NoBs Digital Dogbowl
The NoBs Digital Dogbowl Newsletter:
Keeping you up to date and informed on the latest, coolest, and outrageous happenings inside the world of NoBS Photo Success.
Loaded with Free photography tips, Photoshop tutorials, photo reviews,
and other totally relevant essentials. Be sure to check out the whole thing!
Hungry for more? Visit our digital photography forum.
July 2009 Digital Dogbowl
Inferno 2009 Registration Officially Begins!
Here's the announcement you've all been waiting for: registration for the 2009 Inferno is officially underway!
No Bs Photo Success Inferno in Nashville November 2-4th, 2009
You can sign up now at the early bird members price of only $97.00 for the Inferno in Nashville.
Three day intensive photographic workshop. Three days of non-stop, no bull, from the trenches photography, lighting, marketing and success.
And at a rock bottom price. But don't delay, make plans to attend the one event you must attend this year!
This low price will only be available until the end of August.
To register, you must be a NoBS member. Here is your link.
School Is Back In Session
For a few NoBS members, the summer of 2009 has offered some time to kick back and relax. Some headed towards the sun and others toward the water. NoBS co-founders Rob Provencher and James Hodgins did some vacationing of their own via motorcycle across Canada. (They shared some images and daily stories on their respective blogs. To see details from Rob's trip, go to his blog. You can see the highlights of James' trip here.) But, like all good things, vacations must come to an end and we must get back to the business of business and continuing education to stay up to date with the latest trends.
If you are looking for a great all-around workshop, Rob and James will be teaching their annual class over at the Niagara School of Imaging in August. If you're interested in attending, you'd better hurry up as time is running out. Here is the link.
Can't make it over to NSI? Check out the NoBS Get Together forum to see if your fellow NoBSers are planning any mini-workshops in your area.
Official NoBS Posing Guide
NoBS member, peppypea (aka Amy Coe), is spearheading an effort to put together an official NoBS posing guide. She has designed some templates and created a link for NoBS members to download and attach their favorite poses. The idea is that everyone will eventually turn in their favorite poses and the guide will be assembled and made available for download here on the NoBS forum. If you are interested in contributing your poses, please go to the original thread where you'll find the template download link. Stay tuned for details on when your poses will be accepted for submission.
NoBS Photo of the Month and Member of the Month
Congratulations go out this month to NoBS member Dawn_ellen (aka Dawn Schubert) whose image was selected as the Photo of the Month. Here is Dawn's story about how she got mixed up in this crazy business of ours and the story behind her winning image.
"Photography has always been an interest of mine. I remember growing up thinking that I would love to be a photographer, but I NEVER had the confidence to pursue my dream.
When I went to college I took a test that supposedly showed my strengths and weaknesses in order to to help me decide what field of study to follow. I scored EXTREMELY low on the technical and mechanical part of the test. My strengths were high on the artistic side. It gave some suggestions for careers and one was in visual arts. I thought about photography but then remembered the technical/mechanical scores and quickly changed my mind. I get very frustrated when it comes to the mechanics of things. As a result, I went into the medical field and fed my artistic side with painting and mosaics.
I Love Smart Objects by Bill Guy
Smart Objects in Photoshop is a fast and easy way to work on images in a non destructive way and can be a great timesaver. However, many users are hesitant to use them because, in my opinion, Adobe has not done a good of explaining them.
When Smart Objects came into CS 2 it was handled with Place command under File and had limited use. CS 3 really improved on the concept allowing the use of Smart Filters but still Adobe did not really explain how this new feature can be a great help to photographers. So think of them this way, a Smart Object is more of a place holder than a straight copy of an image.
Marketing Inspiration: Donating Your Work
NoBS member, We_Shoot_Ya (aka Danny), recently shared how a marketing strategy that has paid off with a ton of positive exposure for his studio.
"We attended a Babies to Bellies with Sam Puc a couple of years ago when she told everyone about her hospital display she had and I think actually showed us photos of the displays she had in the hospital.
So my wife and I contacted our local hospital (we know the PR person) to see if they were interested in having our baby photos in the maternity ward.
At the time they seemed pretty interested, so they gave us all the forms (privacy forms) and we placed a coupon in each of the going home bags with the mommies. All photos needed to be of babies that were born at the hospital.
We started stacking up photos and about a year later, we did up a really nice, really big mommy baby shot… framed it VERY nice and set up a meeting with the manager of the Maternity Ward.
Well she went nuts when I told her that retail value on the 20 plus framed portraits was over a $10,000 donation from We Shoot Ya Photography!!!
So, now here is what is happening. We are having an art opening at our Custom Frame Shop and our Studio (which are actually connected). The Hospital met with us and said, because you guys are donating so much, we decided to re-decorate the entire maternity ward. All 21 very big photos will be on display for a week at our place, then be moved over to the hosp.
Then they tell us, that they want to have this big party and they will do ALL of the advertisement for the party, if you guys put on the party part of it.
NO PROBLEM!!!
So far, I bet they have spent over $5000+ on several half page ads in three different papers, not to mention mailing out 1000’s of invitations to donors, clients, doctors and employees, all of which tell them about US!"
What Would You Do?
The road to a successful photography business one is a dicey one at best. It is filled with extreme highs and extreme lows. There are many obstacles which come along to challenge our desire and motivation to succeed. The first challenge being that of developing your skills so that you are consistently producing high quality work. Really, that's probably the easiest obstacle. The next obstacle is in getting your work noticed by the right people, your target market. The biggest obstacle? Getting them in the door. NoBS member Rene S recently shared his frustrations and doubts about continuing to build his business. He received wonderful ideas and advice from the NoBS gang. To see the thread and what Rene ultimately decided to do, click here.
Vendor Spotlight: Fundy SOS
NoBS recently welcomed Fundy SOS (Solutions on Steroids) to its vendor family. Just what exactly is Fundy SOS?
Fundy SOS was founded by photographer Andrew Funderburg (Fundy) and its goal is to make the professional photographer's life easier. Among the products and services they offer are album design software and album proofing software.
When he first came up with the concept, Fundy " wanted something that was super fast, let me use my favorite Photoshop actions in batch, and let me browse my images in Bridge. He came up with the - the Fundy Album Builder (FAB). It has become so popular, so fast, we are blown away. We love our customers and, we hope, they love us."
If you'd like to sample some of Fundy's products, they've got free trials of everything on the site. Get your free downloads here.
“When it comes to running a successful studio, my time is money. And by switching to FAB we have maximized our profits from album sales! Hands down, best product on the market.”
Sal Cincotta, WPPI 2010 Master Class Speaker
If you run a fairly busy studio, you probably don't have enough time to send personalized thank you cards to each client. If that's the case, you may be missing out on a huge opportunity to build client loyalty. Send Out Cards, which offers this service and also allows you to customize cards with your own images may be just what you need. Rob recently put together a nifty little video to demonstrate how his studio uses Send Out Cards. To watch it go to this link.
Headshots don't have to be boring or complicated. Case in point is a headshot James recently did of a local pianist. Here's the link to the video he did showing his quick and easy setup.
The results are in and NoBS moderator and design|house creator Andy Armstrong again was honored by WPPI in the 8x10 print competition. He received two Accolades of Excellence: 2nd Place Overall in the Editorial Illustrative category and 1st Overall for Portrait Individual. To see Andy's winning images, go to this thread.
James Hodgins, co-founder of No Bs Photo Success, will go through the Top Ten scenarios where using off camera flash took regular bread & butter images and skyrocketed them into the stratosphere of excellence. If you want to learn how to do the same then this webinar is a must attend! To sign up for this members only webinar, go here.
Webinar Reminder: Bill Foster
Mark August 6 on your calendar for the next NoBS webinar with esteemed NoBS member Bill Foster, a successful photojournalist who will share some tips on how to improve the SEO of your website. To sign up for the free webinar, go here.
NoBS Radio: Maria Sauserman
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with Expert Maria Sauserman
 of VTalkRadio Photography Spotlight  Sponsor www.nobsphotosuccess.com  Read Transcript  Play Show  |
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NoBS moderator and retouching guru Mike Long announced that he has a few slots still left for his post Inferno workshop, Retouching Junction. This will be a one-day intensive Photoshop retouching workshop for intermediate users. You'll learn the tips and tricks of the trade to make your work stand out from the crowd. For details about the workshop and the link to sign up, go here.
Here's another opportunity to learn while you're at NoBS' 2009 Inferno in Nashville. Award-winning photographer and NoBS moderator Andy Armstrong will be presenting two mini-workshops on boudoir photography after hours at this year's 2009 Inferno. For signup details, click here.
New Forum: Glamour & Fine Art
NoBS has added a new forum! This new forum is dedicated to portraits that lean towards the glamor, fine art, pin-up, model, boudoir style of photography.
Hot off the video presses! Rob demonstrates how he did an indoor shoot using only SB800s and gels. The location? A funeral home! The job? Shooting a musician for her CD cover. To catch this video, go to this NoBS thread.
This month Rob takes us on a tour with Lorne Rostotski a well established photographer who has been grooming his daughter to take over the reins of his successful studio. To see the video, click here.