Digital photography tips and inspiration

Check out http://www.digitalphotobuzz.com for the latest with digital photography and photo tips and inspiration A couple new posts from Digital Photo Buzz. Today I wanted to share a video I came across about how to create a creative digital composite in Photoshop CS5. I think digital composites can be so interesting and Photoshop really is such a powerful tool in the creative process. With the ability to layer images over images and blend items together Photoshop really gives us as artists endless possibilities. There is so much detail you can weave into a digital composite and as an art form you can let your imagination run wild. Read more here:Creating a creative digital composite shoeboxed.com receipt scanning review Awhile back I reviewed a scanner that I have used for awhile in the office here for scanning receipts. Scanning all of our receipts has really save a lot of time come the end of the year tax time and also is very helpful when you need to find a old receipt for a warranty or other purposes. Every week we scan all of our business receipts into a program and categorize them. It gives a running total of amount spent in each category so I can always see how much we are spending on a certain category at a glance without having to open up quickbooks. This has been very useful to keep organized and helpful in situations where I need to find an old receipt. Awhile back I had to find a receipt for something I bought a few years ago for a warranty and by doing a quick search I was able to pull up the receipt scan and find all the information I needed. The only bummer about this system is it does take time to scan each receipt. If you keep up on it every week, I try but honestly sometimes a week turns into months and I have a stack of hundreds of receipts, it isn’t too bad but still take time. For most of you who are running a small photography business you probably only have 1 employee (you) so time is really your most important asset. In order to truly grow your photography business you have to be able to leverage your time and focus on what you do best… create art, while leaving some of the other tasks to other people. If you are going to pay a part time office person to just sit at a desk and scan receipts it can become pretty expensive. 10 inspiring photos of New York I thought it would be nice to showcase 10 inspiring images of New York, which is still one of the leading cities in the world. Enjoy a few amazing images of the city that never sleeps. Do you have some great photos of New York? Share a link in the comments below. Remember to check http://www.digitalphotobuzz.com daily for photo inspiration!

baby photography 101

I am so stoked to have my 3rd iPad app finished and waiting for apple to approve! I started writing a few mini books awhile back to help educate photographers wanting to start shooting weddings or portraits. There are so many questions I get from people that normally are the same questions people have when getting into photography. I also see so many people starting out that lack a certain creative element in their photography. Normally some of the more advanced things like Lighting are missed by most people starting out. So over the past year I have been working on putting down on paper some of the many things in my head that I can share from my 11 years of shooting professionally and years of Art school before that. I wanted to create some guides that were really easy to learn, easy to understand and covered the technical parts of photography but in a not so technical way. As a photographer I am visual, after college I would still keep up with my photo education and read books, attended seminars and workshops and usually was pretty uninspired by the way the information was presented. Normally it was so technical that it lost my attention after a few minutes and I put the book on the shelf never to be picked up again. So I set out to create some tools for people to learn and be inspired and also wanted to create them at a very good price, really a no brainer. When the iPad was released I was excited, it really is a perfect medium to learn on . You have a nice large screen as well as something that feels great in your hand like a book but can be so interactive. So far I have created a Portrait 101 and a Wedding Photography 101 guide that right now are only $1.99! I wanted to create some very useful guides to help people get more creative with their photography and also have them be so inexpensive anyone can buy them. These also are available as iPhone (or iPod touch) version and for those of you who don't have an iPhone or iPad going to be available as eBooks coming out in the next few months. Here is a excerpt from the Baby Photography 101 app coming this week. Watch Twitter for an announcement when it's live @digitalphotobuz Tips on keeping them sleeping Nothing is more beautiful than a peaceful sleeping baby. But sometimes no matter how tired they are when you are ready to shoot them sleeping they just don't want to stay asleep. I don't know how many times a mom has fed, burped and changed a baby then rocked them to sleep and once I start clicking the shutter they start to wake right up. There are a few tips that I have found very useful to keep a baby sleeping. 1- Swaddle them up nice and tight. Especially for newborns up to 2 months old the swaddle can be your best friend. 2 - Pacifier. Although it might not look perfect in the image a pacifier can really help settle a baby down and get them to fall asleep. And I do think it's cute to have a few images of them with the pacifier in their mouth. Normally after a few minutes they will let go of it anyway and it will fall out of their mouth or you can try to gently pop it out. 3- Make sure the room is warm. Babies are used to being in the womb where its nice and soft and warm. Make sure the room is very warm, especially if you want a shot of the baby sleeping without clothes. Keep them surrounded by lots of soft warm blankets and snuggled up. 4- Have some background noise playing. You can bring a small CD player or use your iPhone and play a CD of soothing sounds. There are tons of soothing type CD's out there for babies and they can really help put the baby at ease. This post is sponsored by Collages.net

Wedding Photography 101 iPad App

Wedding Photography 101: A Guide to Taking Better Wedding Photos Our 2nd iPad app is now live in the app store! It’s another great photography guide to help you take more artistic wedding photos. And for the next 2 days it's only $.99! Wedding Photography 101 will show you how to get creative wedding photos along with real world examples and stories. This really is an amazing price and is the best value you will see out there! Learn from a real professional with over 10 years of experience photographing hundreds of weddings. With Wedding Photography 101 for the iPad you will learn from fine art wedding photographer Mark Stagi how to get more creative with your wedding photos. Wedding Photography 101: A Guide to Taking Better Wedding Photos walks you through some key lessons to improve your wedding photos. Everything is explained in real life terms with beautiful large sample images. No drawn out techie terms just straight forward answers from award winning wedding and portrait photographer Mark Stagi. If you are thinking about getting into the wedding photography industry or looking for some creative photo ideas this is the perfect app for you. Read through some real life scenarios along with high resolution images to learn how to take your wedding photos to the next level. Camera settings and stories about each shoot are included. Get it in the iTunes store now: Wedding Photography 101 Portraits 101: Creating Better Portraits - On Sale! To celebrate our latest app release our popular Portrait Photography 101 app for the iPhone is going on sale for only $.99! Portrait Photography 101: A Guide to Taking Better Portraits walks you through some key concepts to improve your photos. Everything is explained in real life terms with beautiful large sample images. No drawn out techie terms just straight forward answers from award winning wedding and portrait photographer Mark Stagi. If you love taking photos of your kids, are a amateur photographer or a professional looking for some portrait ideas this is the perfect app for you. For more information about Portrait Photography 101 visit the iTunes store here Portrait Photography 101 iPad app We thank you for your continued support! Remember to leave any great reviews you have for our apps in the app store! Follow us on twitter to keep up to date with our latest app releases! http://www.twitter.com/appezzy Portrait Photography 101 and Wedding Photography 101 were created by AppEzzy. To view more of our iPhone and iPad apps visit our website at www.appezzy.com ©2010 AppEzzy | San Jose, Ca

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