7.26.11 Tuesday's Talented Twitter Find: Ken Toney

This week's Tuesday's Talented Twitter Find is Ken Toney

Follow Ken on twitter.

About My Tuesday's Talented Twitter Find: Each Tuesday (when I am not traveling) I will pick a talented photographer I find on Twitter - and promote the talented photographer here on my blog and on twitter, etc.

Nice work Ken!

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. If you are not following me on Twitter, click here to keep up to date with what I'm doing. And, keep posting interesting photo stuff on Twitter!

Exploring the Light Seminars in California in August - Start Two Weeks From Tomorrow

I hope to see some of my California photographer friends in August. 

I'll be giving two free seminars that are open to the public.

August 2

6-9 PM

Brooks Institute
Screening room
5301 North Ventura Ave.

Ventura, CA
Just show up :-)

August 3

Artist Reception 6 -7
Lecture 7-9

Grossmont College

Digital Arts Building #20
El Cajon, CA
To register, contact Suda House.

Explore the light,

Rick

P.S. If you need more info or have any questions, shoot me an email.

Some Thoughts on Your Business For the Start of the Work Week - Not Only for Photographers

Welcome to the start of another work week.

As work is on my mind, as well as my photography, I came over to the office this morning and flipped through the slides in my "The Business Side of Photography/Social Media Marketing" class for my October creativeLive class.

Above is one of the slides. It outlines what I recommend photographers do each and every day, if possible. Basically, the objective is to drive folks (customers) to your blog through various means. I say blog rather than blog/site because my blog is my site and I think blogs are more important (and easier to manage) than web sites.

Yes, all this stuff takes time, but as I talk about in my class: "You have do to what you don't want to do  to do the things you want to do."

Another one of my quotes: "It takes a lot of peanuts to feed an elephant." With that quote, I talk about the importance of having affiliate/associate programs.

Above is another sides from the class. Here I talk about the importance of thinking internationally - if you have a product or service to sell internationally. This screen grab is from AppVis, a program I use to check the sales of my apps . . . yes daily :-)

If you don't offer international products/services, think locally. In both cases, here is one of the keys to being successful: Know Your Audience.

Above is another slide from the class. It drives home the point that we are all in this together, and that we need to network and share.

Well, that's it for now. I need to follow the advice I give in the opening slide and get to work!

Explore the light,
Rick

Is Google+ The Next Big Social Media Marketing Tool?

Well, I've only had my Google+ account up for about a for a week - and I'm loving it. (Google+ is not officially launched. You need an invite to join.)


I'm not alone in lovin' Google+. Many of my fellow professional photographer friends (more than 50) are currently in my main Circle (a cool feature that lets you make select groups). What's more,  even a few well-respected pros are having Hangouts (where you can quickly and easily set up live video chats with folks in Circles).


I'm lovin' how easy it is to upload a picture, and a bunch of pictures - and to share those pictures. Adding links and videos is easy, too.


All this stuff is easy to learn with the videos that Google+ offers.


I also like the super clean look of Google+ pages. That look makes one's pictures really stand out.


Getting back to my fellow professional photographers, many are starting to use Google+ as an additional social media marketing tool - adding it to twitter and facebook as ways to spread the word about the stuff they are doing. Guess what? Me, too!


So if you are a pro or an aspiring pro, I'd recommend that you check out Google+ and look at its possibilities are as marketing tool. In the meantime, my guess is that your fellow photographers will be doing just that. :-)


Of course, Google+ is also great for keeping up-to-date with what your family members and close friends are doing. Yup! Just create another Circle.


Take a tour of Google+. Stay tuned for the official launc.


Explore the light,
Rick


P.S. I'll be covering many topics on my creativeLive class in October, including the Business Side of Photography/Social Media Marketing. I'm sure by then I'll be much more into Google+ . . . . and whatever new social media marketing tools come our way. Hope to see you there.

Cool Savings on Hot Products for Photographers

Hi everyone! I hope you are all keeping cool. Hot as heck here in NY.

Speaking of cool and hot, here are some cool savings on some hot products for you this weekend. 

Photomatix - cool HDR program. You can save 15% when you order Photomatix by using this code: ricksammon.

Lowepro camera bags. Need a cool camera bag? You can save 20 percent on any Lowpro bag by clicking here and using this code: LP20. Above: That's me with my Lowepro Dryzone bag.

SmugMug. Save some bucks (20 percent the first year) when you make a personal Smugmug site/gallery! Click here for a trial version and to save. Use this code to save: RickSmug20.

Alien Skin Software. You can save 15% when you order any AlienSkin plug-in by using this code upon checkout: RSA0901.

HDR Efex Pro - newest HDR plug-in. Save 15% off HDR Efex Pro if you use this code - RSAMMON - upon check-out on the Nik web site. Actually, you can save 15% on all Nik plug-ins - including Color Efex Pro! Just use the same code. 

Topaz Adjust . Above I used the Spicify Effect in Topaz Adjust. Click here to order Topaz Adjust. Hey, save a bundle when you order a Topaz bundle.

Amazon.com is running a super savings on one of my book, Rick Sammon's Travel and Nature Photography. Check it out!

Have fun and keep cool!

Explore the light,

Rick

7 Photographic Wonders of the World

I' m working on a worldwide photo project that could involve... you!

It's called the "7 Photographic Wonders of the World." Still in the planning stages.

I did a project like this, although on a much, much smaller scale a few years ago: "Seven Underwater Wonders of the World." I had Sea Hunt's Lloyd Bridges involved and folks from National Geographic, Smithsonian, NOAA, Wildlife Conservation International, etc.

Stay tuned here for more info.

Explore the light,
Rick




P.S. Book is out of print.

Today's Friday's Fab Photographer: Frank Doorhof

Today's Friday's Fab Photographer is Frank Doorhof, a cool dude I met at Photoshop World.

Each week, I select a photographer - pro or amateur - to spotlight here on my blog.

Take it away Frank!

• • •

Understanding light can save you money!

Well actually understanding light not only can save you money, it can make you money also. If you understand light you can start playing with it and make images that you actually not always see, so you can set yourself apart from the rest.

For the shot above I used one lightsource. In this case a standard Elinchrom reflector with grid. By placing the model close to the background and aiming the light the correct way you can create the effect you see here. Do remember that setting up a shot like this can take you some test shots if you want to get it right. You can speed up this process a lot by using a light meter.

The first thing you do is measure the face of the model with an incident reading, let’s say we choose f/11 for this one.

Now switch the light meter to spot metering and measure the background. Remember that if the value is now also f/11 the background will be rendered as 18% gray (middle gray). If you want the background a bit lighter you will have to change the angle of the light and move it slightly more towards the background, if you want it darker move it slightly away from the background. Do remember to measure the model again when you change the position.

By using different grid sizes you can change the “bundle” of the light.

If you want to store this setup and recreate it use your EXIF.

You can for example store it like this: RS S + 1. That means the background has to be one stop higher measured over the right side shoulder. This way you can very easily set it up again and get the same effect.

Above: Never use this kind of light. 

The main problem with rules is that a lot of people live by them and will never use light a bit more creative. One of those rules without a doubt is that one should never use light from the bottom up.

However when combined with the right “look” and some shadow play I love to play with this sometimes. In this image I used an Elinchrom reflector with grid aimed from a low angle straight on the model.

So the tip is :Always experiment with light, even if you think (or being told) that it cannot work, or cannot be used.

• • • 

Thank you Frank for a great post!

Explore the light,

Rick