This Blueprint was sent in by Jessica Crawford, an MCP Actions customer.  She explains below how she has saved time using our products and she shared an example of how she adds color and depth to her photos while using our products.

“I’ve been a huge fan of MCP Actions ever since I first discovered them. I use the Fusion Photoshop Actions on almost all my images. As much as I love using photoshop in my digital darkroom, as a mother of two small kids, I love finding shortcuts to make my workflow more efficient. I’ve found that with the Fusion Photoshop Actions Set, it can take me from start to finish with a click of a button and a few opacity adjustments. This set has truly improved my images by 100% and cut my editing time in half. I’d like to share this before and after shot I did and my blueprint on how I created vibrant color and add depth to a flat imagine using MCP’s photoshop actions.”

BEFORE:

 To achieve this look, I used MCP’s Fusion Set, MCP’s Eye Doctor, and MCP’s Free Photoshop action: Touch of Light and Touch of Dark.

1. Ran “Eye Doctor” to lighten the iris, enhanced the catch lights, and sharpened with sharp as a tack.
2. Ran “Fixed overexposed” under the Fusion set at 13% opacity.
3. Ran “Color Fusion Mix and Match” under the “Fusion” set and  I left “One Click Color” at its 75% default while making these adjustments:  turned off “Brighten it,” and “Spot Light It” because the image was bright enough already, raised “Richen It”  to 55% opacity, “Edge It” to 100%, and used “Sentimental” on all of the background at 45% opacity.
4. Ran “Magic Marker” and used a white soft brush at 100% and painted color over the graffiti wall. I adjusted the overall opacity to 40%.
5. Ran “Touch of Dark” at 66% opacity over parts of the track and 10% over his face and hair (I still felt like he was a little overexposed.) I used “Touch of Light” to dodge parts of the track and his clothes at 10%.
6. Ran “Golden” from the Fusion set at 5% to warm him up a bit.
7. Finished by running “High Def Sharpening” from the fusion set at 100% opacity.

AFTER:

This Blueprint was created by Jessica Crawford at Jessica Crawford Photography and Framedweddings.com is based out of Raleigh, NC, specializing in Newborns, Children, Families, Engagements and Weddings.

In a recent Facebook post, I asked photographers just like you what stops them from setting goals, and their quick responses were surprising.  It seems we all have places we want to go with our businesses, but obstacles in our way.   So, we had a great little online conversation and here is what they feel are major obstacles:

1. Don’t know how or where to start

The best way to start is just putting pen to paper, write down what you want out of your business, and revisit those goals often! There is a technical side of goal setting, but you can get to that later. Just give yourself 5 minutes and write it down!

2. Lack of confidence

Sometimes we wish we could buy confidence. I would feed it to my kids for breakfast!  Confidence comes with achieving small baby steps, so your goals are the same way, start with small goals, small achievements, and build up your ability to see yourself for what you really are!  Take a deep breath and put yourself out there a little more today than you did yesterday!

3. Thinking negatively – as in, the glass is “half empty”

Have you ever heard of a gratitude journal? It really helps you change that mind set over time! We all know that we choose our thoughts, but that doesn’t make having positive thoughts as easy as flipping a light switch.  It is a habit that changes over time.

4. I’m not good at thinking far ahead and want quick results, so I have a hard time spreading things apart

What about taking your short goals and adding them up to a year? That way you have a long term vision, but staying focused on your immediate goals will be what gets you there.

5. Not patient enough, I want the end result to be now not later

I am the same way! I have found that allowing myself small celebrations helps! I go out to dinner when I have reached a small goal, or treat myself to a pedicure. Then I work really hard to get to my goal faster…LOL!!

6. Time is also an issue…juggling a full-time job, two kids, and trying to do photography. However, I know I’m not the only one in this boat so I know it’s possible just wish I could get the energy/motivation

I know EXACTLY how you feel! I learned that you can’t chase 2 rabbits, because you won’t catch either one. But for a while it is necessary! It really is baby steps. Set small goals, and then celebrate them so it builds your confidence! Your ceilings will become your floors, and you will get there!

7. Time. I have 2 kids. One in kind that needs help before and after school and one 10 month old that needs me all the time and don’t forget the hubby who always needs something, lol

I can relate. I have 4 kids, a husband, and my dog is about to deliver puppies any hour! Haha!!   If this is important enough for you, then implementing some time management will really help you squeeze this into the nooks and crannies of your life. I have a really great podcast about that and working with kids at home, it’s all I know how to do!

8. Lack of funds!

That is the very reason to set goals!! When the pain of remaining the same is great enough, then the pain of change won’t matter! My husband is a school teacher, and I do photography to help  put food on our table, so I totally hear ya!  Just take it a day at a time, prioritize your expenses, and look for ways to do free marketing that will bring in the funds to help build your business! Social Media is a great source for that.

Thank you to the wonderful contributors to my Facebook page!  I have a couple simple goal setting tips to get you on your way, and help those obstacles turn into stepping stones.

1. Write down a specific goal with a date.  Don’t be general.
2. Create a vision in your mind of what that goal will look like when achieved.
3. Revisit that goal and vision often.  Two or three times daily.
4. Figure out your “why” and attach that to your goal.  What is it that drives you to do this?

Amy Fraughton is the founder of Photo Business Tools, an online site offering business resources for photographers through blog posts, podcasts and downloadable forms.

Are you in compliance with United States Tax Laws?  Are you even aware what to look for?  Let us help you with this informative guide.

Disclaimer:  This guide is written based on United States tax law.  Laws may vary from state to state as not all state tax laws are based on federal tax laws.  This article is meant to serve as an informational guide.  United States readers should consult with a registered tax return preparer to obtain tax and accounting advice.  International readers should consult with their local tax authority for clarification on tax laws.

Hobby vs. Business

The first important consideration when deciding how to organize your documents for tax time is: Are you a hobby or a business?  The Internal Revenue Service defines the difference by declaring a business has a “profit motive.”  The IRS allows you to make the determination for yourself. However, they will consider making the choice for you if you are claiming business deductions on your taxes and are not turning a profit in at least three of the prior five tax years.

As a photographer, when deciding whether you are running a business or have a hobby for tax purposes, ask yourself some questions.

1. Am I devoting a substantial amount of time to my work?  Occasionally photographing family functions and selling your prints may not convince the IRS you have a profit motive.
2. Am I knowledgeable enough to run a successful business?  Running a photography business does not solely revolve around knowledge of a camera and editing software.  If you are not knowledgeable about aspects of a photography business, you are less likely to pull in profit and more likely to be considered a hobby.
3. Am I improving my methods of operation so I can profit?  This is very relevant to the photography business.  Photography is always advancing.  New equipment comes out, new products come out, new styles become popular, prices change.  If you aren’t keeping up, you may be losing business to photographers that are keeping up, which may put a strain on your profit.

For further reading on hobby vs. business, refer to IRS article: http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=186056,00.html

State Laws

State laws that cover income tax, corporate tax, and sales tax may vary depending on the state.  Some states may require photographers to withhold sales tax on prints and products only, while other states may require photographers to withhold sales tax on digital transfers.  Some states require a license for photographers to operate while others may not.  Before you file taxes for your business, make sure you are complying with your state laws.  If you have trouble understanding the laws of the state, many states have Small Business/Corporate tax hotlines that allow you to speak with someone that can explain your responsibilities. You also may wish to contact an tax attorney.

Income and Expenses

According to the U.S. Tax Code, we must report all income, unless it is specified to be nontaxable, and we are expected (and in some cases required) to take deductions for reasonable business expenses.  How do we ensure we are following these rules?  Start with keeping all receipts.  Keep a log of your jobs and the income you receive for them.  Many photographers use software to manage their income and expenses.

In all United States businesses, expenses listed on tax returns must be “ordinary and necessary.”  You must remember to separate your business expenses from your personal expenses.  You can deduct prints you order from a lab to provide a client but you cannot deduct prints you order from a lab for your personal use.  If possible, try to make business purchases and personal purchases separately.  Most business owners find it helpful to get a separate business checking account and credit card.  If you make purchases together, put a note with that receipt reminding yourself that part of the purchase was personal.

Depreciation

We are all excited when we purchase a new camera or lens or computer.  It’s something new to learn, experiment with, work with, and a big deduction for that year, right?  Not necessarily.  Any asset you purchase for your business that is expected to last more than one year is “depreciable.”  The full cost is not regularly deducted that year.  Instead, the asset is assigned a “class life” and the cost is recovered over the course of the life.

Let’s use a computer for an example.  You just bought that $1,500 computer since your old computer was not keeping up with your editing speed.  A computer has a 5-year class life.  The $1,500 is actually deducted over six years, using percentages from depreciation tables.

Does anyone really expect to own a computer for five years before the need for technology upgrades kick in?  There are different options when you are depreciating assets.  Some assets may be eligible for different types of depreciation.  Talk to a registered tax return preparer, preferably one who has experience in business, to find out the different options pertaining to depreciation.  Do keep in mind, once you begin to depreciate an asset, you may be subject to tax on selling a business asset if it is sold.

Listed Property and Maintaining Records

One tax law that is extremely important to photographers:  Photographic equipment and computers are considered “listed property” and are subject to special rules and limits.  Why?  Listed property is property that has potential to be used for business purposes and personal purposes.

If you purchase equipment that is deemed as listed property, part of your requirement in order to use it as a business expense is keeping records.  This probably does not sound like fun to anyone.  Who needs another record to keep up with?  It may prove vital if the business use of your equipment is ever questioned.

How should you maintain a record?  One simple solution is to make a spreadsheet listing all of your equipment, piece by piece, and each occasion you used any of the equipment.  Include the time you spent using the equipment and the number of shots taken.  Check off which equipment was used on that particular occasion.  For substantial proof of use, load those digital negatives on DVDs, label them, and keep them with your records.  You will be happy you did.

Business Use of Home

How many photography businesses operate out of an area in the owner’s home?  There are perks to those photographers that have opted out of renting a separate office space for their work.  If you are working out of your home, you may be entitled to claim business use of home.  This is available to renters and homeowners.

How do you know if you can claim business use of your home?  In order to have an in-home office or work area, darkroom or studio, that meets tax requirements, the office space must be used regularly and exclusively for business purposes.  You’ll need to know the square footage of your office space and the square footage of the total living area in order to determine your business use percentage.

Okay, you have a business area set up.  What can you deduct?  There are direct and indirect expenses when you have business use of home.  Direct are expenses that apply to the work space only.  Did you paint that room so your editing could be completed accurately?  If the room was the only room you painted, you have a direct expense, which is fully deductible.

Indirect expenses are expenses that applied to the entire living area.  Rent or mortgage interest may be used.  Utilities may be used.  Tenant or homeowner’s insurance may be used.  Indirect expenses are multiplied by business percentage to calculate the deductible portion.  To clarify, if your business space accounts for 15% of your total living space, you pay $1,000 a month for rent, $150 per month is deductible for each month you have the business area.

Self-Employment Taxes

Let’s look at paying taxes.  Your business made $15,000 this year after expenses.  [Note: This applies to sole proprietor photographers, not corporations.]  Now, you have a self-employment tax of $1,842.  Why do you have to pay all this additional money at the end of the year just because you are self-employed?

Self-employment tax is the employee and employer’s portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes.  When you are an employee, your employer withholds your share and pays their share of those taxes.  When you are self-employed, there is no one to withhold taxes or pay the employer’s share. It becomes your responsibility to pay the entire amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes.

How can you avoid having to pay taxes in a lump sum at the end of the year?  Make estimated tax payments.  These payments are made four times a year.  They are a convenient way of paying taxes with an income that can be flexible.  When self-employment taxes increase as a business grows, many business owners consider the benefits of incorporation.

Tax Tips Specific to Photographers

Some additional tips on expenses that might help your business:

1. Sponsor a dance group, sports team, or other organization that will put your business name out there for others.  It is an advertising expense!
2. If you pay someone to assist you for a project, the amount you pay them may be a contract labor expense.  This does not include amounts paid to regular employees.  You may be required to issue a 1099 form to any individual you pay $600 or more in one year.
3. If you pay for insurance to protect your equipment or business investment, these expenses are deductible.
4. Buying or renting a studio or office space is a business expense.
5. Attorney and accounting fees for your business are business expenses.
6. Don’t forget to keep the receipts for paper you use for contracts and business documents!  Include the costs of blank CDs for digital transfers, printer ink if you print your client’s images, postage for shipping products, and any other office related expenses you have for your business.
7. Photographers have equipment repaired and maintained!  Save those receipts.  If you don’t keep your equipment in good condition, you can’t produce income.  It’s an important expense!
8. Here is where you include your props, your spare batteries, your memory cards, your carrying bags, your backdrops, your MCP Actions, and other editing tools.
9. If you are required to have a business license, you are allowed to deduct the cost of the license.
10. Keep mileage logs while driving between business destinations.  Vehicle expenses are best supported by mileage logs.  Mileage logs should contain the date, distance, and purpose of the trip in the very least.
11. For the destination photographer, keep your receipts for the following expenses while away from home: airfare, car rentals/taxis/public transportation, meals, lodging, laundry, and business calls.
12. Self-employed retirement plans are deducted from your total income.
13. Self-employed health insurance, if you are not eligible to be covered under other health insurance policies, are deducted from your total income.
14. Education.  Photographers are always learning.  Education expenses that improve the quality of your work and incurred with a motive of increasing your profit are expenses.  Therefore, MCP’s Online Training seminars may be used as business expenses.
15. Last but not least, there are many people who receive tax advice from people that are not qualified to give tax advice.  Before relying on anyone else’s advice, check with someone that thoroughly understands tax laws that pertain to your business to keep your business safe.

An excellent guide on Small Business Federal Tax Responsibilities can be found at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4591.pdf.

This post was written by Ryne Galiszewski-Edwards, owner of Fall In Love With Me Today Photography. Ryne operates her photography business with her husband, Justin. She is also a seasoned tax advisor with Small Business Certification and an instructor of various tax courses.

What is Lomography?

Lomographic photography stems from the first LOMO cameras which were created in the 1980s. Lomography is characterized by vivid and often unexpected colors, along with vignetting and the occasional bout of slight blurriness. The unpredictability of LOMO cameras made them a favorite among artistic photographers, and several of the results from LOMO cameras have been exhibited at art galleries around the world. Thanks to the advent of Photoshop, it is no longer necessary to look for the right camera or for photographers to purchase multiple different cameras. Today you can achieve the lomography effect by simply using any camera and then editing the image in Photoshop. Sometimes there are even iPhone apps that achieve this look.

Special note: Photoshop Elements 8 was used in the creation of this tutorial, but all modern Photoshop programs can create this effect and will do so with virtually identical steps and wording.

Step by Step Process

1.) Upload a photo of anything into Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. The lomography technique tends to work best with photos of an artistic nature but it can be used with any photography.

2.) Click on Filter, then click on Correct Lens Distortion.

3.) In the Vignette Amount box, type a number. You can experiment with it, but for this example use -55, the click OK.

4.) Click on Enhance, then go down to Adjust Color and select Adjust Color Curves.

5.) Experiment with the four sliders. Using the sliders to create an S-curve provides the best results. Once you’re satisfied, click OK.

6.) Click on Layers and go down to New Adjustment Layer. Then select Levels and click OK.

7.) Click the Channels drop down and select Red.

8.) Fill in the first and third boxes provided. You can experiment with these numbers, but for now put 50 in the first box and 220 in the third box. Leave the middle box as it is.

9.) Next you’ll need to merge the layers, by clicking on Layers and selecting Merge Visible.

10.) Now select Enhance and go down to Unsharp Mask.

11.) Yet again, you’ll be able to experiment with the numbers that need to be populated. For this example, I selected Amount 40, Radius 40 and Threshold 0. Once you’ve entered your selections, click OK.

The Results

The image that you have now has been lomographied!  The really fun part about editing photographs in the lomography style is that you’re able to experiment with colors and vignetting a lot without compromising the feel that you’re going for. All of the numbers listed above can be tweaked by several points in both directions and the end result will still adhere to the general feel of lomography.

Have you experimented with lomography before, either via a LOMO camera or Photoshop? Leave a comment discussing your results.

April A. Taylor, the guest writer for this article, is a Dark Art/Horror and Fine Art Photographer from Detroit, MI. Her award-winning work has been published and exhibited internationally in over 100 different art galleries, magazines, books, and movies.

Are you wondering how to get creamy newborn skin and edit baby images in Photoshop? It all starts in camera with proper lighting.  Nice, diffused, even lighting will help even out skin tones. Many babies have red or yellow coloring and bumpy or textured skin.

There are a few tricks you can do in Photoshop to help even texture and tones for a creamy newborn skin.

Step 1: Duplicated the background layer and then use the Patch Tool in between the eyes and left eyelid to smooth the skin. Adjusted the layer opacity to taste.

Step 2: Used the Lasso Tool to select her hands, set a light feather 1st so there is in a jump in toning.  Then used a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. For this image, Hue to +4 and the Saturation to -5. She still looked red all over. In a second Hue and Saturation adjustment layer, this time all over rather than just on the hands,  set the Hue to +2 and Saturation to -3. This will vary based on the image and color issues.

Step 3: Next, used MCP’s Magic Skin Action set – specifically the Powder Your Nose skin smoothing Photoshop action which is great for newborns and set the opacity to 50%.  Brushed all over her face except lips, eyelashes and hair.

Step 4: Flatten Image. Made a duplicate layer and chose MULTIPLY as my blending mode. I set the opacity to 29%.

Step 5: Made another new layer and chose SCREEN as my blending mode and set the opacity to 50%. Amounts will vary based on your image.

Step 6: Added a layer mask to the SCREEN layer and used a black brush on the green blanket to darken it back. The mask icon is the tiny circle in a square at the bottom of the layer’s palette.

Step 7: Next, used MCP’s Crackle – a Photoshop action to add mid-tone contrast in the Quickie Collection.

Step 8: Lastly, used MCP’s Free Magic Dark action at 17% opacity and darkened the edges.

Katie Hardy is the owner of Katie O Hardy Photography located in Augusta, Georgia. She specializes in studio and natural light photography. Her work is described as clean and simple.

What is Pinterest?

Chances are good that you’ve heard of Pinterest. You may be active on it already or you may just be beginning your own boards. If you don’t know what it is, from the Pinterest site’s about page: “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.” Pinterest is a social media and social networking platform – a mix between Facebook and Flickr, even though it’s really its own new thing.

You can ‘pin’ pictures from anywhere on the web to ‘boards’ you make for certain subjects. Right now there is no way to hide boards or block users, so be careful what you pin. If you’re brand new to Pinterest, check their help page for information on how to pin, repin or even install pinning buttons into your browser toolbar.

I myself have both personal boards and boards for professional use. My personal boards include boards for planning my wedding, what I want my wedding photos to look like, photos that I just love, clothes and style.. etc. I follow people on pinterest who use their boards for recipes, kids’ crafts, home decor.. even workout routines!

Pinterest for Photographers

Professionally, I’m using pinterest to not only gather ideas for other photos I want to shoot for my clients, but I also use it for pinning my own photos to put into the pinterest world.

My boards full of other people’s photos are for shot inspiration, product ideas to offer my clients, and prop ideas for things I want to buy or use in shots in the future. Then for marketing my own work, I have a personal favorites board I pin my own favorite photos, and a bragging board to repin my own photos that have been pinned by other users. I even follow someone who uses her boards to show off her wonderful packaging and another photographer who uses pinterest for picking out clothes for her clients and ‘styling’ their sessions for them. If you want to find your own photos being pinned, go to http://pinterest.com/source/yourdomain.com (replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain info). You can also add a ‘pin it’ button to your website so pinners can get to your photos easily.

Make sure to “pin” some of your favorite MCP Posts. If you’d like to add a ‘pin it’ button, the instructions are here. Note: If you have a wordpress blog, you need to edit the theme files and put that code where you need it in the Main Index template. This can break your site if don’t wrong, so be sure you know what you’re doing beforehand!

What to do with all that information?

1. Make pin boards for shoots you want to do. Want a Harry Potter styled session that could be the envy of Style Me Pretty if it were a wedding? Pin anything you find from around the web to bring it all together in one place where you can see what doesn’t ‘fit’ before you buy it.
2. Make a bragging board for everything people have pinned from your website. Not only can your followers see what you’ve shot, but this gives you the opportunity to put up a monthly blog bragging post linking the photos that people have pinned. Clients will love seeing their kids are so popular.  You could even host a photo session giveaway and allow people to enter via pinning a certain photo from your website.
3. Make a board for products you offer with prices. Clients could add this to their boards around the holidays for things they’re wishing for.
4. Create a coupon picture, then pin that and publish to facebook while you’re doing it. Your clients can use that coupon as well as share it by repining it.
5. Make a how-to board for pinning photos or videos of your own shoots. You can talk about what inspired the shot, how you lit it, how you set it up.. etc. I’m waiting to do this until Pinterest makes a user-blocking feature so I can keep other local photographers from knowing all of what I do.
6. Market your own photos by pinning things from your own site. Make sure you include your domain URL in the description. Most people do not change the majority if pin descriptions when repinning, so your website will go far! If you’re a wedding or pet photographer, this is doubly important because those photos really get repined a LOT.

This article was written by Heather Lickliter of Stylized Portraiture and Fairyography – Heather lives in Athens, GA with her fiance’ (John) and manx cat (Stumpy).

There I sat at the end of October feeling drained and useless.  Shoot, shoot, shoot… edit, edit, edit is all that seemed to be going through my head.  Lacking inspiration and feeling like something was missing I started browsing blogs and Facebook pages of other photographers.

While surfing, I’d found my remedy, “I just need to go vintage! I love looking at vintage photographs and I love the look of film photography.”  I put together a vintage style shoot and I was excited and inspired.  I came home from the shoot and started editing them.  Something felt wrong.  Those pictures weren’t me.

I was trying to feel better about myself by imitating looks I liked.  It didn’t work and I felt more discouraged.  After some late night soul searching, I realized I won’t ever feel good about my work by comparing it to other artists and photographers.

Here are 4 ways I came up with to be more confident about my photography while still pushing myself. Try them and let us know what works for you.

1. Set Goals.  Setting goals for yourself and your business gives you something to strive for.
2. Evaluate those goals.  Evaluating your goals every few months gives you the ability to see if you are progressing.
3. Base your progress of YOU not others.  Comparing your 2010 images to your 2011 images is a much better way to chart progress then comparing your photographs to Jane Doe Photography’s photos
4. Keep it real.  I don’t think newer photographers know their style right away. It is fine to get inspiration from the work of others, without actually copying.  Stick to what feel right and fits you rather than trying to duplicate every detail.

This article was written by Kristin Wilkerson, a Utah based photographer. You can find her on Facebook too.

Expert-itis.  A disease that affects 7 in 10 photographers.  Symptoms include:  Listing twenty thousand options on your products list.  Asking exhausted clients whether they want that in pearlescent, metallic, or lustre finish.  Using funny words like “float wrap” and “gallery wrap” as if others should know the difference.  Expertitis is believed to have begun in the medical community with doctors who talk at you with Latin-sprinkled babble, but it has spread through the photography profession like wildfire.  Expertitis is not fatal, but it is extremely annoying to those around the infected.

Expert-itis is often a side effect of a really good thing – spending a long time immersed in photography.   The problem is that when any topic consumes your days, it becomes second nature, and you start to assume everyone knows the same things you do.  If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a tween eye-roll for not knowing who Justin Bieber is, you’ll understand.

Psychologist Dan Gilbert said it best: “If you spend seven years studying the differences between grapes, no two will look the same to you.”  Well, all I know is that some grapes are light purple, some are dark purple, some are green, and I can never keep straight which ones have the seeds that get stuck in my teeth.  I just want something that tastes good.  This would probably horrify the owner of a vineyard.  And yet – do I put a 16×20 and a 16×24 on my print list right next to each other and not take the time to explain the real difference to my client?  Your client does not care about that four-inch difference any more than I care about being able to spot seeded grapes from afar.  They just want something that looks good.

Expertitis can be treated.  Exact remedies will vary depending on the symptoms:

• Understand that offering lots of options may seem like a good idea, but instead of appearing flexible, you’re most likely paralyzing people.  When people are faced with too many choices and don’t know much about the subject, they either pick the default (probably an 8×10 print) or choose nothing at all.  A few choices is better than 30 choices, and people report being more satisfied with their choice when they picked from a smaller number of options
• Eliminate all but your favorite products from your price list.  Offering everything will exhaust both you and your clients.  Channel the Apple Store: Focus on selling a few things that are long-lasting and meaningful, and eliminate distractions.
• Cut down the number of decisions for each product.  Keep in mind that 10 print sizes x 3 finishes x 3 mounting options x 3 color choices (B&W, sepia, full color) = 270 possibilities per image.  Pick one signature mounting and finish that complements your work the best and eliminate the others – suddenly your clients are down to only 30 possibilities (size and color) per image.  Offer only one color type per image, selected by you, and they’re down to 10 choices.  Make a size recommendation for them, and they’ll thank you for not having to sweat through so many decisions!
• Eliminate all the cropped sizes from your price list and just sell the full frame.  That means axing 16x20s and just selling the 16x24s.  Your images probably look best full frame anyway if that’s how you shot them, and it’ll spare you from having to explain that if they get the 16×20 the image will be cropped.  If you want to be really bold, sell 8x12s instead of 8x10s.
• If you’re selling a disc, give clients a list of all the full frame sizes (4×6, 8×12, 16×24, 20×30, 24×36), and explain that 5x7s and 8x10s will result in cropping.  This will save them from wasting money and getting mad when Walgreens chops the top of Dad’s head off.
• After you’ve narrowed the number of products your clients have to choose from, photograph a sample of each one (mounted prints, gallery wraps, albums, whatever) and put them in front of your pricing list, and explain what each one is.  And don’t rip off the text from WHCC’s website – those descriptions were written for photographers.  Write it like you were explaining it to your grandmother.

• Once your list is pruned, put an asterisk at the bottom saying you’re happy to offer custom sizes and additional products upon request.  That way you can still serve the small percentage of people who absolutely have to have a cropped size, but you’re not overwhelming the majority of people who just want something wonderful hanging on their wall.
• Grab a non-photographer friend and have them look over your website, your product list, and your promotional materials.  Ask them to highlight anything that they don’t understand or that feels overwhelming.  Revise.

You don’t have to live with expertitis.  There is hope.

Jenika McDavitt runs a portrait photography business and blogs over at Psychology for Photographers, helping photographers run smarter businesses through a savvier understanding of human behavior.  Drop by and grab a free copy of 13 Things No One Tells You About Photographing Children.  Wave hello on Facebook here!

Learn my photo editing process from beginning to end for a bridal image.

I use Photoshop for all of my editing – starting with the RAW images from my Nikon D700 in Adobe Bridge to completion in Photoshop.

In Adobe Bridge:

• Turn the Brightness down to +40 (I tweak until the histogram is more evenly distributed). There is a little more bright than dark to begin within this photo, so it won’t be completely equal, but you don’t want anything climbing the right side of the histogram.
• Under “Detail” I pulled luminance up to +5 under noise reduction. It’s­ very effective for both reducing noise and softening. Next I open the photo in Photoshop to complete the editing process.

In Photoshop:

Step 1 (Cropping): I don’t like the column on the left or the way she is centered completely in the photo, so I’m going to re-crop. Generally it’s a good idea to get your crop right in camera so you can maintain the most information possible. Sometimes, however, it’s just not as easy as others. This picture for instance was taken while I was 2nd shooting at a wedding. So the main photographer was directing the bride, and I am literally just shooting a 2nd perspective. The bride may never look at me, and in this case was only standing here for about 30 seconds.

Step 2 (Cloning): Now we have our basic composition to where we like it. I do NOT however, like the big gaudy black hand rail running through the pretty white column. So that has to go. We’re going to get rid of it by cloning. Be precise when cloning, and always do it on a separate layer. Once you clone, you delete the data that was in that spot. Duplicate your background layer. You should always do this before editing so that you can always undo whatever you have edited. I named this layer “Handrail Clone.” This fix is all I will do on this layer.

Click on your “clone” tool from your tool selection.  We’re going to start on the column and work our way left. You want to do this in as few and correct motions as possible. So make your clone tool the size of the rail. You’ll find the sizing selection at the top left corner of your screen.  Also make sure your opacity is at 100% for this. So you don’t have to go over and over to get the desired look. Once this is done, find the spot on your photo you want to replace the rail with and click on it while holding ALT.  You can see the preview of that you’re going to move over when you hover. Just make sure any lines, or designs match up how you want them to.

So far we’ve gotten rid of the bar completely that was on the column. All of our lines match and you can’t tell it was ever there!  Finish your cloning. Try not to clone using the exact same place as your source the whole time. It will look good as you go, but when you finish and look at the whole photo you’ll see an undesired pattern or repeat in your photo, and it won’t look natural.  Just to make sure all of my bushes blend together, I’m going to select my blur tool, which is under the little button that looks like a tear drop. Select about 50% opacity, and blur my bushes a little.  I also cloned the small portion of the white column that remained on the left side of my photo. I wanted to keep this size, but don’t want the column.

As of now, this is what we are working with.       

Step 3 (The Eyes): I want to make her eyes a little more clear. For me, in a portrait, the eyes should always be the focal point.  I use the MCP Photoshop Action “Spark” from MCP Fusion set. It also automatically creates a new layer which I love. After running this action, I painted on her eyes to activate at 50%.

Step 4 (Teeth): I like for everyone to look their best in photos, so I generally whiten teeth and clear up and skin issues as well.  MCP has an action called Eye Doctor and Dentist  and another called Magic Skin so check those out for action based retouching.  For teeth, I do it manually by duplicating my last layer and call it “teeth.” I like to just use the DODGE tool. I put it at about 17% opacity, and on midtones to start. zoom in close enough to see the teeth, and make your brush about the size of one tooth.

Step 4 (Lightening and Darkening): Now I want my subject to pop a little more off of the backdrop, so I want to darken behind her, just a LITTLE. To do this I’m going to use the MCP Fix Overexposure Photoshop action in Fusion. It automatically defaults at 0% opacity, so you just increase it to suit your needs. In this case I’m going with about 30%. Remember this layer is masked, so you only want to judge it based on the area you want darker, were going to erase this action over the rest of the photo. So now just use the mask, (a soft black paint brush, while the fix overexposure layer mask is clicked on).

Step 5 (Enhancements): I like to do as little as possible. LESS IS MORE! For this photo, I ran the Sentimental and the Fantasy actions in Fusion, but turned off One Click Color. I added a mask over the Sentimental layer and turned the opacity up to 57%. I used masking so that it only affected the surroundings and not the skin tones.

Below is the before and after bridal image:

Jenn Kelley is a VA Wedding and Lifestyle Portraiture photographer in Chesapeake Virginia. In business for 2 years and studying photography for 8. More info on Jenn and her photography can be found on her website/blog at WWW.JennKelleyPhotography.com.

There are so many great photography props out there. If you don’t know where to start you can end up spending LOTS of money without much reward. I recommend starting simple. Here are a few inexpensive props that can add a nice flair to your photos.

Chalk Board
Find a small chalk board that will fit into your camera bag and keep it there for all your photo session! One of my favorite things to do is to pull out the chalk board mid-session and ask my subjects to write something. People always come up with something meaningful to write. I’ve had people write everything from their last name, Merry Christmas, wedding date, expressive phrases, and I even had a little guy draw me a turkey (it was a few days before Thanksgiving). During almost all of my engagement and family sessions I do a series of photos where my subjects write on the board and hold up their works of art. I purchased my chalk board from my local Goodwill, but there are also tons of variations available on Etsy.

Bubbles
Every little kid loves bubbles! If you are having trouble getting the little ones to warm up to you, pull out a can of bubbles (or even better, a bubble gun) and there is a good chance you will get at least one real smile. I’ve also learned that some dogs like bubbles even more then children.

Sun Glasses
For some reason, putting on a pair of sun glasses gives people a little more confidence. Go to your local dollar store and purchase a half dozen of them and put them in your photo bag. I like to give my stubborn non-smiling groomsmen (yes grown men) sun glasses for the first few shots and this tends to loosen them us. They also come in handy when you have a great shot/location but everyone is squinting because they are staring into the sun.

Picture Frame
So the whole picture frame thing may be a little overdone. However, it is so fun and if people are having fun, you get to see real similes! Just about any size picture frame will do (I bet you have some stashed around your house that you can use). Plop large frames on the ground and let the little ones crawl in and out, or have a couple hold the frame and make funny faces at each other. The sky is the limit here.

Scrabble Pieces
There are so many ways you can use scrabble pieces – have your subjects hold up the letters, lay them flat without any people in the photos, have your subjects blurry in the background with the letters standing up in focus, etc. So go and raid or your game closet or pick up a set from Amazon and start taking pictures!

This blog post is brought to you by KristeenMarie Photography. Be sure to check her out on Facebook.

Kristeen is an Indianapolis, IN Photographer who loves ice tea, the color purple, technology, and small children. She loves many other things in life that, though there are not many that she loves more then photography. She loves life and wants to capture every bit of it using her camera.