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Michael [mahy-kuhl] – noun
1. A male given name. 2. A witty, charming professional wedding photographer who enjoys movies, exercise, romantic walks on the beach and large pepperoni pizzas.
Maven [may-ven] – noun
1. A connoisseur or trusted expert in a particular field who seeks to pass his knowledge onto others. 2. An intense gatherer of useful information. 3. An individual who demonstrates passion for learning and teaching a specific topic, particularly through a well connected social network.
Thank you for coming to my blog! I update it regularly, so if you ever want to know what I am up to, please come by and take a peek. Feel free to leave your comments below.
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How to Shoot One Handed |
I wanted to share this picture with you guys. Its from one of my students who only has one arm, and I couldnt figure out how in the heck she was focusing and shooting with only one hand, so I asked her to send me a picture of her in action. And we thought we had a rough time learning to shoot? Just goes to show if you want something bad enough, you will find a way, and once that way is found, its not as bad as we thought .:)
This is quite impressive if you ask me. |
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Win a Free Wedding Photography Package by Michael Andrew |
I have been thinking about this for a while and would like to open this up to anyone and everyone interested. It can be for you specifically or a friend. I am offering (at least) One Grand Prize of:
A $5000- Full Day Coverage Package- includes (all free):
- Up to 8 hours of Coverage by Michael Andrew
- Complete 30 page story book album, including all Photoshopping for album
- One Large Canvas Portrait
- Digital Negatives of Wedding Day
- 2 Months online hosting for print orders
To Enter:
- Submit your Name, and the name of the couple if it isnt you
- Include at least one photograph of the couple
- Include a short story or essay why they deserve this prize.
- Enrties must be submitted by December 31st 2008
- If wedding is outside of the Contenental US, winners agree to cover airfare and travel accomidations, for Michael and one assistant.
- Winner(s) must agree to be filmed as part of Michael's new DVD, "Wedding Photography Crash Course", which will also include couple interviews. (Other conditions may apply)
Send applications to my email, I will personally review all of them and select at least one winner. (maybe two!)
I look forward to hearing from you!
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Youtube has been good to me! |
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www.jabookee.com | The Video Learning Marketplace |
Yesterday at 8pm Eastern, www.jabookee.com went live. It is hosting the online version of my Photoshop Crash Course DVD, and will allow me to make all of my training videos available to my customers, by single lessons or entire DVD sets. One benefit of this I can shoot, edit and post a lesson all in the same day, and still be able to be reimbursed for my work.
Dont worry, we have over 70 more free lessons coming to the Photography School, this has just given me an extra tool to better serve those who are interested in my training videos.
So much more to come, but I wont say anything until we are live with these new options. I think you guys will be impressed.
A huge thank you to everyone who Pre-Ordered the DVD. It IS still available, now at a higher price of $65, until the DVDs actually ship when it will go up to a final price of $79 for 7 hours of training. Its the best course I could think of and so far I have been hearing some very positive things from those who have started using it.
If you are in the mood for the online lessons only, feel free to take a look:
Jabookee |
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Pre-Order Discount for PS DVD Ends today at 8pm Eastern |
The clock is ticking....at 8pm Eastern tonight, the pre-order discount will no longer be available for the Photoshop Crash Course DVD. By pre-ordering, you will receive a coupon code to save 30% on Michael Andrew Lollipops (this works out to be about $40), which means, yes, you are essentially getting a free PS Crash Course set and the Lollipops for the cost of the Lollipops only. I will be sending the codes out by email, along with your login information for the new viewing site, which means, all those who pre-ordered can be watching the videos tonight!
After 8pm tonight, the price will go up to $65 plus shipping, and once the DVDs are in stock and being delivered (we are looking at a few more weeks) they will be $79 + s/h per set.
Also, the discount on the Lollipops will not be offered after this evening at 8pm.
Nearly all of those who have pre-ordered are already signed up on the site, which we have been testing over the weekend.
Im both excited and nervous. :) |
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X Ray of a Nikon Lens |
| This image was taken of a Nikon 70-200 in an xray machine. Very cool idea. It was posted on my forum by one of our members: |
The image was taken by his brother, who specializes in Nikons, he has many very helpful Nikon videos on YouTube:
Youtube Nikon Lil Kiwi Guy
Great Job Lil Kiwi guy!
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Dealing with Piracy... |
I have many videos available for free both on my school and Youtube, but the videos I am talking about when I discuss piracy are entire DVDs (including tons of otherwise unavailable footage). I never would have understood what a huge problem this was until I actually got burned by it. I think it is extremely messed up, and I regularly get emails from individual's trying to scam me in different ways with regards to the video. A common technique is from customers who register with the store, then dont order anything, then email me asking where their video is. Its pretty easy for me to see who actually paid for something and who didnt.
This little clip is something I am putting into the middle of all of my DVDs (as if someone was pirating or burning it, it would be a tremendous pain to edit out.) The figures are actually much worse than less than a half percent...I can only imagine what would have happened if I was paid for even half or even 20% of what is ripped off from me.
I sincerely thank everyone who has purchased my videos fair and square. You are the minority and I greatly appreciate it. All of this wouldnt be possible without you.
If you are one of those people who have ripped off a video from me, you really should just buy one in the store and compensate me for my work. Your honesty and integrity is worth so much more than $40. You wouldnt like it if your employer wanted to pay you less than 1% for what you do, and the same is true with me.
Michael's Store
Why do so many people think piracy is ok? |
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Photoshop CS3 on Ebay at Rock Bottom Prices!! |
Im sure you guys are tired of me talking about Photoshop.....we are just getting started, especially with the opening of the new site on Monday. I was skimming through Ebay today, and with the release of Photoshop CS4 last week, prices of CS3 can be purchased on ebay in the $100-200 range. I dont think stores are stocked with CS4 yet, but when they are and retailers look to unload their CS3 stocks, wow. If you have ever been interested in Photoshop (including learning it), NOW is definitely the time to buy. You can get CS3 for say $150 and my complete Photoshop Training Crash Course for another $50. Its unheard of. The new versions of CS4 cost $700. If you ever wanted to upgrade from CS3 to CS4, I think its like $199. (Yes, it would be cheaper to buy CS3 and upgrade to CS4 than to buy CS4!!).
If you decide to buy on ebay, be sure they have good feedback (over 100+), live in the US and ask them if it is new/unopened. |
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Photoshop Update | Pre-Order Price Ending Soon |
This is just a friendly update, I wanted to make sure everyone knew about this:
The Pre-Order Price of an amazingly low $45 plus $5 shipping for the Photoshop Crash Course DVD is ending on Monday at 8pm Eastern Time and going up to $65 until the DVDs are in stock, when the final price will be $79 + $5 S/h. We expect the retail value of the set as sold on other sites or stores to be in the $130-140 range. This is the most complete Crash Course I could put together for beginning and intermediate photoshoppers. I have really given it everything, and to be honest....I am kinda tired....as in exhausted. It will be good to finish this. It has taken a tremendous amount of work.
Order before Monday, and you will be included in the On-Line Viewing Site Beta Test (meaning you can start watching the video lessons online MONDAY evening!!). Additionally, the 30% discount for my Michael Andrew Lollipop Actions will not be offered after this deadline.
On Tuesday Morning, I will be posting information about my new site. It has been over one year in the works and is still being developed. In another month or two, we will be unveiling some extremely exciting features on this new site.
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Mimi's Cafe | Blue Cheese and Walnut Chicken Salad |
I was introduced to Mimi's Cafe a year ago by some good friends. I like that they bring out these homemade baked breads, the carrot cake is really incredible. Other than that, I wasnt really into it until I tried this salad they have: The Blue Cheese and Walnut Chicken Salad. I like salad's, but Ive never gotten excited over them.
This is the most AMAZING salad you will ever taste (assuming you like: Blue Cheese, Walnuts, Cranberries, BACON (yum!), and chicken). It has the most unique flavor of any chicken salad I have ever had. It is so good, I go out of my way to try get it at least once a week, and its like 8 bucks or something, completely filling.
If you are near a Mimi's Cafe and havent tried it...wow...you will not regret it. |
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