Related Posts

• 
  Pro-Tip: Thinking Like Your Camera

  Man, cameras these days. So smart.

  There are so many options in making an image with a camera now. You can keep all of the control of the camera (this is what Crystal and I (Rachel) do. When people oooh and ahh over our cameras and say, "Wow, those must take GREAT pictures!", we smile and say, "Yep, we taught them everything they know!" ;)), you can keep some of the control of the camera, but let the camera make some decisions, or you can let the camera make the decisions. Each way has pros and cons, and some models of camera will only allow a one or maybe two of these choices. A point and shoot is a good example of a camera that will usually only allow you to let the camera call the shots.

  Sigh...so that means you have no control, right? If the picture turns out good, it was all the camera? And if it turns out bad, there was nothing to be done? Should we just sit in the corner and sulk?

  Absolutely not! You have a lot more control than you think, even if the camera is on auto mode.

  So, we know the camera is looking at the picture you want to take, and SOMEHOW the camera is figuring out what settings to apply to that image. You can't usually SEE those settings, so how can you influence them?

  That is where I come in! I am going to show you how your camera thinks! Once we learn this, we can apply it to other lessons. Once you're "at one" with the mind of your camera, you'll be able to have some measure of control in using even a point and shoot camera.

  First of all, when a camera looks at a scene that you intend to shoot, it doesn't really see the scene like you do. Say you're shooting your kids at the park on the playground. There's green grass, a red slide, a blue sky. Junior's wearing a yellow shirt. The camera doesn't see that. The camera doesn't see colors. It sees TONES.

  
  

  (image by graynoisemusic.tumblr.com)

  The camera sees the scene in gradations of brightness.

  Ok, great! But how is it choosing the settings?

  Well, the camera is looking at the whole scene you have framed and is averaging the scene to 18% or MIDDLE gray. It wants to pick the settings that will average the frame towards the middle of that pattern.

  And lots of times, it works great!

  But what if I want to shoot a picture of my kid standing against a black board, writing his name? Or something primarily black? (Or a VERY dark color.)

  
  

   

  Is this a middle tone? NO WAY! But guess what? Your camera will let in enough light automatically to make it look 18% gray. So that chalkboard will no longer be black. It will be gray. Oh...and hmm. If that black is moved up the grayscale...then what do you think happens to all those tones (like skin, hair, etc.) that are LIGHTER than the black that has been shoved up the scale? Uh oh. It's not good. They're going to be WAY brighter than they should be. They might even get shoved entirely off the scale, into white nothingness.

  We've all had those pictures right? The overexposed ones. ALL the detail is gone. Everything is just an icky, white blob. It looks bad on screen and prints even worse. All the details get shoved into the white category and they are gone forever. Let's all have a moment of silence for our fallen highlights. *sniffle*

  Ok, so that's a time where our camera's plan of making everything middle gray has failed us. D'oh!

  Let's think of another. And you all know this one too, I bet. Say you're darling and precocious child is sitting in front of the bright window reading a book. It is an ADORABLE picture in your mind. The angelic child is framed by the bright window, it's perfection! But...you take that picture with SO much of it SOOOO bright, and what happens?

  
  

   

  The average of this scene is really white. Not middle gray. It's at the TOP of the scale. So, the camera pushes allll that white, bright light down the scale to 18%. And what happens to the child's face, which is pretty much in shadow? It also gets shoved down the scale. Suddenly you can barely make out the child for all of the shadow. Some of the details might even be lost to total blackness. *sniffle* Isn't this story just SO sad??? All of these missing details that we could have had!

  By the way, the above technique is a good way to get a silhouette. So if that was what you were planning...a silhouette of junior reading in the window, WOOHOO! (It's always nice to know what you want to do and how to do it.)

  Ok, so now we have an idea of what the camera is thinking. How it is trying to read the scene. This will help you choose lighting/color situations that your camera can better handle. (Or you can add flash to help even the exposure. There are pros and cons to using a small flash on your camera, but we'll discuss those later.) One thing that is very hard for a point and shoot is backlight. In general, it is best to steer clear if you want to be able to make out the faces of the people in your picture.

  But here's my big tip for how to get a backlit photo with your point and shoot. But first, I have to share a secret. Shhhhh. Your shutter button is a double agent. Shhhhhhh. It lives a secret life. Not only can you push it and it will faithfully release the shutter and take the picture, it can also LOCK THE EXPOSURE!! So, all of what we were talking about above is the basics of making an exposure. We've learned how your camera determines the exposure it will use on automatic. SO now, let's use that knowledge. If you know that you want your child sitting in the window to be properly exposed and you want the window to be bright, then walk up to your child's face and fill most of the frame with it, push your shutter button halfway down and HOLD IT! This will lock what your camera is seeing as middle gray. It is seeing your child's face this way. (Which is technically a little underexposed, but not THAT bad for a snapshot with a point and shoot) Now, back up and frame the picture as you would like to see it (again, keeping that button halfway pressed down.) Now, once you have the picture framed as you'd like it, press the shutter down the rest of the way. VOILA! Your image is now properly exposed! Or a lot closer, anyway. (What can I say? I'm an exposure purist. I can't call 36% gray 18% gray. ;) )  Also, good to note:  If you are using a DLSR and have the ability, look into setting BACK BUTTON FOCUS, that way you can free up your shutter to JUST lock exposure and allow the back AF-ON button to handle all of that focus stuff.

  Would it work the same as the child against the blackboard? You bet. Pick what you want to be properly exposed and press that shutter button halfway down and reframe your shot and then press the shutter button the rest of the way.

  Now that you know how your camera thinks, you'll be able to start looking at what might happen if your camera is thinking the whole scene needs to be 18% gray. Sometimes it will be perfect, and sometimes it won't, so that is where you can either lock your exposure, add some flash, or change your angle to the light.  The next step from here is to start moving into MANUAL mode.  Watch for coming posts to erase the mystery from manual mode!

• 
  JPEG vs. RAW, the Ultimate Grudge Match

  We asked people in our amazing Pure Constructive Criticism group what topics they wanted blogs about.  One that popped up a few times was the difference in RAW image files vs. JPEG image files.

  "Woot!"  I thought.  "A softball question!  I can totally do this!"

  And then I started thinking about it.  All of the technical information I knew.  All of the technical information I DIDN'T know.  Gulp.  This is actually a HUGE topic.

  So can I start this blog with a little disclaimer?  I do not claim to know the exact technical information on all of this.  I have some technical knowledge and some practical knowledge and I will present what I know and what has worked for us.

  So let's start with WHAT a RAW file is.  When a camera takes an image, the sensor captures the light of red/green/and blue.  It records the intensity of the light of these colors.  If you choose to capture your files as a RAW image, you will be getting THIS.  The uncompressed, unfiltered, unedited, RAW (like as in really actually raw) data.  If you choose to get a jpg image, your camera will strip out and filter the data to compress it and it will add some in-camera processing (contrast, sharpening, etc.) to your final image.

  This is not to say that one file is better than the other.  Rather there are times that one will be the best fit.

  A JPEG is 

  • A compressed file, stripped of some of the data that could be deemed unessential to the exposure you told the camera to make

  • smaller (since it's compressed!)

  • edited in-camera, to an extent

  • able to be directly edited, though this can lead to some quality loss.  (A lossy file.)

  • A file that can be viewed immediately on a computer or printed

  A RAW file is

  • An unfiltered file, all of the data collected by your camera's sensor

  • much larger

  • Not edited by the camera AT all.  All editing happens in the computer afterwards.

  • Cannot be directly edited.  It is considered a read-only file, and all edits are added via a "sidecar" file like an xmp file.

  • This leads to the file being lossless.

  •  It is also not exactly an IMAGE.  It cannot be viewed without special software.  But most cameras come with their own or you can use a product like Adobe Lightroom or Bridge/ACR.  Also, each RAW file tends to be proprietary to each manufacturer and camera.

  Using a jpg file is a great idea if you know you'll have good exposure or white balance and if you don't feel like you'll be editing the images a lot.  Sometimes if I am almost out of memory when I am taking snapshots at a soccer game, I will switch my camera to JPEG and capture smaller files.  They are not files I will be using to print huge images, I won't be editing them extensively, and usually my exposure and white balance is close enough.  And, truthfully, if I mess up a little, the sakes are not high.  JPG is ok here.

  But when I shoot a wedding, even though I am fairly confident in my exposure skills, I will shoot in RAW.  I have enough digital memory that I can capture a whole wedding easily in RAW and I make SURE I have all my cards.  But the safety net that RAW provides is wonderful.  I can easily sync edits for RAW images in Lightroom, but I WILL need to post process all my images, though I will have ALL the control over the editing.

  Here are two screen shots of a JPEG and RAW of the same image.

  

  This is the JPG image.  (I just asked Crystal to grab a snapshot using JPG/RAW capture for me.  Yay for her and thank you to her beautiful models.)  It is pretty sharp and has strong contrast.

  

  Same image as above, but the RAW data.  Notice how much less sharp it is out of the box?  NO sharpening applied.  Much lower contrast.  In fact, there is a lot more dynamic range.  Less highlights and less deep shadows.  This means I can add the contrast I want in the processing, but I will have more actual data to work with, rather than trying to change an manipulate pixels that are already set.

  Changing exposure, white balance and contrast in a RAW image is MUCH easier than trying to push the pixels of a JPEG.  So if you are not sure of your white balance or your exposure, then shooting in RAW is not only a safety net, it will make a faster edit.  A few clicks will give you a perfect exposure and skin tone with no quality loss.

  I would say that for most people, using RAW is the more responsible option for client sessions.  In the event something goes awry, you will have much more leeway with the RAW.

  One other benefit (and a HUGE reason we choose to shoot in RAW), should there ever be a dispute over who created an image and it comes to legal proceedings, a RAW file can help you establish ownership of your image.  This is also why we never relinquish our RAW files to anyone.  They establish us as the creators of the images.

  If you have not ventured into RAW with your SLR yet, consider trying it.  The creative control alone will astound you.  While you can use Lightroom and ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) for JPGS now, there is much more range to what those tools can give you if you have the RAW images.  If you're not ready to give up your JPGS, most cameras give you the option to shoot in both RAW and JPEG at the same time.  Give it a shot.  I bet you'll grow to like it.

   

• 
  The Magic of Working as a Team

   

  Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. Chocolate and Vanilla. Laurel and Hardy. Mickey and Donald. Thelma and Louise. Mario and Luigi.

  We all know good things come in pairs, and working as a photographer is no exception to that rule.

  One of the things we get quizzed about most often in relation to Pure is the fact that Crystal and I (Rachel) work together as a team. We shoot a vast amount of our sessions together, and work at the business end together too. It's a mysterious and inviting concept to many. And people are always curious how it works for us and if it could work for them too. Since I am not a legal expert, this won't be an extensive legal how-to on the workings of business partnerships. Rather it will be an overview of how it's worked out for Crystal

  Crystal and I met in 2008 on a ParentsPlace message board for expecting moms. We both had a love of photography and were dabbling in part time photography businesses. We were still learning a lot of the business part and were both at a point where we were trying to decide what to do with our businesses.

  We finally got the chance to shoot together at a bridal session and something clicked. We realized we shot a lot better together. We had more fun, we felt more relaxed and that translated into more relaxed clients and better images too. So one shoot together, turned into a wedding we shot together, which turned into more and more things we shot together. Eventually, we stopped formally inviting the other to shoots and started to call and see if the other was booked before scheduling a client.

  Slowly our businesses melded into one and Pure was born. (Ok, ok, so we went through a few name changes before we landed on Pure, but you get what we mean.)

  So, what do we get out of team shooting?

  We're mainly wedding and family photographers, and the parlance in the wedding industry is often centered on "second shooters." That's not actually how we roll. When we shoot, we both are main shooters. No one is THE shooter and no one is secondary and relegated to an eternity of table shots.

  So what does that mean? It means that we are able to divide and conquer. While one person is doing all the pre-wedding detail shots, the other is with the bride and her dad doing dad seeing his little girl in her wedding dress for the first time, or groom with his daughter or niece or bride and her mom. While one is doing ring shots and reception details, the other is getting formal groups. All important details, but we can give each one more attention and focus.

  
  
  

   

   

   

  The above images were captured at roughly the same time in the wedding day. Using all that good light as efficiently as possible!

  But if the situation arises and there is a very large group or a lot of small children, then having someone shoot large group shots and someone getting everyone's attention, posing quickly, and making sure everyone in the shot looks there best is wonderful. A group's attention for group shots is not very long, so having two people getting things done is perfect.

  In those situations where we are shooting together at weddings, or in regular client sessions where we shoot together, how does it help? We generally have at least 3 cameras on us at all times. Sometimes 4. Rachel shoots 2 cameras most of the time. So we try to have multiple focal lengths, and then we simply choose different angles, different focal lengths, and different light to tell the same story. So our clients get so many more choices to choose from (and eventually buy) with team shooting.

  Below are a few examples of nearly the same moment, but wildly different images resulting. So much choice for clients!

  
   

   
  These shots are also at almost the same moment, but give the client vastly different experiences they can relate to.  You will notice how we are shooting with different lenses and focal lengths. 

   

  

   

   

  This can be invaluable for shooting things like first looks for brides.  Again, almost the same moment, but a completely different perspective.

  We've found that being able to offer such rich and varied galleries to clients has helped us to sell more album pages, ask a higher price for sessions, and sell more images.  Our word-of-mouth is pretty good too, because we underpromise, but really overdeliver.

  Ok, ok, so you can get a lot of shots with two shooters.  Good good, but you could probably get a second for some of that.  (Though I would argue that you would have a hard time getting such reliability in that situation.)  What ELSE does it help with?

  Crystal and Rachel have fairly different, but compatible personalities.  Crystal is creative and enthusiastic.  She embraces the fact she is loud!  She's funny and very friendly and loves to make raucous jokes.  Rachel is a little more cerebral.  She's the technical nut and tends to like a little more dry humor.  What works amazingly in this situation is that clients come in all shapes, sizes, and personality types too.  So while one couple or client might warm right to Crystal, another feels very at home with Rachel, and so that tends to be how we choose who will lead in the situations where someone in obviously in charge as we shoot.  The team member that the clients feels most comfortable with is the one who typically leads out.  It helps us easily and naturally tailor the client's experience with us.

  Another amazing benefit we will tout constantly when people ask us about team shooting is how much we can grow in a short amount of time.  Working with someone gives you instant feedback.  We brainstorm together, we troubleshoot together, we critique each other and we provide ideas.  We can come to the shoot with ideas and if something is not working the way we think it should, we can quickly troubleshoot problematic things.  I think half of the reason that we have been able to continue refining our signature lighting styles is because there are two of us.  In the beginning, when something was not going as planned, one would be able to keep shooting and keep all the balls in the air, while the other stayed back and tweaked the lights until they worked.  It was not a situation where we would have to junk an idea just because some little thing popped up.

   

   

   

  Above is a situation where the flashes were not quite working, so we got a safe shot and Rachel kept shooting the getting ready while Crystal tinkered with the flashes and got them working just right so we could give our images that perfect polish we want to be known for.

  One of my favorite stories of the benefits of team shooting and troubleshooting happened when we were shooting a small wedding at a beautiful outdoor enclosed pavilion.  The front was a very large floor to ceiling window and Crystal went out to get a shot of the party from outside of the window to give the album a sense of place and document the venue better.  There was a small step down out the door that was almost imperceptible and tripped up quite a few guests that night.  As Crystal was walking out looking at her camera and changing settings for the outdoor shot, she lost her footing and fell face first (and CAMERA first!) to the pavement.  She got up, very shaken.  She tried to take a shot and her camera would not focus.  She came back into the reception quite upset by the fall.  She showed Rachel the camera and Rachel quickly realized, in her non-shaken by a surprise fall mind, that the switch that turned off the auto focus on the lens had been switched to manual in the fall and that switching it back fixed the situation.  It seems simple but having that second pair of eyes and second mind is often invaluable.

  Another amazing benefit is that there is simply less overall pressure.  Less pressure to get a million epic shots per wedding.  (Yep, I only have to get HALF a million, right?)  Less pressure to edit a million images.  Sure we both edit and deliver a ton, but to give a very impressive representation, it takes a lot less stress from both of us.  We can focus on the story as we see it and edit our favorite shots.  Even if one of us feels a session or wedding was a little more ho-hum, the fact we both were looking for creative angles, lighting, focal lengths, poses, framing and whatnot to tell the story means that there is usually a pretty cool story there.

  And finally we have found that creativity begets creativity.  Sounds basic, I know.  But when we start brainstorming, it is amazing to see how one idea from one person starts another idea from the other, which gets spun in a completely different direction by the original person, and on and on.  Sometimes the trouble we have is not that there are too MANY of us in the team, it is that we need more manpower to help fuel all of our original and awesome ideas that come out of different creative minds working together.

  These are just a few of our whys.  Next time I will start writing about the hows of our partnership.   How do we divide work, who edits, etc.  Would there be interest in a follow up like that?

   

   

• 
  Traveling with your Gear!

  So you booked that ever-sought-after destination wedding!!! Congrats! It is a lot of photographers' dream! How amazing is it to not only get to shoot a wedding, but get paid to travel and shoot?!

  But now the big question....

  How do you safely travel with your gear and also protect your clients images while traveling? You don't get to drive from your house to the wedding, and throw everything into your trunk, nor do you get to drive straight home after the wedding, and download your images.

  Well, here is how WE travel with ours.

  Tomorrow we head out to shoot an amazing wedding in Honolulu. We couldn't be any more excited then we are, but also every time we travel with our gear, we get nervous.

  (photos taken with our cell phones)

  We have our two carry-on rolling camera bags that holds the majority of our gear. (Yes, I know a lens cap was missing. I took the lens off of my camera and replaced it with the 50mm 1.2 as I was using the 16-35mm, to fit it into my camera bag to take the photo, and forgot to put the lens cap back on)

  
  

  
  

  Between Rachel and I, we check 4 pieces of luggage. 2 of them have 4 lightstands, large diffuser panels, chargers for the AA eneloop batteries and other photography related items. The other 2 pieces of luggage are obviously personal items, like clothes and such.

  The gear above may look like it is overkill, but I promise you it is not. We are paid to get the shots no matter what, even if we don't know the lighting situation we are going into. We also are paid to make sure that our clients' images get home safe.

  Now imagine that you are boarding a plane and find out that they can not accommodate your rolling bag with all your camera gear. They are asking kindly for you to check your bag. First don't freak... because after this blog post you are prepared!

  In my personal item that they allow you to carry on (usually a very large purse or backpack), I have my wallet, my ipad and other things necessary to travel on the plane. I also have a couple of tshirts. However, we also have either our Shoot Sac on us, or another bag of some kind stuffed into the bottom. Usually they are asking you to check your bag because there is not enough room for your suitcase in the overhead bin. (Reason #1 to check into your flight as early as you are allowed--to get a better boarding position and lower the risk).

  I then quietly inform the flight attendant of what is inside my bag, and ask if there is any way they can make it work. If they say no, I then proceed to remove my 2nd bag or Shoot Sac, and start stuffing cameras and lenses in that bag. I will not let my gear go under the plane and out of my sight.

  So I put as many lenses as I can in my Shoot Sac, and then the rest of the lenses or cameras and memory cards in my purse/backpack. I will stick a flash or two in my pockets if need be. I will then give them my nearly-empty bag.

  I can then almost always find a spot for my backpack in the overhead bins.

  I just refuse to let them take all that gear under the plane where it is out of my sight and control.

  We have insurance on our gear (and also insurance on us as a business) through Package Choice, but by the time I land and realize that my gear was either broken, or stolen and I file a claim, I won't have my replacement gear before the wedding or shoot that I was hired to shoot. I try to take every single precaution necessary.

  So what do we do to protect the images we shoot? Obviously we can't run home and back up immediately, and we need to run the gauntlet of packing and unpacking and airline travel between the wedding shoot and getting home to download. So, I bring my laptop and we each have external hard drives that are made for traveling (they have little hard cases they sit inside) and we download immediately to each of these each evening. (That way Rachel has a backup of Crystal's images and Crystal has a backup of Rachels images) (This external hard drive also sits in our carry on bag). We also bring a TON of memory. Over 260GB worth of cards. So we shoot to these cards and we do NOT reformat or erase ANY. Plus, we shoot Canon 5D Mark IIIs and we shoot to two cards, so there is a back up inside the camera, as well. So, we have at least 4 backups of every image. Two externals, the original cards, and the back-up cards that stay inside the cameras. We travel with these in separate bags. So we are as insured as possible against corruption of data, loss of images, etc.

  And finally, we bring all of this so that we can easily tackle any situation possible. If something breaks, it's ok. We have multiple back-ups. If the situation is not what we anticipated, it's ok, we have as many options as possible to come up with a good answer. It might seem like overkill to some, but we're paid to capture this once-in-a-lifetime day, and we take it very very seriously, and we don't accept or offer any excuses for ourselves.

  P.S.
  On top of all of our gear, we also bring a 2nd shooter. (Yes there are already two of us, but we shoot as a team, not 1st and 2nd shooter, so we bring a 2nd shooter to help out at most weddings, so we can team shoot. That will be explained in another post.)

  Our seconds also come with their gear.
  
• 
  The Best Camera You Have Is the One You Have With You

  Confession:  I am the mom at Disneyland with the overly-heavy camera bag and a 70-200 on a gripped 5D Mark III.  In fact, I usually bring my whole kit to the hotel and each day we go to the park I will take a 24-70 and then one other lens that rotates by day and I will have a theme day.  70-200 for close ups on the rides of the kids.  Macro for park details.  16-35 for the wide, storytelling shots.  

  

  I fully admit that I have a slight problem.

  

  After I got all my kids in the car and took the picture, the lady behind me started giving me directions for how she wanted her kids posed in the car, thinking I was one of the photographers that worked at Disneyland.  Kind of a fair assumption since I had my lanyard for our tickets around my neck and a stupid amount of gear for a tourist.

  

  But I'll admit I get a thrill from capturing even the smallest moments forever in the best format I can.

  I bet there are a lot of people reading the blog who can completely sympathize.  I never even used a cell phone camera until about 3 years ago.  I didn't do it often for a long time.  I felt like it just was not good enough.  But I have 7 kids.  And so I would take little snaps here and there.  (Usually when I didn't have my big SLR, and when I reasoned with myself that the action was happening so fast and the light was so bad, my big camera would not have made much difference anyway.)  I got the memories, and told myself it was ok.  But I still didn't like it.

  Then, as I have mentioned before, I had my son Henry and he was in the NICU for almost a month.  I honestly felt so emotionally and physically exhausted that I really only had the energy to take snaps of him with my cell phone.  I felt so awful.  Every day I would load my big camera into my bag, but every day it stayed in the bag.  The pain and frustration and exhaustion just made it so hard for me to do what I WANTED to do.  So I came home from my son's first month of life with a cell phone full of pictures.  And a scant handful on my big camera.  

  So I set about figuring out what to do to make these photos look as good as I could.  I also had to let go of the guilt.  I knew I had done the best I could do, and those photos were better than nothing.  So I figured out how to get my photos off of my phone.

  A lot of my photos were uploaded to Instagram to share with family and friends.  So, if you want to download your Instagram photos, you can!  It is so easy.  Just go to Instaport.me and it will compile your entire Instagram account (or selections of it) and download it as a zipped file for you.  The only downside is that there is no exif info attached, so they kind of come up in random order.  If you're not an Instagrammer or you want to use the images right off your phone, there are a lot of ways to get them off the phone, but for me, the easiest and most universal is letting Dropbox download my photos for me.  I can quickly look through there by date and find photos I am looking for.  Either way, getting photos off your phone is important.

  Then I imported my photos to Lightroom.  

  Ha!  Yes!  Just like a session.  I grabbed that Instaport.me zipped file and I unzipped it and uploaded it to Lightroom.  

  

  That's my cell phone file in Lightroom!

  I was astounded at what a little Basic Warm Workflow 2 (from our Pure Presets 1 collection) did for the phone photos.  It cleared up the noise and grain that can happen in cell phone photos.  It warmed the cool white balance.  It brightened them up.  All of those little downsides of using the cell phone were looking much better.

  Then we made some album templates in Lightroom.  We started off with the idea that the templates would be awesome for wedding photographers.  They could easily put wedding albums together as they were waiting for their wedding images to export from Lightroom as jpgs.  But, then I got thinking.  What if I made some templates that specifically fit cell phone pics?  Lots of slots for lots of pics (sometimes multiple angles of the same place, since it is from the cell phone, right?) and smaller slots so the imperfections of the phone files would not be as obvious.  That lead to the InstaPure albums.  And really, even if we never sold even one of these, they were worth it to me.  I got all of my photos of my sweet little Henry off of my phone and into an actual printed photo album.  His NICU journey is beautifully bound in leather and his pictures are perfect.

  

  

  

   

  Here is just a sampling of the images I saved from my phone.  A whole story just waiting to be claimed.  It gave me a greater appreciation for having a camera on me at all times. I still love to use my DSLR whenever I can but I know that I can use my phone and tell a story that is worth telling.  If that is all I have, it is worth a lot.  I challenge each of you to find the stories you have locked up in your phone and save them for future generations.

• 
  Camera Raw/Bridge Basics

   

  Learning to use Adobe Camera Raw can be daunting and cumbersome.  Especially if you are new to the program.

  Here are 2 videos, showing you how I use bridge and ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) to edit my images.  

  I cover Batch Editing, Star ratings and how to use them effectively in a fast workflow, presets, adjustment brushes, radial filters, tone curves, using the straightening tool and more! 

   Video 1

   

   

  Video 2

  Don't forget about our Sale!  $99 for our ENTIRE STORE!  Never happened before and will never happen again!!  Hurry!  CLICK HERE. 

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