guest post by Matt McGraw.

1.
Vendors, vendors, vendors. Their important. From reception caterers to cake makers. I do a pre-questionnaire for my brides and grooms. In that questionnaire I find out who I am working with, from DJs ,to Florist, to cake people, to ministers to, reception places etc. I obtain all the contact information for these vendors. After the wedding I compile a list of photos that each vendor would find interest in. I splash my logo and email them the images, then say if they would like any of the photos in high res and without my logo to let me know.

For reception sites: If it’s somewhere I have never worked I’ll send them a 20X30 print with my logo splashed all over it and 4X6s of the same photo with my contact info to pass out to potential brides. I’ll also send them a disc with images they might be interested in and tell them they can use whatever photos they would like to.

Become buddies with the vendors too. For example, I’m on a “hug basis” with the sales directors of 5 major hotels in town. Their cell numbers are in my phone. I photograph their kids. I’ll sometimes meet them for a beer or two. I never promote my photography. It’s always buddy talk. Sure we talk shop sometimes, but it’s not my goal. They feel comfortable around me.

2.
Newsletter/blog: Start one… I use constant contact set up a page and send mine out once a month. My email list is 6300 strong. Most photographers have a webpage set up. We do not.. I’m not opposed to that but I just prefer the email newsletter.

Next question for you is how we get 6300 people on there. Anyone that emails me gets on the list.
The only people who do not get on my list are emails that are inquiring where I am not available. Also I advertise in two magazines where they provide a lead sheet. I’ll copy and paste emails of brides and grooms where I am not booked. I do this once a month right before I send out the newsletter.

3.
Advertising: In the beginning of your career, spend most of your advertising money online as opposed to print. Print is just name recognition. They’ll see or hear your name and see an ad and say I’ve heard of this photographer.

April 14, 2009

Dennis Zerwas, Gavin Seim, HDR Photography, lightroom, Photography Podcast, PPS Photography Tips, Pro Photo Show Podcast, ProPhotoShow

Pro Photography Podcast #57. Photography & HDR with Trey Ratcliff:

Click To Listen>> Photography Podcast. PPS #57
Vote in iTunes, or Vote on Podcast Alley

Times Square At Dusk HDR — Times Square At Dusk

On Todays Show: Gavin Seim – Trey Ratcliff. This week I talk about attending workshops, the new Pocket Wizards and join HDR legend Trey Ratcliff for a great talk about the world of photography and HDR.

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