Please come and join me on Tuesday May 10th...

Well, not just me, but a bunch of other photographers too, because that's when stock photography and Lightroom expert Rob Sylvan will be speaking to the Maine Photographers Coalition.

If Rob's name sounds familiar it's because we recently reviewed his new book "Taking Stock: Make money in microstock creating photos that sell".

I am sure some out there are thinking "why should I go, I'm not a stock photographer"... oh contraire, if you're a wedding photographer, a portrait photographer, a commercial photographer, or just "a photographer", you are ALREADY a stock photographer and you very likely have hundreds of stock images just waiting to be discovered on your hard drive that could become another revenue stream for you.

So come meet, mingle, and learn how to create images that can be sold as stock and how to earn an income from images that you already have. Heck, it’s the equivalent of putting on last winters jacket and finding $20 in the pocket - and who doesn’t like found money?

More about Rob, he's a photographer, a trainer, author, and a web developer. He's a NAPP help desk specialist, and instructor for the Perfect picture School of Photography and the host of Peachpit’s Lightroom Resource Center, and the site director and inspector for iStockphoto.

Rob writes the “Under the Loupe” column for Photoshop User Magazine and is the author of “Lightroom for Dummies”, and “Taking Stock”. Check out his Lightroom-focused blog at llightroomers.com (he's a busy, busy guy).

Not only has he been an Stockphoto inspector since 2002, Rob has also made tens of thousands of dollars from his own stock photography. So, no one knows better than he about what it takes to get your photos accepted to stock sites—and what to do to make them sell.

Our Other Special Guest

We will also be joined by StockFood America, an international stock agency with an office right here in Maine. They will share with us what sells and why in this lucrative industry and will offer tips to ensure your success.

As always there will be some great photography related giveaways so be sure to bring a business card to drop into the fishbowl.

The Details:

* 7:30 pm (doors open at 7pm)
* Held at the studio of Stacey Kane - 134 Black Point Road in Scarborough
* PLEASE RSVP via Facebook so we know how many to expect.
* There is a $10 admin fee due at the door

Hope to see you there.

$15 DIY camera stabilizer project...

I love DIY projects and this one is both very useful and VERY inexpensive... and I NEVER would have thought to use a monopod this way.

My friend Mark (A DSLR video zealot) turned me onto a DSLR video site called "CheesyCam" and though it's video based site (and you aren't), this is still a site you will want to bookmark as it's full of great tips, techniques, reviews, and DIY projects that will hold the interest of all us "still" photographers.

This project shows you how to turn a traditional monopod into a camera stabilizer.

Below is a video about this DIY project that you will want to watch and here is the link back to the original post that contains all the information and additional still images that will help you make your own.

Here is a very cool free offer...

If you have an iPad and would like to extend you desktop this is the way to do it.

For a very limited time you can get DisplayLink for free, not sure when this offer will expire but why wait, get the PC version here now.

And you can find the iTunes link here.

I do use my iPad to extend my desktop, like when using Photoshop I dumped all my tools into my iPad so that I had the entire laptop screen to view my images as large as possible.

Because my laptop screen is color corrected and my iPad is not, I actually put Lightroom (the program) on the iPad and have the image I am editing on my (color corrected) laptop screen.

I know that someone out there is going to say "my gosh Scott, you are really old", they might also say "an iPad is a pretty expensive second monitor".

Just a couple of things I'll say to that, if you add the cost of a second monitor AND a dual monitor card you are are going to exceed the cost of an iPad. A dual monitor setup is just that, two monitors.

An iPad will allow you to have a dual monitor setup and much more, not the least of which is a mobile office. It is your marketing tool on the move by allowing presentation of your work ANYWHERE, and many other things, not the least of which is to have a client sign a contract (right on the iPad) regardless of where you are.

Below is a very short (3 minute) demonstration/review video showing DisplayLink in action.

MEGHANN & WILL GET MARRIED!!

While spending a rainy May afternoon working on the details of one of Viva's upcoming weddings at the Museum of Nature, we got to thinking about our very first wedding at this fantastic venue. Viva was lucky to coordinate only the second wedding to take place at the Museum after the extensive renovations were completed last year and could not have been happier with the outcome. The event space is spectacular and the staff are truly top notch.

You'd think coordinating a wedding for a couple getting married in Ottawa but living in New York would be somewhat of a challenge but thanks to Meghann's wonderfully supportive family here in town and the wonders of email, the planning process was not only a breeze but so much fun!

The perfect Ottawa venue + an amazing New York couple = a really fabulous day. Here are a few detail images of Meghann & Will's wedding captured by the award winning Photolux.

ONE PRINCESS BRIDE, TWO LOOKS

It’s becoming more and more common for a bride to show off two different looks on her wedding day. Viva has seen this over the past few years with our own brides and previously blogged about celebrity wedding planner David Tutera’s line of wedding gowns including the “Eva” and “Fergie” - dresses that start out full length for the ceremony with the lower part of the skirt removable to reveal a short party dress for the reception - so it came as no surprise that Kate Middleton chose to change her look too. Designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Kate married her prince charming in a fitted white v-neck gown with a long sleeved lace overlay and 2.7 metre train and then transformed into a strapless satin gazar evening dress with diamante embroidered detail around the waist, topping it off with a white angora bolero cardigan. Perfect.

Here are the rest of the details on Kate's wedding day look.

This years first lawn mowing...

Pretty exciting stuff, huh?

Yes it means that winter is truly over, but more significantly... instead of hearing me whine about how cold it is or complaining about shoveling, you'll hear things about heat, rain, and how square wheels really makes it hard for me to push my mower.

;)

I'm a seasonal kind of complainer.

You have less than 48 hours left to act...

You have about 36 hours, until midnight tomorrow (Saturday April 30), to get a set of 3 Lexar 16GB Platinum II 200x compact flash memory cards for only $99 at Adorama. If that price isn't tempting enough they're offering free shipping and are throwing in a memory card wallet to boot.

Not only are these cards fast, but they also hold a bunch too, one card will hold up to 3,200 16MP images (or 2,300 21MP images). Video your thing? One card will hold up to 6 hours of video.

A perspective on just how good a deal this price is their competitors are selling the exact same memory cards at $87 for a set of (just) two. Plus the cost of shipping and no wallet.

If you don't need quite so much card (or want to spend quite so much money) you can get the exact same card in the 4 GB size for just $18 each. Free shipping on these as well.