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Home: Video University Forums: Digital Photography for Videographers:
She's Headed to Nashville!

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Storm Crow
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Mar 8, 2006, 8:56 AM

Post #1 of 26 (3830 views)
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She's Headed to Nashville!	Can't Post

This girl calls me last Friday and says she needs some head and body shots of her because she is headed down to Nashville this Friday to meet with the producer of her band and also the producer of a movie she and her band are going to be in that is being shot in Nashville. She will be playing herself in the movie and will be the lead actresses best friend in the movie. She will be singing (obviously) in the movie too.

So we went out Saturday afternoon and shot these and many more images (198) and had a great time! These are some of my favorites from the session and I hope you like them. She is such a nice girl and I wish her nothing but the best. When I asked her to sing for me she said no problem and so I brought the kareoke machine down and she sang the song "Torn" to me in very fine style, lol. We got along so well and she ended up buying $500 worth of pictures from me that should arrive today! I'm lovin this Photography thing because it seems to me you can eliminate your backlog so much quicker.

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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
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(This post was edited by Storm Crow on Mar 8, 2006, 1:00 PM)

RustyB
Veteran

Mar 8, 2006, 6:50 PM

Post #2 of 26 (3802 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Awesome pics...looks like you have some choice locations that suited her well. Did you just charge her for the prints...just $500? Sounds like she got a great deal! Hopefully she'll keep you in mind for future promotional stuff...I'm sure you wouldn't mind shooting her again. Wink

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Storm Crow
Veteran

Mar 8, 2006, 9:06 PM

Post #3 of 26 (3792 views)
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Re: [RustyB] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

Thanks Rusty. We shot the first one looking out my barn door. The one in the street is the road in front of my house and then I took her to a quarry nearby and the train tracks are right next to that and then took her to two abandoned farms. In all it was probably about 1.5 hours of shooting and I charged her $200 for that and then half price on the prints. I had no idea she was going to order so many other pics! She just called a gain and wants more! lol
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
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sunrisedigital
User

Mar 8, 2006, 10:25 PM

Post #4 of 26 (3784 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Storm,
What service are you using for prints? How do you structure your pricing(if you dont mind me asking?)
Thanks,
Great looking pictures.....
How did you do the swirl picture?
Eric

Storm Crow
Veteran

Mar 9, 2006, 10:41 AM

Post #5 of 26 (3765 views)
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Re: [sunrisedigital] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

Storm,
What service are you using for prints? How do you structure your pricing(if you dont mind me asking?)
Thanks,
Great looking pictures.....
How did you do the swirl picture?
Eric

Eric, I'm using www.mpix.com for my prints and so far have been very happy with them. I'm not sure if they are the cheapest or not but I know that they usually ship the pictures out the same day I order as long as I get my order in early enough in the day. I always just get the USPS delivery and it is usually two days after my order that I receive the pictures. What I have done so far is mark up the price per prints of mpix so if a picture costs me $3.99 to get a print of it, I charge $39.99. My biggest problem is I have to learn to respect my work more because I am always saying to people, "If you go with me I'll give you half off on prints" and I cannot do that and make a serious living I know. I'm too much of a softy.

The swirl thing is done in Photoshop. You take your picture and extract what it is you want to not be swirled and then use filter, blur, radial and adjust as you wish. In this case I also turned the saturation on the background all the way down.
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

rodovideo
Enthusiast

Mar 9, 2006, 10:44 AM

Post #6 of 26 (3761 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Storm,
How long did you play with the images or were they pretty good right out of the camera? I'm trying to get a feel for how much time it should take to get the images cleaned up and back to the customer.... I seem to spend to much time in CS2 messing around and trying to get them "JUST RIGHT..."

thanks for posting
Mike R

(scary thought ran through my head... some day that will be my little girl... heading to "the big city" It's nice to see them grow, but it is also scary... luckily I've got at least 10 more years till that might happen...)

Look toward the Son, and you will not see the shadows

sample images from RODO PHOTO

Rodo Media BLOG

Scott Brooks
Veteran

Mar 9, 2006, 12:27 PM

Post #7 of 26 (3755 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

MPix has great customer service. Also, depending on how many print orders I get, I'm seriously considering having print orders drop shipped to my customers instead of delivered to my office. This would eliminate a lot of hassle in terms of fullfilment.

We'll see how it goes.

Storm Crow
Veteran

Mar 9, 2006, 12:30 PM

Post #8 of 26 (3754 views)
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Re: [rodovideo] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

Most of the images are good right out of the camera. I play with the ones that have the most promise of being improved by playing with them or to just show options that can be done with the images. I have something I'm working on now that is going to blow you away and I'll post when I'm ready to show it but it is so cool!
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

Storm Crow
Veteran

Mar 9, 2006, 12:31 PM

Post #9 of 26 (3753 views)
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Re: [Sparky] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

I did that once already when time was of the essence and had them delivered right to the customer... Everything went great!
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

Lori
Novice

Mar 9, 2006, 12:55 PM

Post #10 of 26 (3748 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Are the pictures still posted? All I am getting is an icon where they should all be.
BTW- we love mpix also.

Storm Crow
Veteran

Mar 9, 2006, 1:50 PM

Post #11 of 26 (3738 views)
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Re: [Lori] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

They are still showing up for me?
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

garycox
User

Mar 22, 2006, 5:53 PM

Post #12 of 26 (3595 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

I've also been using mpix.com also and have been very pleased. Overnight service is just $10. They might cost more than some places but the quality is far superior to anyone I've tried and worth a little bit more. The metallic paper pictures are just unbelievable and you can't find that sort of paper just anywhere. I did a 20x24 canvas on stretcher frame of one picture and it looked just like a painting, it was fantastic!

.... Gary

Storm Crow
Veteran

Mar 23, 2006, 8:15 AM

Post #13 of 26 (3543 views)
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Re: [garycox] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks for that info Gary. I've not tried the metallic paper yet nor the canvas but now I will. Wink

Linda
Veteran

May 2, 2006, 4:28 PM

Post #14 of 26 (3044 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

It seems in some of the photos that you are using some sort of lighting. Correct? If so, what type of lights are you using? Nice photos!!!!

Linda
4EVER GROUP AFFILIATE

SuePren
User

May 3, 2006, 10:03 PM

Post #15 of 26 (3013 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

I just went and registered with MPIX. How do you show your client the proofs? do you forward one of the online albums to them?

Storm Crow
Veteran

May 4, 2006, 10:48 AM

Post #16 of 26 (2998 views)
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Re: [Linda] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

It seems in some of the photos that you are using some sort of lighting. Correct? If so, what type of lights are you using? Nice photos!!!!

Thanks Linda for the compliment. The only lighting I am using is the sun. On some of the photo's I used what I call the $500 photo effect which I do in photoshop. It kind of blows out the lighter areas of the photos and boosts all the colors. I do on occassion use a reflector (a car winshield reflector, lol) but not in any of these pictures. No flash at all was used in any of these shots.

Here are some recent shots I have taken also with no flash and only natural light which I really love. It just has a better feel to it imo.

Storm Crow
Veteran

May 4, 2006, 10:52 AM

Post #17 of 26 (2997 views)
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Re: [SuePren] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

I just went and registered with MPIX. How do you show your client the proofs? do you forward one of the online albums to them?

Sue, This is something I am working on to save time and make it more automated. Currently I am uploading the pic's to my PhotoBucket.com account and then sending them links (have not figured out how to send entire albums yet) to the pictures but this takes too much time imo. This is why I am looking to go to something like pictage.com or some other tool to make online proofing and ordering easier. I am using Mpix for my printing still.
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

Linda
Veteran

May 4, 2006, 12:06 PM

Post #18 of 26 (2988 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

I really like your photos! May I ask what camera you use? Never thought of using a car windshield for a reflector!! Great idea.

Linda
4EVER GROUP AFFILIATE

JohnnyEaker
User

May 4, 2006, 2:54 PM

Post #19 of 26 (2981 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Storm,

Can you post your workflow for the $500 effect or if you have a link to the action?

Thanks!

Johnny Eaker
Creative Studios

sal
Enthusiast

May 4, 2006, 7:22 PM

Post #20 of 26 (2973 views)
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Re: [JohnnyEaker] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

i think the effect he is talking about is duplicating the layer, applying a slight blur to the top layer and changing the blend mode. Overlay will increase the contrast and saturation.

Nice pictures storm. She is really beautiful. I like the second picture up on top(the one in B&W) and the last one you posted.

(This post was edited by sal on May 4, 2006, 7:24 PM)

Storm Crow
Veteran

May 5, 2006, 9:45 AM

Post #21 of 26 (2954 views)
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Re: [Linda] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Thanks Linda! I'm using the Canon 20D With the Tamron 28-75 F2.8 XR Di lens. I just got the Gary Fong Lightsphere II for my 580EX which should really help out with event photography. I also just got hired by a photographer who saw my still work at a recent bridal show and asked if I would shoot for him on my open dates for my Videography and my Photography. He said he will help teach me the biz on the photo side and promote my Videography in his studio even allowing me to put a TV and DVD player in there for couple consultations. I think this is a sweet deal shooting for him as it will not add to my backlog (video) and will net me $500 per wedding!
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

Storm Crow
Veteran

May 5, 2006, 9:55 AM

Post #22 of 26 (2951 views)
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Re: [JohnnyEaker] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

Storm,

Can you post your workflow for the $500 effect or if you have a link to the action?

Thanks!

Sal is correct. Take your picture and duplicate the layer. Then Filter/Blur/Gaussian and set to no more than 3 pixels. Then adjust the layer mode to Overlay (All of this done to the background layer only). I just created actions for all the stuff I do regularly to save time. This $500 photo effect will not work on every photo as it does adjust the contrast and makes some of the pictures too dark so just play with it and you'll figure out which ones it works on and which ones it does not.

Here are some samples of what these effects do on the same picture. First one is the picture straight from the camera. Second is with the $500 effect and the third is one I call the Diffused Glow.

sal
Enthusiast

May 5, 2006, 2:47 PM

Post #23 of 26 (2942 views)
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Re: [Storm Crow] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

i love blend modes.

storm, have you learned about the "claw" ? It's aquick way to get rid of any skin imperfections. It gets it's name because it puts your fingers in an akward pose since you have to hit 4 buttons on your keyboard. Another $500 effect.

JohnnyEaker
User

May 5, 2006, 4:06 PM

Post #24 of 26 (2934 views)
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Re: [sal] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Sal,

Please share the "claw" technique. It is great to hear how others post process. Thanks for sharing storm, I really like the $500 effect, noticeable difference!

Johnny Eaker
Creative Studios

Storm Crow
Veteran

May 5, 2006, 4:34 PM

Post #25 of 26 (2933 views)
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Re: [sal] She's Headed to Nashville! [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

No but if you don't mind I would love to hear about it! lol
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Good Friend, around these hearth stones, speak no evil of any creature.

Warning: Exposure to the Son can prevent burn!
_________________________________________________

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