3 1/2 hours with Scott Kelby...

If someone asked who you wanted to learn Photoshop from who would you pick?

I am willing to be that the vast majority of people would say one name - Scott Kelby.

Over the last several days I watched his DVD "Mastering Camera RAW".

All 3 1/2 hours of it.

There were things I liked about the DVD before watching the first frame, like being able to load it onto an iPod or iPad for "mobile" learning, it also comes with all the same images that Scott works on during the lessons, so you can follow along with the same techniques on the same mages. For me, if I try following along with a dissimilar image the results are different and the lesson becomes less impactful.

Another thing I liked was that on four occasions during the learning process Scott stopped and using the techniques he just taught, he used them in a workflow. He then will teach you more techniques, then using all previous lessons perform yet another workflow. And he does through the entire DVD, adding knowledge and incorporating it into an ever expanding, more in-depth workflow.

Shortcuts. I love shortcuts. They save me time and they make me more efficient. My goal is to be behind the camera, not in front of the computer.

Throughout the entire DVD Scott shows a ton of shortcuts, both keyboard and software.

How frustrating is it to make a slider adjustment, not like the results, but not remember what the default setting was? Double clicking on the slider button will get you back to default. Want to move around an image you've zoomed into? Regardless of what panel you are in, holding down the space bar will give you the "grabber hand" allowing you to move freely around your image.

Scott covers every button, panel, and slider in the camera RAW interface and then stirs in his real world experience to make the "Mastering Camera RAW" DVD an incredible learning experience. With what he does to images in camera RAW Scott makes Photoshop look almost unnecessary.

If you have never used Camera RAW you will be able to follow along without being overwhelmed, if you are an experienced user I promise you will learn something new.

I prefer DVD to live learning as I can always throw in the DVD and refresh/relearn something. It's like having Scott Kelby teaching when it's most convenient for me.

If you would like to be in the running to win the "Mastering Camera RAW" DVD all you have to do is comment in any Weekly Photo Tips blog post between June 1st through June 30th (2010) and your name will be put into the hat, with the winner being drawn on July 2nd.

One last reminder, Weekly Photo Tips will be coming down tomorrow (May 28th) and to be replaced with our Memorial Day slideshow. We will be "back online" late in the day on May 31st.

MY LOVE OF GREAT PHOTOGRAPHERS

Being in the wedding industry not only do I have the opportunity to meet the many photographers we are so lucky to have access to in the Ottawa area but as a wedding coordinator I also have the privilege of working with them and let me tell you, the truly great ones amaze me!

Planning a wedding as you may or may not know is a long process and a lot of hard work but the end result is always worth it and I love the role I play in making it all happen! I get to be the support my couples need throughout the planning process and the one who makes sure all their hard work pays off on their wedding day. And when their wedding day arrives I tell all my couples the same thing – It may have taken many long months to plan this day but now that it's here it’s going to fly by so take the time to savour each and every moment of it… and thank God you have a great photographer! Okay, maybe I don't say the photographer part out loud but I definitely think it.

I remember looking back at my own wedding pictures and thinking just that – thank God we had a great photographer! The details I worked so hard on to make sure our wedding day was a reflection of "us", the chair I had reserved at our ceremony honouring the memory of my dad, the professional pictures I'm so happy to now have with my mom, and the beautiful posed shots of our wedding party, family and friends. All these pictures make me smile. A good photographer will provide you with these wonderful images of your wedding but it's a photographer who is truly able to capture the emotion of your day that makes him great! The loving way my husband looked at me, the laughs (and tears) we shared, the special moments between us. If our photographer had not caught these on film I never would have known they happened.

These pictures were not posed for nor planned, they were just moments throughout our day that our photographer captured because he knew they would later mean something to us. Pictures that, regardless of the time that has passed since our wedding, are still able to bring back all the emotion I felt on that day and make it seem as though no time has passed at all.

Taken by a few of the great photographers in the Ottawa area, here is a small sample of images I absolutely love simply because of the emotion you can't help but feel when you look at them.

Blair Gable

Derrick Rice (wedding coordinated by Weddings Unveiled)

Andrew Geddes

Mike Dickson - And to prove my point, here is a quote from the bride: "I love this photo because when I was thanking my Dad in my speech I was very emotional and didn't have the guts to look at him. However his reaction to what I was saying was important to me and I would have never seen it had this photo never captured it... thanks Mike."

THE MUST LIST

The key to an amazing wedding album? Making sure that your photographer captures all the right moments: your father walking you down the aisle, the big kiss, your favourite nephew moonwalking across the dance floor. InStyle Weddings put together a list of 40 wedding day shots your photographer just can't miss.



1 - The invitation
2 - Bride having her hair and makeup done
3 - The gown and shoes
4 - Bride's bouquet
5 - Bridesmaids or mom buttoning up/zipping up the gown
6 - Bride getting ready in the mirror
7 - Bridemaids reacting to bride in her gown
8 - Groom getting ready/somebody pinning on his boutonniere or tying his tie
9 - Bridal party and family members walking down the aisle
10 - Groom waiting for bride to come down the aisle
11 - Bride and her escort walking down the aisle
12 - Groom's face when he sees bride
13 - Father giving away his daughter
14 - Bride and groom at altar or chuppah
15 - Exchanging vows
16 - Parents and guests watching the ceremony
17 - Special moments during the ceremony (candle lighting, breaking the glass)
18 - The kiss!
19 - Bride and groom coming back up the aisle
20 - Couple leaving the ceremony and being showered with rice, flower petals, bubbles, etc
21 - Portraits (couple alone, with wedding party, with parents and with family)
22 - Multigenerational shots (bride, mom and grandma)
23 - Guests mingling during the cocktail hour
24 - Bride and groom arriving at reception
25 - Bride and groom greeting guests
26 - Reception tables before guests arrive
27 - The band
28 - First dance
29 - Bride dancing with her father
30 - Groom dancing with his mother
31 - Wide shot of guests on dance floor
32 - Kids having fun
33 - Grandparents and other older guests
34 - Friends and family making toasts
35 - The couple reacting to toasts
36 - The cake
37 - Cake cutting
38 - Bouquet toss
39 - Bride and groom leaving reception
40 - The couple having a private moment

Photo Credits: Para TiNovia

VIVA'S BOOK CLUB - BEING IN LOVE NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE

As the editor-in-chief of Grace Ormonde Wedding Style magazine, Grace Ormonde has built an enviable reputation in the wedding industry by creating the platforms for wedding specialists to showcase their products and services while offering prospective brides and grooms a multitude of choices, ideas and alternatives when planning their wedding.

After ten years of documenting extraordinary weddings and their elements, Grace Ormonde presents this collection of her personal favorites in one comprehensive volume.

Hold onto your panties!....

Because you are about to be blown away with some stunning imagery.

I am sure, more often than I want to know, I will post about something I have come across and folks will scratch their heads and wonder aloud "has he been living under a rock"?

This will likely be one of those times.

While driving to New Jersey a couple weeks ago I listened to an interview of photographer Cliff Mautner, and as impressive as it was things got busy and I didn't follow up on it.

Yesterday I watched the latest edition of Photoshop User TV and Cliff was interviewed again. Scott and Matt went on about how impressed they were with his work so I went directly to Cliff's website.

And for the next two hours I wandered through his website and his blog looking at his drop dead gorgeous wedding images.

So go check out his work and his two and a half day workshop where he teaches "less is more" when it comes to light.

You will be inspired... and blown away.

Call for images of Veterans...

Memorial Day (weekend) will soon be upon us and as we have done for several years the blog will be coming down, replaced with the Memorial Day slideshow we created.

The plan was to create a new slideshow each year, but as with all good intensions life has gotten in the way, but I will be creating a new slideshow for Veterans Day (2010).

This is where you come in, I will be looking for images of veterans from our readers, the friends of our readers, and their friends too.

So please, send in an image of a veteran in your life (both living and those who have "gone on ahead"), ask your friends and families to do the same.

Email your image (max size 200k) and a line or two about the veteran that appears in the image you are sending in.

There is no limit as to the number of images you can send, if you have 5 veterans in your life, send an image of each and every one.

I promise that every veterans image I receive will appear in the upcoming slideshow.

So please, start spreading the word!




(legal babble - you will maintain all ownership and rights to any image you send in, you will be granting us permission to use it in this slideshow, which will be the only use we will make of it)

A word (or two) about our reviews...

This post was sparked by comments made on my last review and I figured if Sharon and Chris had questions, then others did too.

First, regarding reviews in general.

For various reasons about 25-30% of the products sent to us for review never make it to the blog (you can read our review policy here).

I take the trust of our readers (very) seriously and would never want to betray that trust so when I review a product it needs to provide me with something that will make my photography or my business better. It needs to bring something to the table. I then assume that it will do the same for others.

I take money seriously too, so not only does a product need to contribute, it also needs to make back the money that was laid out to bring it on board.

It is difficult to explain how badly I would feel if you spent your hard earned money on a product that I recommended and it was useless to you.

So bottom line, for a product to get a positive review it needs to contribute to the cause AND it needs to pay for itself.

My suggestion (and what I do myself) if there is a product I am interested in that is over $100 I email and ask if there is a guarantee, if the product does not deliver as expected can it be returned.

Second, regarding our last review.

Sharon and Chris voiced concern over the lack of details about what was actually contained in the book. I can't tell you how much I appreciated their approach... thoughtful, insightful, respectful.

Chris hit the nail on the head about the fact that "get it together" is intellectual in nature and if you give away the content you remove the need for people to purchase it.

Add to that, when folks send me stuff like this (intellectual in nature) they specifically request that I not share the content, just my thoughts on the content.

But I can give you a bit more information, the book is Millie's story of what she did to run a more efficient (thus more profitable) photography studio. She doesn't tell us what we should do, she tells us what she did. Our job then is to extrapolate out how (and where) what she did would apply to our own studio.

She covers:

● How to organize thoughts and ideas
● How to implement a workflow
● How to make your email work for you (not overwhelm you)
● How to make the most of your leads
● How to pick vendors that work

and a few other topics as well.

I hope that gives you a little more insight regarding the content of the book.

Lastly, if you read one of my reviews and you're left wondering "is this for me?", PLEASE contact me, I would so prefer (and be happy) to spend time with you via email or by phone to make sure something was a fit for you, so you don't waste your hard earned money.

And finally, thanks... thanks for being our readers, for coming back week after week to listen to my dribble, and for trusting in what I have to say.