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Creative Ways To Use The iPad In Your Photography Business

Mark — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:22:51 +0000

Today’s post is a guest post from Sheryl Warwick, check out all of her information below.

I would buy anything that Apple sells so I might be a little biased, but the Ipad has been my favorite product they have ever produced. I keep my Ipad on me at all times and it’s everything to me. It has been extremely useful for my photography studio in terms of sales and marketing. I want to highlight on some ways I utilize my Ipad and how it has paid for itself many times over.

For marketing I use it for two primary purposes as well as just handy tablet to view my portfolio with clients. The first thing I use it for is presentations. I often make promotional appearances and use it in conjunction with a TV as a media player, with a 10-hour battery life to display my YouTube videos and portfolio slideshows. It draws people in and just takes a cheap HDMI cable to plug right in. Once I have them talking to me I ask if they are interested in spinning the wheel to win a discounted shoot or free prints. That’s where Apples vast array of Apps come into play. My absolute favorite is iprizewheel. I got the idea from wanting to put up a spinning wheel at my bridal booth. The only thing is I’m not so good with hammers or nails. So it was Ipad to the rescue. Iprizewheel is a digital version of a prize wheel at a local fair. The best part is that to spin the wheel you have to give me your number and email address. The app will email you all the contacts you collected at the end of the day with the prizes they won. I generally get 300 brides contacts at a bridal fair. I’m tempted to purchase another Ipad because sometimes the line gets too long for people to come and spin the wheel. Then they can’t see the videos I was playing, but that’s a good problem to have. It’s amazing to see the crowds pour around it. Every time someone wins brides scream with delight, luring more potential clients in to my booth. It’s a win-win for me and the brides and their winning reactions just fuel the fervor of the event. Every time someone screams while pulling slot machines you want to go look. Iprizewheel has been a jackpot for me.

My future plans for my Ipad and its role in my studio will include print purchasing. I want a simple order form were they just tap the picture and select which product they want. When they have their bill totaled up they can pay using the Ipad via paypal or squareup. Simply slide your credit card over the free adapter squareup provides, sign the Ipad, and your client is paid up and heading out the door. The app will email or text them a receipt. It’s a great way to get paid while on location and an easy and cheap way to accept credit cards for those looking to expand their payment options. I haven’t found a app for my print purchasing yet, but I’m sure I will find a match as apps become more and more popular.

There are many other apps that I haven’t tried but I’m sure will be useful. There are apps covering things from remote camera shutters to model releases. It’s cheap and great functioning software that just makes life a little easier. For the price point you can’t afford not to have an Ipad for your business. I continue to find more uses for the device and I’m sure it can be implemented for photographers that work in different fields in many ways.

Sheryl Warwick

www.warwickboudoir.com
http://www.facebook.com/WarwickBoudoir
http://twitter.com/warwickboudoir

If you like our articles remember to share them on Facebook, Twitter or +1 them on Google. I appreciate you spreading the word to your photo friends and it helps me to continue writing content for everyone!

Also let me know how you use your iPad in your photography business in a creative way. You can always comment below or chat with us on our Facebook wall or Google +.

Some Amazing DSLR Videos to Inspire

Mark — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:06:27 +0000

As I am getting some articles ready to cover shooting video with your DSLR I wanted to put together some really amazing examples. The 5D Mark II really broke ground a few years ago when it incorporated video features into an already amazing still camera. This opened up the doors for us as creative people to capture really high quality video and with using our existing pro grade lenses really allowed for shooting in almost any type of lighting situation.

If you are wanting to get into shooting video with your DSLR here are some great videos to inspire! Also check back for some tutorials on how to get the best video out of your camera coming real soon.

Neda + Sati “A Marriage of Two Cultures” from Cherish Films on Vimeo.

The Water from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Tiara + Derek Wedding Fusion Highlights from Peter H. Chang on Vimeo.

Jayna + Gaurav’s Wedding Trailer from Illuminate Vista on Vimeo.

If you have been shooting DSLR videos I would love to see some of your work, just leave me a comment below with a link!

If you like our articles remember to share them on Facebook, Twitter or +1 them on Google. I appreciate you spreading the word to your photo friends! Also remember to always start a conversation by leaving a Facebook comment at the bottom of the page. I love to hear from you.

Your Best Hipstamatic Photo

Mark — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:00:23 +0000

It’s time again for another fun photography contest. And this time we are going to continue along the lines of monday’s post (Some Awesome Hipstamatic Photos) and go mobile. Upload your best photo taken and processed on a mobile phone. It doesn’t have to with the hipstamatic app, you can use any mobile app to create your image. Lets see how creative everyone can be with a mobile phone. This contest will go until next Friday April 1st and end at 12:00 midnight PST. The winner will be voted on by the team here at Digital Photo Buzz and we will choose one winner the following Monday. The winner will get a $100 from Black River Imaging, our awesome sponsor.

Lets see your best mobile phone image!

To enter just upload your image below where it says “Add Photo” (max size 600×400). Make sure to enter your website address or name in the Caption so we know who you are! Also only one entry per person. NOTE: Once you click submit the image does need to be approved and may take a few hours, just click the submit button once we will get your entry online soon.

Add Photo

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This is sponsored by Black River Imaging.

Black River imaging offers many great products for professional photographers from Contemporary wedding albums, guest books and press printed products. For more information on everything they can create for you check out their website at: http://www.blackriverimaging.com/

Contest Terms:
Anyone can enter 1 image.

For every photo you enter, you must:
own the copyright. the photo can not have won or been runner-up in a previous competition on Digitalphotobuzz.com
You are allowed to enter photos you uploaded to DigitalPhotoBuzz.com before, even if they haven’t been featured.
By entering your photo, you’re also giving DigitalPhotoBuzz.com a non-transferable, non-revocable right to feature it on our website. You will still own the copyright, and full credit will be given to you for the photo.

WPPI 2011 list of events

Mark — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:36:43 +0000

WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) is upon us again. 2011 will be my 7th WPPI and its an event I always look forward to. For everyone going to WPPI I thought I would put together a little list of the top parties/speakers/events to go to. It’s always a whirlwind so much to do and never enough time. There are always too many great programs to catch, events to go to and old friends to catch up with. This year I am only going to be in town for a few very quick days so am trying to maximize the time. Here are some of the highlights that everyone should look out for. If anyone that wants to get together for coffee or a quick bite one day send me a tweet (@digitalphotobuz)

Here is my list of must see things at WPPI 2010 (there are many other speakers that might fit your needs better, check out the WPPI site for a full class list)

Sunday

Sal Cincotta (Creating Wedding Packages that Sell) – 12:00-2:00. Pricing is one thing that many people struggle with and this presentation should be a great inspiration for those of you who struggle with pricing.

Julieanne Kost (Harnessing the Power of Lightroom 3 Develop Module) – 12:00-2:00. If you need help on the tech side of things Julieanne is one of the best Lightroom and Photoshop teachers out there. She always explains things in a very easy to understand way and no matter what your level is I am sure you will come away from this with some great tips and knowledge. She has a few presentations during WPPI so make sure to catch one.

Bob & Dawn Davis (Staying True to Yourself, Creating your Signature Brand) – 3:30 – 5:30. This is one couple that I have never heard speak but always hear great things about them. will share how they went from selling photography to providing an experience through the creation of their signature brand. They will share how to: be true to yourself and your style; sign your work with excellence; develop your brand; and be consistent with all of your marketing materials and messaging.

Runway Show - There is always an opening night reception and this year its a runway show at the grand garden arena from 7:00-10:00 at the Garden Grand Arena. End the first day with a nice little party and meet some new photographers.

Monday

Ken Sklute (Seeing into the Future with Ken Sklute) – 8:00-10:00. I have always been a believer in introducing new items for your clients and the blend of photo and video over the last few year is something that I think many more brides are going to be requesting. Are you ready to produce and add cutting-edge multimedia coverage to your wedding and portrait clients? Ken Sklute, Canon Explorer of Light, will show you how to be on top of the newest technologies with your DSLR

Kevin Jairaj & JVS (New and Creative Lighting Techniques with KJ and JVS) - 3:00-5:00 . You all know that I love creative lighting and this presentation should be a great one. KJ and JVS will present fresh and innovative ways to breathe dramatic lighting into your images. Whether using speed lights, video lights, canned light or strobes, stand out from your competition while learning from two of the industry’s best.

Sue Bryce (Moving Portait) – 6:00-8:00. Another class on the merging of still and video work. Moving Portrait is the cinema experience created by Sue Bryce for her portrait clients. She creates a fusion of video together with her fashion-inspired shooting style using the Canon HDSLR. Learn how to use the moving image in your business for stand-out advertising and to increase sales.

Marti Gras Party – End the night with the WPPI marti gras party. 8-10 at the Grand Garden Arena.

Tuesday

Jerry Ghionis (Creative Karma) - 8:00-10:00. Tuesday morning there are just too many good classes to choose from. Jerry is awesome, I love his work and his passion for photography. I have heard him talk before so won’t be at this one but if you haven’t heard of Jerry before this is a must see presentation.

Julieanne Kost (Stylized Effects with Photoshop CS5) 8:00-10:00. Another class from Julieanne Kost on how to add stylized touches to enhance your photography work. Be prepared to learn a ton of stuff on photoshop.

Damon Tucci (Light it up) 3:00-5:00 – Can never learn enough about lighting. I actually haven’t met this person before and don’t know much about him so proceed at your own risk on this one

Mike Fulton & Cody Clinton (Wireless Flash Tips and Tricks) – 6:30-8:30. Learn to see and capture the light visually and by wireless flash and video lighting techniques that will assist you in creating light and more importantly shadows in any situation.

Wednesday

Lisa Lefkowitz (Lifestyle Wedding Photography) - 8:00-10:00. Lisa will share her approach to creating beautiful lifestyle images and describe how working with film has inspired and differentiated her Fine Art brand. She will also discuss how having her work published has been a powerful tool in establishing her boutique studio.

Lori Nordstrom (The Profitable Portrait Studio) – 2:30-4:30. Numbers might sound boring but you need to understand them in order to stay in business. Lori shares a business model that will take your studio into the black. Hear strategies for success that you can immediately incorporate into your business.

WPPI Awards Night – 6:00-9:00. Be inspired by the award winners from the WPPI print comp. Always a really good competition and some amazing images entered.

If there is anything I missed that you think is a must have, add your comments below. Also for those that can’t make it to WPPI i’ll have some good notes and coverage to share over the next few weeks so keep checking back.

What is your favorite lens?

Mark — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 15:36:02 +0000

Earlier this week I posted a question on Facebook and Twitter that got some good responses and a pretty big variety. It was a simple question, what is your must have lens? There was a huge variety of responses from 50mm primes to 70-200 zooms and it got me wanting more info. So today a quick post, what is your favorite lens and why? Leave a comment below with what your must have lens is and why you can’t live without it.

For me I would say my must have lens is actually the cheapest lens in my bag, a Canon 50mm 1.4. While it’s not as sexy as it’s sister lens the 1.2, I love the size of the lens so compact, small and super light weight. When traveling or just shooting candid images it doesn’t distract and lets you blend into the scene much better than that nice 70-200 that I also love. It’s also just a beautiful lens, extremely sharp, the color is amazing out of it and the bokeh that you get when shooting portraits at f/1.4 is beautiful. And finally its a very affordable lens, at around $350 for the quality you get it’s amazing.

So what’s your favorite lens? Share a little in the comments below.

This post is sponsored by Collages.net

Feature on collages.net blog

Mark — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:35:48 +0000

I was so excited awhile back when collages.net called me wanting to do an interview about me and my photography. When you put all of your heart into your work it feels so good to have it recognized by other people in your industry, although it does still feel a little bit strange. Over the last few years I have been featured on a few different industry vendors websites, have had images of mine used in their marketing and promo material and it’s always so exciting but still surreal. I remember last year the company that we do our slideshows through wanted to use a recent slideshow of ours as a demo. They also used a few photos from that on their postcards and marketing material. They did a huge marketing blitz and for a few months I kept seeing my photos every few days in emails or mailers, it was strange but definitely awesome. Photography has been a love and passion of mine since I was a child and although I shoot for myself, it still is nice when other people acknowledge your work. Check out the interview and get to know me a little bit more.

So I was pretty stoked when collages.net called up and wanted to do a little feature of me on their blog. They wanted to know a little bit about my background and how I got started in photography, go and check out the full interview from their website at: http://blog.collages.net/?p=6700

Photoshop CS5 Masking Basics & Masking Magic

Mark — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:41:36 +0000

Masking has always been a great way in Photoshop to select parts of an image and combine your selections to make a photo compositions. With basic images masking has always been pretty easy but for more complex images (little fly away hairs used to be the hardest thing to mask). But with Photoshop CS5 there are some new tools in the mask section that are pretty amazing. These new tools can save you a ton of time if you do a lot of detailed retouching or multi-photo compositions. Check out this video below to get a good walk through of the new features in the mask tool.

Photoshop CS5 is looking like a pretty decent upgrade, depending on the type of photography you do it might be a worthwhile investment. Have you upgraded yet? Love it/hate it? Let us know in the comments.

Do you have some great photoshop compositions to share? Leave a link in the comments below.

This post is sponsored by Collages.net

What’s your favorite type of photography article?

Mark — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:00:59 +0000

I love all of the feedback I get from you all and want to always create great content that will help you out. Take a quick second and answer the question below to help me gauge what type of articles you get the most use out of.

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