Hey Girl, Nice Shot

The Daily Savvy Steal for Frugal Photographers

Is there a spy cam in my house?  Because if there is I'm pretty sure my friend Marsha is on the other side of it!  A few months back I had the idea to start a site that had a working title "frugal photographer" with the idea that it would have a daily deal for photographers looking to save a few bucks by jumping on the group purchase or crowd savings bandwagon.  I even have pages of notes on how I could set it up and a task list including coming up with a better name but it fell below some of the other fun projects I have planned so I never got around to it! All kidding aside, I think it is a GREAT idea.

Lucky for you - you don't have to wait until I have time to do it because The Daily Savvy Steal launched today (brought to you by the same lovelies that write the Savvy Photographer).  With daily deals at big savings off retail, be sure to subscribe so you know about the deal of the day!

 

The Most Wonderful Time...And I don't mean back to school (plus, save $$)

Here in Houston it is 100 degrees daily and youth football starts today.  School starts in three week and it is hard to imagine that the Christmas portrait season is just around the corner.  This time of year has always been fun for me, an admitted template and action junkie because this is the time of year all the holiday card templates come out.  I look forward to sifting through the designs to determine which ones I need to purchase to use for my clients...and which special one I'll save just for me!

Year after year I always return to Jamie Schultz.  I think I've purchased at least one set of Christmas card templates from her for the last 4 years! I've alway liked her variety in her sets with cards that can work at flat cards, double sided flat cards, and folded cards.  And the mix of the number of photos card to card works so well whether you have a family that wants a single family picture on their card or one that wants to have an individual picture of all three of their kids.  I've always found her cards super easy to work with and great looking when printed.  Sometime the biggest challenge is to narrow  it down to a single design (sometimes I can't and I end up getting xmas cards for my son and xmas cards for my daughter to give out at school individually just so I don't have to choose).

I'm personally eyeing the Wonderland Folded Luxe Cards..what about you?  Make your choice even easier!  Jamie is offering Hey Girl Readers $10 off a purchase of $50 or more!  You can use the code heygirl10 upon checkout at www.jamieschultzdesigns.com.

ABOUT JAMIE SCHULTZ DESIGNS - Holiday Cards 2011

Designed to delight your clients with cards to suit every style, the Jamie Schultz 2011 Holiday Card Collection sparkles with a little bit of whimsy, simply classic lines, and a touch of elegance. All card designed are sized to print as press-printed cards and will work with most major photography labs (MpixPRO, Miller's, WHCC, ACI, etc...) front and back files provided for each design (several fold open options provided in each set). Editable text and colors with a simple click of the mouse. Instructions and font list with links included.

 

Featured Sponsor: Go {4} Pro

A few years ago I received an email from a fan of Hey Girl, Nice Shot letting me know she was inspired to create her own blog about the trials and tribulations of starting a photography business.  We all have different journeys, different approaches, and try different products so it seemed like a great addition to the sharing that I think is essential to building a better photography community.  That email came from Leah, and that blog turned into Go {4} Pro. 

Leah has since grown her blog beyond documenting her personal journey and into something much bigger with lots of great content, contests, and tutorials.   And she looks great doing it!

About Go {4} Pro
"We picked up our camera's to create, but have you created your business to thrive? Leah Remillet created Go{4}Pro three years ago when she decided to go for pro. Pulling from her background in marketing and sales, Leah was able to create a  profitable business with a 4 to 6 week wait list in the first year. Leah openly shares her knowledge about marketing, branding and sales freely with the photography industry through her site Go4ProPhotos.com. Go{4}Pro is a place to come for daily inspiration, business tools, marketing design and personal business coaching. " 

If you have not already been over to Go {4} Pro I definintely recommend visiting and getting your daily inspriation and advice.  Plus, she's in the know about what is new in the portrait photography world!   And if you want Leah to help you look good - check out the Go {4} Pro Shop.

Go {4} Pro is a sponsor of The Photographer's Kickstart and has included a goodie in the virtual swag bag for our new advanced training or training bundle release coming Thursday April 7th!!!

Tiny Prints & Minted: Outsourcing Holiday Photo Cards for Photographers

I've never been a big fan of making my own holiday cards for my clients.  I know the arguments: it is great marketing, you get to have your name on the back, blah.  To be honest, I feel like it is too much time for too little money.  Having to have the the templates, having clients choose and change their minds, all of it. Yeah, can you tell I'm in a funk?

Well, last year what I did is encouraged my clients to use either Tiny Prints or Minted for their cards.  If they had not purchased a package with digital files then I would upload their selected files for them, otherwise, they could do the whole process themselves.  And you know what, it was VERY freeing!

So again this year, I will be suggesting to clients that they consider using Tiny Prints or Minted for their holiday cards.  That's not to say I don't do ANY custom work - but they do pay a hefty premium for that service.

---

Tiny Prints

---

I've always been impressed with the cards I have recieved from TinyPrints in the past.  The paper is a good stock which makes a world of difference.  I think their print quality is good.  And they really have a fantastic online system for allowing customers to design their own cards, customize it, and then for clients that need the photos uploaded, I am happy to upload it (after a minimum print order has been placed, of course).  They have trifold cards, which I love, and their folded cards have lots of different layout options for the interior (great for clients that can't decide on just one or two pictures for their holiday card).

Recently when I checked back in with TinyPrints I noticed they had some new products including these AWESOME looking photo notebooks.  What a great gift item for your VIP clients, or an upsell for a package.  Better yet, add one or two of these to your highest price package as a "holiday special" to encourage clients to increase their purchases.  They are priced right around $12 but are cheaper if you purchase them in volume.

 

---

Minted

---

Minted in another company that I suggested last year to my customers.  Again, I liked the quality of their paper stock.  One of the things that is great about Minted is that if you sign up with them as a photographer you can setup your own storefront...then when your clients order cards from that co-branded storefront, the back of the card will have your studio name giving you that marketing edge that we look for in our holiday cards.  For example, my storefront is http://bubblegumtree.minted.com.  I don't have a ton of stuff on there but as we get closer to the holiday season I'll go through and see what items I like and add them in.

One of the styles I really liked from Minted are their Yearline cards.  The inside of the card is designed to hold four photos in like a timeline fashion but the text is totally customizable so you could use it to make a little newsletter, or an update on each member of your family by using names instead of dates.

Another Minted product that I love are their Mini-books.  They have grommets that hold them together, and you can choose to have either a combination of text and photos for more of a storybook, or more photos is you wanted to really make it a holiday photo book.  They are so unique!

And for when you want to include a special thank you to a customer, or suggest a photo gift item, their photo stationary cards make a great choice!

So there you have it.  I like these two services because I feel they have high quality paper and printing, a large variety of designs and styles, and they do electronic proofs so the clients can approve the cards. I don't have to make cards or deal with revisions.  And it is easy for me to upload the photos for my clients when they don't order digital files (you can even charge a service fee for this OR make it a free add-on for your larger packages).

 

 

Featured Sponsor: my four hens

[cross post with Photographer's Kick Start]

{cute: delightfully pretty or dainty}

I came across My Four Hens when I was looking at the samples from On the Spot Studio (OTSS).  OTSS created some SUPER cute social media icons for My Four Hens that I loved.

Check out her cute twitter icon!!!

And when I looked a little more I found that Sarah at My Four Hens Photography had more than just beautiful photography, she had free Photoshop actions, and Photoshop actions for sale (even some actions designed specifically for Photoshop Elements).  Lots and lots of lovely actions.

 

Here's the description from My Four Hens...

My Four Hens Photography actions are an essential photography tool designed and inspired for photographers in every angle and walk of their journey whether they are hobbyist, amateur or professional! Not only are they easy to use but they are designed to be non destructive to your image. I always have something fun and creative up my sleeve so be sure to check
my shop often for new and fresh products!

Purchase our Photographer's Kick Start: Training module when it is released April 30th and you'll get some goodies from My Four Hens Photography Actions in your virtual swag bag!  You can sign up for our email newsletter to get a reminder about our product release and to learn more about future products.  More sponsors will be announced over the next week as we count down to the release!

Totally Rad Actions: Lightroom Presets Released

I've documented many times my love affair with Totally Rad Actions.  Their first set is a main component in my editing still and I have a formula for the way I shoot and the actions I use to create my signature style.  They have earned their keep over and over and the money spent on them was well worth it!

I'm not much of a Lightroom Presets girl.  The few times I've tried to use presets in Lightroom, I feel like the images get way overdone.  I like the control of using masks in photoshop when I edit.  But, I would consider purchasing the new Lightroom Presets from the folks at Totally Rad because, well, I trust them to do an awesome job.  

 
They are only $99 which seems like a bargain for the over 100 tweakable presets.  I really really like some of the black and white conversions I saw.   And with fun names like "Smack my Pix Up" and "Xanadu" who wouldn't want to try them out?

So tell me, are Lightroom Presets all they are cracked up to be?  Should I give them another shot?  Will they save me time in the editing room? 

MCP Action Releases Finish It Actions Set

Last week I was a lucky recipient of the MCP Actions Finish It action set sneak preview.  I had a little time to use this new action set and am excited about it.

If you are not familiar with MCP Actions definitely check out their site.  Jodi Friedman has created a bunch of different action sets designed to help with both your editing and finishing of your images.

Not long ago she released the Blog It Boards which let you create compositions of photos in a web sized designs.  And while I liked them and occasionally use them - I still have a fairly narrow blog so I tend to show one image at a time.  Add in wanting to also upload the same images to my facebook fan page and I again, am stuck wanting to display individual images.

So her new action set is perfect really for me.  Here's her description...

As a photographer, your blog and website are two of your best marketing tools. So, make your images look the best they can online by using the Finish It actions. This spectacular set of actions makes it easy to prepare your photos for the web.

Included in this set is a choice of 35 finishing touches to make your images fit the style of your blog post. From thin frames to color bars to rounded edges, you can choose what is best for you and any particular image. Heck, you can even change the colors too! Within every action, your image is automatically sharpened for the web, converted to sRGB for best monitor colors, re-sized to fit a blog, and provides the option to include your logo if desired.

And finally, it also includes 8 actions that will re-size your final web image to fit most standard blog and site sizes from small to large photos. Yes, we have thought of everything you may need at your fingertips to make preparing beautiful images for the web easy and fast!

And she was not kidding.  I ran her actions on some of my photos from last week and I'm loving the results.  And they are so quick.  If you are thinking that you know how to create a color block yourself in Photoshop you might be rights...but there is a MAJOR time savings in having a bunch of them in easy and quick actions.

  

This image was processed using the Round It Oval action.

 

This one was using the Build It Color Block which allows you to choose the color of your block each time you run it.

 
And probably my favorite....the Build It Rounded Color Block!

Jodi launched these new actions today so they are now available for purchase.  And better yet...she even has them available for Photoshop Elements in addition to Photoshop CS!

The Barnwood Rug via Savvy Photographer

If you have been on the Savvy Photographer website recently, or visited their booth at Imaging USA, you may have noticed the insanely cool barnwood floor rug they are offering for sale.  

 

Barnwood rug?

Yep, that's what I thought too.  It looks like a real floor in the photos so I asked if she would take some detail shots of the edge because I was just having trouble envisioning how this could possibly have been a rug!!

And happily she posted some new picture with some of the details about the edge...

 

She described it as something more like a giant mousepad.  NOW I can see.  It looks like such a cool product and a great way to have a mobile flooring system for when you need it without the expense of actually putting in barnwood floors.  Learn more or order your barnwood floor rug: Barnwood Floor Rug (via Savvy Photographer).

Animoto Special Offer

One of my first video-in-video Animoto videos is currently being featured on the Case Studies page on the animoto website for photographers.  And to help celebrate, animoto has given me a great deal to pass on to you!!!!  A free month when you sign up for the 3 month package.  Three months is plenty of time to learn that you are going to LOVE animoto, but 4 for the price of 3 is even better.  If you've been putting off signing up for your commercial account, do it now!

To get an extra month on a 3-month package, enter the promo code:

heygirl

at:

animoto.com/photography/upgrade

The code is good until October 16th.

When I was focusing on print sales, I included the animoto video as a bonus when they purchased one of my packages.  My packages were priced to be where I wanted to be with my average sales and this was a great way to add value.  Now that I am concentrating on digital sales, I include the music video only with the full length session which encourages clients to sign up for a full length session instead of the just a lower cost mini-sessions.  How are you using these videos if you have already signed up?

Design Aglow Does it Again

I LOVE the look of this new inspire collection from Design Aglow.  Canvases are my most popular product and being able to show them in collections is a fantastic option.  I know I could spend HOURS figuring out the math on how to put the different sizes together, or just get this collection to do the hard work for me.

Visit the Design Aglow blog to see more about this great product.  They are offering $25 off the full price for this week only but this would be a great tool to have in time for those holiday orders anyway!  And I think I need the hanging guide to help myself...I feel challenged to get things all aligned just right!  :)  These would also look great with stand-outs!

I have some of the other inspire guides and they are super easy to use.  Clients really love being able to see their designs.  And now that I'm offering more digital sessions, I offer the design sessions for a fee as an up-sell for clients looking for help on putting together wall displays.  The fee for the design session is applied as a print credit if they choose to order their prints from me or I keep it as a consulting fee if they decide to order prints for themselves with their purchased digital images.

From the Design Aglow store this collection includes:

• 26 beautiful canvas groupings for all wall sizes and price points
• A 5x7 mini guide (of the contemporary set) for printing convenient "take home" copies for your client (NEW!)
• A wall sizing guide. Know which galleries will fit in your client's home and which won't (NEW!)
• A convenient hanging guide. Send a copy of this lovely tri-fold home with your client along with a tape measure to make hanging their collections super easy (NEW!)
• A customizable price list
• A customizable page to showcase photos of finished canvas galleries (NEW!)

Read more about this collection on the Design Aglow blog, and see how you can earn a $75 gift certificate from Design Aglow!