Tomorrow (November 11) is Veterans Day and many restaurants, like Applebees, Texas Roadhouse, and Hooters, are offering free food, from appetizers to complete meals.
For a complete list of restaurants you can check out The Military Wallet.
I can't tell you how happy I am to see stuff like this because when I was in the military back in the days of Vietnam we were encouraged to travel in civilian clothes because it was not at all uncommon to be yelled at, called names, and even spit upon.
Not once did I wear civilian clothes.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Just 5 Days left in our "Sessions with JoeyL" contest...

If you would like a chance to win "Sessions with JoeyL" here's all you need to do:
1. Join the Weekly Photo Tips Flickr Group (details on how to join can be found here).
2. Upload one (or more) portraits of a person, animal, or car to our Flickr Group.
3. Leave one (or more) comments on any blog post on Weekly Photo Tips.
The contest ends on midnight November 15th, the winner will be randomly drawn from all contest entries and announced on November 16th.
The winner will receive an email with a link from Joey Lawrence to download "Sessions".
The rules are pretty simple, you can enter as many times as you like (one comment + one image upload = one contest entry), ownership of all images remain with you.
The only thing we will use them (the images) for is to show occasional "samples" of what folks are uploading and to announce the contest winner.
Speaking of samples, here are a handful of images from one of our Flickr members "Half Blind", one of our more prolific contest participants.
In his profile he says "I use a 9 year old 2 megapixel camera", proving yet again it's not the gear that will give you a good image, it the person holding it.
Click on any of the images to view larger and in a new window.





Tuesday, November 9, 2010
BEHOLD, THE CARDIGAN!
A winter bride's wedding attire wouldn't be complete without a luxurious white faux fur cape draped over her shoulders. But what’s a November bride to do who’s not looking for the winter wedding look, yet still needs to stay warm (and stylish) on those cool November days? Wear a cardigan of course! Not only will a cardigan help keep you warm, it adds that punch of colour so many brides are looking to add to their wedding day wardrobe.
Adding colour to a bride’s traditional white wedding attire is not a new trend but something that we’ve seen, in different forms, for years. It began with the dyed crinoline. Next, we tossed aside the typical white wedding shoe and brighly coloured chic & sassy designer footwear took their place - often symbolizing the bride’s “something blue”. Now... Behold, the cardigan! Viva loves this fun look!!
Adding colour to a bride’s traditional white wedding attire is not a new trend but something that we’ve seen, in different forms, for years. It began with the dyed crinoline. Next, we tossed aside the typical white wedding shoe and brighly coloured chic & sassy designer footwear took their place - often symbolizing the bride’s “something blue”. Now... Behold, the cardigan! Viva loves this fun look!!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Lightroom 3 training - 3rd time is still a charm...

Ever go to a movie sequel with high expectations because the original was so good, but when it was over you left shaking your head?
The Kevin Kubota Lightroom training trilogy does not fall into this category, his is more like the Toy Story trilogy, where it builds beautifully on what came before it.

Over the weekend I watched Kevin's e:Class "Update Your Workflow with New Lightroom 3 Features" and as is his teaching style Kevin walks you through new features, tips, and tricks in an easy to follow, easy to understand method.
We have reviewed his previous Lightroom training DVD's in the past (Lightroom 1 here and Lightroom 2 here) and LOVED them both so the bar had been set pretty high and this Update Your Workflow e:Class measured up to it predecessors.
One of the things I like about Kevin is that he throws in some extremely useful information that is unrelated to Lightroom, but adds value to my life as a photographer.
Two examples:
1. He suggested that you put your name, telephone number, and (in big letters) "Reward if Found" on your memory cards. As soon as I heard it I sat up in my chair and thought (out loud) "Brilliant".
2. The file and folder structure (how he stores images on his hard drive) has been revised and improved. I have used his technique as part of my workflow since version 1 and in this latest offering Kevin shares with us what's new, different, and how it's setup so that it can easily (and should be) incorporated into your workflow.
The Update Your Workflow e:Class is just that, an update where Kevin demonstrates how to use the the important new features in Lightroom 3, it is NOT a complete Lightroom workflow instructional class from soup to nuts (more on that later).The things you will learn are how to import your images with some of the new options available in Lightroom 3 that will speedup and automate your workflow.
You will see how to use the tethered capture feature in a photo booth scenario when shooting events that will increase your sales opportunities.
With so many of the new cameras allowing us to shoot with a higher ISO setting you will learn how to setup smart collections to separate and categorize your images based on their shot ISO so that you can then apply automated standardized noise reduction appropriate for the images ISO.
You will learn how to best use the Watermark tool and the secret you need to know if your watermark includes a graphic.
And there's more, much more, in this 1 hour and 15 minute download but I think you're getting the point.
Here's your choices - you can spend endless hours editing your clients images, struggling with features you are unfamiliar with (or miss them because they are unknown to you) or you can give your clients the best images possible photo while spending less time sitting in front of your computer (and more time watching Toy Story).
As I mentioned before this is an update for Lightroom 3, if you own the Kubota Lightroom 2 training DVD this is all you will need to get up to speed (and master) the new features in Lightroom 3 and it can be yours for just $39.
If you are starting from ground zero and really want to master Lightroom 3 you can get the complete workflow training DVD AND the Kubota Lightroom preset collection for just $99.
And if you own either the Lightroom 1 or the Lightroom 2 workflow DVD's you can upgrade to the Lightroom 3 Workflow DVD with presets for $49 and $39 (respectively).
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Getting "flocked"...

I was driving my girls to school yesterday and saw this in my neighbors yard (and of course I had to take a picture).
"Getting flocked" may not be all that rare elsewhere, but it sure is here in Maine.
It certainly did brighten our day.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Free instructional photography videos...

If you are looking to learn about photography we have a great resource for you, the "Lastolite School of Photography".
It's free and online so if you have an internet connection you'll have some very good instructional videos at your finger tips.
You even have the opportunity to download them to watch when you don't have online access.
The Lastolite School of Photography is available to you via their website, iTunes, and/or their YouTube channel.
There are about 30 videos ranging from just 2 and up to 30 minutes long and yes the videos feature Lastolite softboxes, umbrellas, other lights and modifiers but the information and techniques are applicable regardless of the name on the product.
An umbrella is an umbrella, a softbox is a softbox, and.... well, I think you get my point.
;)
Here's a quick two minute video to give you a "taste" of what they offer. A video "hors d'oeuvres" (I am just soooo witty this morning).
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