Photoshop Elements 11 Review and Comparison

Amanda at Everyday Elements is a genius at PSE. She teaches and writes great tutorials for every level. 

She gave a great review on PSE 11 where she explains some of the changes between PSE 10 and 11 including color, panel locations, feather, blur filters, liquify, ACR, actions panel, and adjustment layer icons. 

There are also some issues with customizing the workspace, and there's a video included that points out the changes and how to customize your panels.

If you're thinking of purchasing or upgrading, it would be helpful to read this first!

http://bit.ly/QbHG1r

"Great Light, Easy Light" a New Book!

"Great Light, Easy Light" by Kevin Clark has just been released and is now for sale at Craft and Vision. This is a 64 page guide with diagrams for one, two, and three-light setups. We all strive for more natural looking light, with our subjects looking less "lit". You can find the recipes and formulas for how to do it here! This e-Book is an amazing value at only $5, and is written for all levels of photographers. Check it out here! Click here to visit Craft And Vision.

7 Ways to Make Extra Money with Your Photography Business

This article by Jamie Swanson at the Modern Tog offers 7 ways to earn extra money with your photography. You might have already thought of some, or maybe not. 

It's always good to consider all your options! 

Check them out here:

http://bit.ly/SnRAe5

7 Tips on How to Become a Food Photographer

Blaire Ring is a guest writer at MCP Actions. 

She wrote this interesting article on tips for becoming a food photographer. She helped me think about what kind of photography I enjoy, and that's very liberating! 

Her tips are actually practical for promoting any type of photography. 

Check them out here: 

http://bit.ly/VNc44J

Mastering the Brush Tool in Lightroom

Pretty Presets have amazing custom brushes to use in Lightroom, but it's not safe to assume everyone can use them. Lightroom comes with a few already built in, and they are one of their best features. They add so much to your editing options that it will really save you time if you take a few moments to get the basics. 

This article explains how to erase, using the "auto mask" box, what the "pins" do, sliders, and how to keep it simple with so many overwhelming options.

Here is a step by step tutorial to show you the way!

http://bit.ly/OpzTA7

Using Curves to Make a Backlit Photo Pop

Professional editor Mandy Blake just wrote this article on using curves to make backlit photos pop. She was featured at iheartfaces for their "Before and After" tutorial. She shows how to do it in three easy steps using the curves adjustment tool in photoshop. We all have the same problem of finding perfect backlighting, but end up with our subject underexposed with muddy skin tones. Read this article to help edit that problem and make your images pop!

http://bit.ly/Q0PpO2

Free Download; Vintage Swirls for Graphic Design

Rita at the CoffeeShopBlog just posted this free offer for three vintage swirl design png files. They can be used for storyboards, headers, website design, or greeting cards. She gives everyone permission to use them personally or commercially. 

Rita has a lot of talent, and even more heart!

http://bit.ly/Sg60Bt

How to Protect Your Photos with a Watermark

Jim from Improve Photography wrote this article on how to protect your photos with a watermark both in Photoshop and in Lightroom. This is a great tutorial and he gives full step by step instructions. His blog is full of other goodies too! 

Check it out here:

http://bit.ly/UpfW9h

Digital Noise; a Tutorial

Erin at Texas Chicks Blog and Pics just wrote this article about digital noise and how to deal with it. She gives a good description of what it is, how to avoid it, and how to reduce it in Lightroom. It's something all photographers have to deal with, so it's always good to read up on it!

http://bit.ly/Qq8v3F

5 Lightroom Tips You Can't Live Without

This is a free webinar taught by Amanda Padgett and posted by Pretty Presets. She gives some amazing editing tips and shortcuts that are invaluable for decreasing your time at the desk. She covers lots of topics. This class is very informative. Check it out here:

http://bit.ly/S33H4v

Master Lightroom 4's Local Adjustments

Popphoto posted this article by Debbie Grossman about using Adobe Lightroom's selective adjustments for greater control for creating effects on different parts of your image without using layers. She gives a run- through on how to work multiple zones of an image; it's amazing and so much easier than using Photoshop!

http://bit.ly/SKLfQW

Pumping Your Website to the Top with Smart SEO

Photography Schoolhouse has a new webinar series starting next Monday, called "Pumping Your Website to the Top with Smart SEO"

This is being taught by Kyle Brady, the owner of Alert 7 Marketing. He specializes in helping small businesses use the power of the internet to reach more clientele and increase profits. 

He will be giving tricks of the trade to help you learn 

Search Engine Optimization. (SEO) 

Coming next Monday Sept. 7, 2012 at 6:00 PM Pacific time.

http://bit.ly/TQ30gM

Free Green Grass Action for Photoshop and Elements

Amanda at Everyday Elements wrote a tutorial on how to make grass greener, and now she's offering a free action to download to make the job easier. It has two layers, so you can make it as green as you'd like. With fall closing in, this little editing action will come in very handy!

http://bit.ly/QStC07

How to Use Socail Media to Expand Your Photography Business

MCP Actions just posted this article written by Doug Cohen. He gives a quick overview of  using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin and Google+ for promoting your photography business.

http://bit.ly/NZA5WL

How to Add Directional Light to Your Images

Amanda at Everyday Elements not only wrote this tutorial on adding directional light to your images but also includes a FREE downloadable action to help you do it! She gives step by step directions with screenshots. It's easy to understand and helps give you an additional tip to your "magic bag" of editing tricks!

Thanks Amanda!

http://bit.ly/S7732l

31+ Days of Photography Experiments by Peter West Carey

Peter West Carey just started a great project called 

"31+ Days of Photography Experiments."

He's an amazing photographer who travels the world and shares his experiences and work through his blog. He really is an inspiration to improving your work and seeing the world through new eyes. He started a project to help photographers learn more about their cameras and how to see light in the world around us. Today's project is learning the ISO limits of your camera. 

Follow it here:

http://bit.ly/SAjH0j

Exporting Photos in Lightroom

Erin at Texas Chicks Blogs and Pics just wrote this post about saving photos in Lightroom. She explains all of the options and how to use them. Instead of just muddling through, this article can help you know what you're doing and speed up your editing time! She explains file naming, file settings, image sizing, output sharpening, metadata, watermarking, and post-processing. I love when people like her take the time to explain things that saves the rest of us time. Because time equals money, and the freedom to go out and shoot! Thanks Erin!

http://bit.ly/RKfLaG

Photography Brand Makeover

Join this free online event:  

Photography Brand Makeover with Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck.

http://bit.ly/NZ3H0d

Creative Live is presenting this live workshop October 3-5. 

They will be offering strategies for branding, sales, marketing, graphic design and much more. 

Don't miss it!

Elizabeth Halford's "Starting Your Business" Vlog Series

Elizabeth Halford is an amazing photographer and teacher. She is an inspiration and has a wealth of knowledge that she's willing to share. This is the first of a ten part vlog series that she did that covers many aspects of starting a photography business. She covers defining what "professional" means, branding, pricing, insurance,  your website, building your portfolio, opening for business and so much more. This series also includes an interview with Zach Perez and is sponsored by Pretty Presets. 

Watch part one here:

http://bit.ly/QqW0UH

Correcting Perspective in Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom posted this video tutorial on You Tube showing how to correct perspective in Lightroom. Any time we shoot tall buildings, no matter how beautiful, they tend to come out looking a little distorted. This is a 4 minute video showing how to correct it.

This not only saves time, but helps rescue some photos that might not have been usable otherwise...

http://bit.ly/SnL3a1

Simple and Cost Effective Ways to Advertise Your Business

Anna Gay at Pretty Presets wrote this article on 6 cost effective ways to advertise your business. She also gives some good points on why they could boost your services, your skills, or your clientele.

http://bit.ly/OqxJeX

"About Me"

Since starting this blog, I've been researching and posting everyday. When I pulled back, I noticed I hadn't even written an "About Me" page! So I finally took the time to do it. I've set up a standing page for it, here: http://bit.ly/Tihdmt

but if you want to give it a quick glance, here it is!

I am a photographer. From the moment I picked up my camera, I wanted to learn more about composition, editing, marketing, SEO, equipment, lighting, creativity, and even bookkeeping. I wanted to learn more about studio photography, landscape, portrait photography, boudoir, and stock photography.

Basically, I just wanted to take more professional pictures.

I ended up with my bookmarks full, a million tabs open at once, and photoshop tutorials running all day. I also had both adobe photoshop and Lightroom open at all times. I was exasperated! It was impossible to spend that much time at my computer and still be able to shoot!

Other photographers asked me where I was getting all of my information. I started gathering up a list of the websites I follow, then I noticed it was constantly growing. It occurred to me that I could just start a blog and share with everyone from one place. I also thought it would be nice to send people to the sites of all the wonderful photographers and artists that have helped me along the way; win/win!

Some of my fellow photographers send me links to posts as they find them, so when I say "we" at Photography Resources, it includes all of of us. I check out each and every article before I post it. My goal is to search through all the information out there, and then offer it here, in one place.

I post something new at least once a day, so please bookmark me, or subscribe to this blog. It will save you lots of time! Good luck in all that you do!

Setting Custom White Balance on Your DSLR

Ed Verosky did a video tutorial on setting your custom white balance. It's so much more fun to learn by watching rather than reading a bunch of technical text. He keeps it interesting!

http://bit.ly/NRavgo

Posing Tips

No matter how experienced of a photographer we are, we all experience a "posing block" from time to time. This post from Digital Photography School has 21 samples for posing women. This article gives simple illustrations rather than just words. I found it much easier to store them to memory this way. At the bottom of the post there are links to previous articles in their guide series of more samples for posing women, men, children, couples, groups and weddings! The information here is just invaluable!

http://bit.ly/OX0p0q

Organizing Actions in Photoshop

Amanda at Everyday Elements wrote this post about how to organize your actions in Photoshop. She gives a  great tutorial and even a video to help you get it right! 

Thanks Amanda!

http://bit.ly/Q3ZE9d

Cropping in Lightroom by Pretty Presets

This article is from Pretty Presets about cropping in Lightroom. Gayle from Mom and Camera wrote this post which describes the different options and how to use them. This is a great time saver, especially if you switched from Photoshop to Lightroom and are still trying to figure it out!

http://bit.ly/TfOmiC

A Tutorial on Smoke Photography

Isabelle Lafrance just posted a tutorial on how to shoot smoke photography. She's an amazing artist and has some interesting ideas on creating beautiful art with her photography. She gives a list of items you'll need, camera settings, and a step by step description on how to edit the images in photoshop. These kind of images would be great to use as stock, art, or to do just for fun!

http://bit.ly/TiFwz5 

7 Tips for Getting Tack Sharp Photos Every Time

Jim Harmer just posted this article giving 7 tips for sharper photos.

He discusses focus, camera blur, lens design and depth of field.

He describes the problem and the fix in easy to understand language.

Thanks for sharing Jim!

http://bit.ly/QjbdXT

CoffeeShop Focal Zoom Action and Tutorial

Rita at the CoffeeShopBlog posted this amazing and easy to understand tutorial on how to create focal zoom action on your images!

She gives step by step instructions and also includes a free downloadable action for this effect. She's full of fun ideas and freebies, so please check her out!

http://bit.ly/PUUg2f

How to Choose a Print Lab

Annie over at Paint the Moon gives great advice on how to prepare images for print, and shows the results of different print labs. This article can save you lots of headaches and stress from trying to figure out how to choose a good print lab. 

http://bit.ly/RcHUT7

Free Storyboards!

Rita at the Coffee Shop Blog posted a new storyboard for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. These are great for printing or for posting on the web. These are a free download!

She's so generous!

http://bit.ly/ORpppR