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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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New Ironman Trailer.... |
| It just looks better and better.....wow! |
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Dave Cross's Blog |
Yesterday I had noticed these enormous spikes in my traffic for both my photography school and my blog. Normally my little photography school gets about 20-25 hits a day. Yesterday and the day before it had about 350. I checked into it a little and it turns out I was lucky enough to somehow land on Dave Cross's blog. I was way surprised and excited!
For those of you who dont know who Dave Cross is, he is probably one of the most recognized names for Photoshop instructors. Ive been using his books and tutorials for as long as I can remember using Photoshop. Im not sure how I landed on his blog, but I am glad I did. I have a huge amount of respect for the guy. If you are ever looking for in depth photoshop information, he is your guy. He has written several books, including "Killer Tips" and hosted many Adobe training DVDs.
Here is the link: |
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Capture Motion Entry |
| Here is Alexandra's entry in the Capture Motion contest. Looks like you have it figured out Alexandra! Good job! Now you know when to shoot on Tv mode. :) |
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Betty Crocker Complete Meals |
| Has anyone else tried these? There is a competing brand as well, but DANG! These are good! (And they run about $3 each). Look, I hate cooking. Anything beyond cereal or sandwiches is just too much for me to want to make. These complete meals are really easy to make and include the meat- granted it was canned prob not the best in terms of freshness, but still I thought they were really good. If you havent tried them, give them a swing and let me know what you think. |
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Youtube Fans |
Seems like my videos on you tube are quite popular....a number of photographers and their forums are posting them on their own websites. I never really expected anyone to do that, but I guess its a good thing, and it seems that they help people. Every once in a while I will hear from a student or get an email from someone who says they enjoy them, and really that makes it all worth it.
I wish I had more photographer friends here in Alabama, or heck anywhere for that matter. Heather Odom is really the only one who has contacted me from around this area. I know other photographers check the blog, so if you are from Alabama please dont be shy and drop me an email. Id like to have more photographer friends. :)
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Video Editing Software Recommendations |
Lets face it, just about everyone has a video camera somewhere. Ive been into video editing for about 5 years now and when I started I had not a single clue about video editing, how it worked or where to start. The good news is, most cameras will allow you to upload your footage to your computer and allow you to manipulate it in ways you probably never knew possible. In fact, chances are, your computer already has a video editing program installed.
If you use an Apple:
Your free installed program is called iMovie. Its actually probably one of the best free video editors out there.
If you are looking for something in between iMovie and the serious software, you want Final Cut Express. It will cost about $99 and is a good intermediate user level interface.
If you are ready to get SERIOUS with video editing on Macs, you are going to want Final Cut Pro 5, with all the Studio 2 software. This is the best desktop editing software you can get for Macs.
If you are using a PC:
The name of the program installed on you computer is called Windows Movie Maker
The intermediate program you might want is called Adobe Premiere Elements.
If you want something close to Final Cut Pro, I would recommend Adobe Premiere Pro CS3.
The one thing I like about the Adobe Software is that it is all integrated to work with other programs like Photoshop or After Effects. It took a good year to really learn Premiere Pro, but wow...I use it all the time.
Now, Adobe Premiere IS available for Macs, however, Ive learned the hard way, it doesnt run as smooth as it does on PC's, so if you have a Mac, stick with the Apple Software if you can.
Let me throw this out there:
Would anyone, photographers included, be interested in a Video Editing Crash Course training DVD?
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Secrets of Power Negotiating |
We are all salesmen. I cringe at the idea of trying to sell anything to anyone, however the fact has been and will always be, if you are alive, you have to know to sell things, more than anything, these things are ideas, promises or yourself. Something I was not aware of was that there are very specific negotiating skills that can make or break any deal.
"The Secrets of Power Negotiating" by Robert Dawson is an absolute classic. It was given to me by a friend a few years ago and was the turning point in my business. It's a 6 CD audio book, the first four cover most of what Dawson calls "Gambits", or negotiating moves. It is rated very high on Amazon. Since I have looked at several negotiating books, this remains my favorite. It runs about $20.
It has helped me most by:
1. Teaching me to listen to my clients and what they want, instead of what I want. By focusing on the client, identifying their key points and addressing them, you know exactly how to make an offer they will want. These skill sets, when used properly aim for a win-win and makes selling so much easier.
2. It has taught me how to walk-away from potential clients by identifying a few warning signs. I am still a little uncomfortable turning clients down, but a very important part of the wedding photography business is to not book everyone who calls. I estimate I turn down about half of those who inquire.
If you are in any business which requires you to negotiate and haven't listened to this audio book, you will thank yourself later. I cannot recommend it higher.
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The Digital Greenhouse |
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Vantage Point |
| I loved this movie. It starts out a little weird, but it gets sooooo much better towards the end. Not much character development, but plenty of suspense and action. |
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If you record to DVD media, read this post very carefully! |
If you are recording to DVD media to back up your photographs or to make videos you need to be aware that some brands may record the data ok, however you may not be able to play it back properly or obtain the data off the disks once they are on.
If you have ever burnt a DVD and had glitchy issues with playback...this will explain it:
DVDs have different "grade" qualities, but they are not mentioned on their boxes, and are sold as equals. Thats right, even many brand names you buy in the stores are considered by experts to be low quality. While you may or may not be able to get this data off with the same burner you used to make the copy, you may not be able to with different burners, or equally scary the disk may go "bad" faster than the higher quality disks. YIKES!! This is freaking me out the more I think about it.....
The easiest thing to do here is to list the most reliable:
The Top Tier Disks (95%-100% reliability) are:
Pioneer
Verbatim
Sony
TDK
Maxell
Taiyo Yuden
Everything else has a lower reliability. Memorex disks, especially their Dual Layered models are worthless. Those stinkin NexxTech disks I posted about 2 days ago were made by the second to absolute WORST manufacturers for DVDs. I am including this incredibly useful link for your reference, please check this list. There is also a link there that will allow you to download a diagnostic program for you to determine who the manufacturer is.
Many brands are considered "For Landfill Purposes only" with a reliability of 0-50%. I am in absolute awe there is no quality regulation standards for DVDs.
Scary stuff.....what this all means is, there is a possibility that you are burning disks to archive your files, and you may or may not be able to retrieve them.
DVD Reference Guide
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