Top Favorite Wordpress Plugins for Photographers

Colorvale Actions made this list of their favorite Wordpress plugins for photographers. If you're trying to set up a website using Wordpress, you probably already know that plugins are helpful. There are so many out there that it can be totally overwhelming. If you're looking for a place to start, check these out: http://bit.ly/13N58wT

Free Lightroom Webinar for Beginners

Hurry on over to Lightroom Pretty Presets and check out this FREE webinar tonight at 
7:30 pm EST!

Even if you don't own Lightroom yet, you  can download a free trial copy and enjoy the class. It's a perfect class for beginners or if you're just interested in trying to work more efficiently and save time while editing. 

Check it out here

http://bit.ly/13J00K3

Free Model Release Form for Photographers from MCP Actions

MCP Actions and Photo Business Tools are offering a free model release form for photographers. Download this form which grants you permission to use your client's images on your website, blog or promotional materials.

http://bit.ly/12nC3l4

All they ask in return is that you share with others!

A Guide on Where to Crop on Your Portrait Subject by jmeyer at Digital Camera World

Digital Camera World posted this super easy cheat sheet for cropping your human subjects. Good cropping areas are green and bad areas are red. They even made it "drag and droppable" so you can save it to your computer!

http://bit.ly/15s5OoV

REVIEW; Testing Tamron 90 mm by Astaroth

Astaroth's Photography Blog just posted this review of the Tamron 90 mm macro lens. This post is of "Pictures in Nature" and they are beautiful! This kind of work is very inspiring, and also helpful when trying to sort through all of the lens choices on the market today.

http://bit.ly/170dkqg

Free Lightroom Print Templates; Diptychs by Nicole S. Young

Nicole is an awesome photographer and author. She just posted an offer for a new free download for a set of three print templates for use in Lightroom. She even includes very clear instructions on how to install and use them. Hurry on over and check them out:

http://bit.ly/1aTfi0A

"Take Control of Your Light; Why Diffuse It" by MCP Actions

This is a wonderful article by Tushna Lehman for MCP Actions explaining how and why to diffuse your light. Written without being overly technical or overly simple, this is in plain English and tells how to control your light by: distance, angle, and size of light. Examples are included!

http://bit.ly/1a5XAUG

FREE Action for Portraits; Basic Edit

Rita at the CoffeeShop Blog has written another amazing tutorial for a basic edit on portraits. She gives step by step instructions, then includes a free action to download.  She calls this one "Portrait ToolBox 1.0" and it works for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements! Some basic knowledge of using layers and layer masks are required but you will get amazing results with these instructions. Her tools include a curves adjustment, skin smoothing, levels adjustment for added contrast, how to make eyes pop, vivid color, sharpening, warm up/cool down, add a vignette, fixing blown out parts of your image, making your portrait pop, and even a bonus black and white conversion!

All of her tutorials, instructions, and freebies are awesome so check this one out here:

http://bit.ly/18QU2Zl

4 Easy Steps for Creating a Watermark in Lightroom by Gayle Vehar at Pretty Presets

I just found this excellent tutorial by Gayle Vehar at Pretty Presets for Lightroom.

She shows how to create your own watermark in Lightroom complete with a

 great video. It is super easy!

http://bit.ly/11RSzIr

3 Lightroom Settings to Change Right Now

Gayle Vehar at Pretty Presets just wrote this post on how to change certain settings that will save you valuable time in Lightroom. 

http://bit.ly/10l5jva

How to Use the Local Adjustment Brush in Lightroom 4

MCP Actions just posted this article on how to use the local adjustment brush.

The adjustment brush gives the ability to add an effect to a small area of your image. Although Lightroom 2 and 3 had it, it's much more powerful in Lightroom 4. 

There is a step by step tutorial on how to use it here:

http://bit.ly/15HiSZs

FREE Vignettes and Edge Darkening Presets for Lightroom 4

Matt Kloskowski just posted these free Lightroom 4 presets. These are great for edge darkening in light, medium and strong. He also includes a link on how to install and organize your presets in Lightroom. What a guy!

Download them here:

http://bit.ly/UMUyfR

How to Achieve a Clean, Bright Edit

iheartfaces posted this tutorial on how to edit for a clean, bright photo. Sisters Stephanie and Tammy are the photographers behind Luminosity Photography and Design who wrote this great article. They give the settings used on their sample image then describe step by step how they edited it in both Lightroom and Photoshop. They crop, adjust the White Balance, set exposure, contrast and vibrance. then they use the luminance tab to even out the skin tones in Lightroom. Then bring the image into Photoshop for cloning or patching out blemishes. they show how to bring out the eyes, then make the image pop using a curves adjustment layer. 

As a bonus, they also give steps used to create a beautiful black and white edit. 

This tutorial is amazing! 

check it out:

http://bit.ly/Nnpgax

How to Apply Makeup to a Model Using Photoshop

This article was written by Rachael Towne and posted in Lightstalking. She gives a step by step tutorial on how to apply makeup using Adobe Photoshop. She includes an image that you can download and follow along with her adding skin smoothing, contouring, glow, lipstick, eye makeup, eye brightener, eye shadow and darken lashes. Each of these techniques are handy to have and she makes it easy to learn!

http://bit.ly/W104fu

How to Create A Christmas Lights Bokeh Backdrop

I heart faces just posted this great tutorial on how to create a beautiful bokeh backdrop of Christmas lights, written by Amy Boyd of Amy Elizabeth Photography. She describes step by step how to set up and shoot including settings and sample images. This is a great article and just in the nick of time for the holidays!

http://bit.ly/TzV5Ay

How to Photograph the Moon

Lightstalking posted this article by Mike Panic on how to photograph the moon with 10 great examples.He shares his recommendations for using a tripod, long zoom lens, shutter release cable, best type of camera, ISO, aperture settings, and shutter speeds. The ten example images he shares are beautiful and inspiring!

http://bit.ly/TrgrzL

How to Create Animated GIF's for Your Blog

I heart faces featured this tutorial by Nicole Hansen on how to create animated GIF's. Also called cinemagraphs, they are a great way to bring more interest to your blog. 

By using 10-20 continuous photos, and Photoshop, this will give an animated feel to your site. She gives a step by step description of how to add this cool feature to your blog!

http://bit.ly/UsZ0lZ

Restore Heirloom Photographs

Photographer Christine Drescher wrote this article posted at shootsmarter.com on how to restore old family photographs. She demonstrates in a video how to fix backgrounds and brush out flaws in old photos. 

Check it out here:

http://bit.ly/V0nrDQ

Long Exposure Photography Interview

Looking for something a bit different to try? This interview with photographer Vassilis Tangoulis discusses long exposure photography. It's written by Andrew S. Gibson who is a writer and fine art photographer.

It's part of a series of interviews discussing long exposure photography. He gives some beautiful examples and answers some interesting questions. This article was inspiring and helpful in getting those creative ideas flowing!

http://bit.ly/TeEqor

Tips for Better Indoor Photos Using Available Light

Popphoto posted this article written by Peter Kolonia describing how Dutch molecular biologist Erik van Hannen shoots indoors using only available light. He gives some great ideas for techniques that help accentuate a room's character and color. http://bit.ly/PPK0h2