Old Dog, New Trick

I just finished attending a webinar from Photographer’s Edit.  The goal of the webinar was to increase productivity and lower processing times for photographers using Lightroom 2.  While nothing earth-shattering was learned, I did pick up a few tips that will lighten my workload and make more efficient use of my time at the editing desk.  Considering this was a free webinar, I’m extremely pleased at the content and the value of the subject matter.  There are a few more planned in the near future that I’m planning to attend.  Hopefully, I’ll pick up a few more tips to make my edits even faster.

An interesting question was raised at the end of the webinar:  Do you edit for yourself or the client?  Very good question that doesn’t have an easy (or correct) answer.  It’s actually pretty subjective from an artistic standpoint, but when looked at from a business perspective, the answer seems pretty clear to me (especially given the viewpoint of the host from the webinar, Nathan Horlitz).  He basically said that you edit for the client.  Playing around with different presets and giving a particular “look” to a photo is fun and all, but will the client really notice if a certain effect is not applied to a photo?  Does the client even know that the effect exists?  Or, do they just want  to have a well developed image that they can have framed and hung on their wall to admire? From a business and productivity standpoint, I agree.  Ultimately, the client will be satisfied, but will they be thrilled?  Will they feel like they got their money’s worth?  Perhaps.

On the other hand (the artistic hand, that is), I believe in having an artistic style or “look” to my images.  Consider it a signature or defining look that distinguishes my images as MINE.  Something that sets my images apart from everyone else. I think it actually starts with the photo shoot and the experience I create for the client.  They are not just buying a photo, they’re buying ME – my shooting style, composition, the experience I create and yes, the final artistic piece that is the photograph. The end product is the culmination of hours of technical work involved with shooting and editing the photos and pouring my passion for the art into each composition.  If I’m just editing for the client, then I’m being robotic and methodical in my edits.  I’m not applying any passion, emotion or thought into the final photo.  It may take me a little longer to do edits, but my clients can be assured that they will get one-of-a-kind photos that provide value for what they paid.

Oh well, definitely a food for thought kind of a question…What do you think?  Post your thoughts on this one!

Another Lightroom Preset

I looked out the window at work today and watched the snow whip by the pane of glass.  I found myself wishing it was summer again at the cottage.  I could feel the warmth of the sun;  hear the lapping of the waves against the breakwall,; smell the slightly-fishy smell of the water;  witness the eye-popping beauty of relatively unspoiled nature and taste the bitter, tangy wetness of an ice cold beer as I kick back in a comfortable chair to watch the waves of Lake Erie roll in.  But, alas, I live in Buffalo, so those long days of summer are still a ways off for me.

I thought I’d revisit a couple of photos I took last summer.  There were some pretty cloudy days and a couple of really big thunder storms in August last year when these were taken. I thought I’d exaggerate the effect a bit and create a preset in lightroom that really makes the sky pop with a foreboding that a coming storm would bring.  Use it as you wish.

As I’ve said before, since WordPress won’t allow for .rar files to be uploaded, I put the preset in this Word document. Click on the link and then double click on the .rar file to unpack the contents.  Remember, to install the preset in Lightroom, you need to be in the Develop module.  Right click on user presets and choose import. Point to the preset you just unpacked and click import.

Here’s an example of the preset in action:

SOOC

Foreboding Sky Preset

Some Home-made Presets

For those of you who might be using Lightroom, I’ve created a couple of presets and thought I’d share them here.  Inspired by the city, the first preset is called (appropriately enough), Gritty City.  A decent desaturated preset with lots of contrast and blown out highlights.  The second was inspired by a component of architectural drawings – the blueprint.  Blueprint casts a sharp blue tone, lots of contrast and blown out highlights.  Here’s an example of the presets in action…Enjoy!

** Since WordPress won’t allow .rar or .zip file uploads, I put it in this document.  Double click on the .rar file to unpack the contents.

PAUL’S PRESETS

Original

gritty city

blueprint

The Buffalo Experience

This past summer I travelled from Grand Island to Buffalo via boat, courtesy of my wife’s uncle Rich. It was a fun trip, taking in the sights of the shoreline from the water and throwing back a few beers with family as we slowly trolled to the city.  I got to enjoy the sights from a different perspective and got to see the city in a new light.  I just wanted to post some photos from this trip that I’ve been re-visiting… I can’t wait to do it again next summer!

Marketing

I’ve been working on some new marketing materials.  Designing business cards is not for the faint of heart (or, in my case, the anal retentive). I thought it would be easy, but I’m so picky about everything that it’s taking forever.  Planning to design some fliers for friends and family to hand out at work to drum up some business.

On a personal note, looking forward to relaxing and watching some football.  Hoping that my fantasy team scores well so I make it to the playoffs. Also planning to look through about 10 gigs worth of pictures on my hard drive for a little project I’m working on.  Good times….

Killer

I just wanted to take a minute and link to a great site called  lightroomkillertips.com – done by Matt Kloskowski.  I’ve found Matt and his work to be a great inspiration to me.  No, I don’t know him, but his training videos on lightroom are invaluable and he updates his blog regularly with great info and tips for us lightroom users.  If my little corner of the world has any influence (and I doubt that it does), I’d like to use it to give some props to someone who gives back to the photography community like Matt does.  Check out the site here:  http://www.lightroomkillertips.com/

Smell My Blog

Good day!  This is my very first entry into my brand new blog, Paul Nesi Photography.  I plan to use this space as a tool to help market my small business, networking and for expressing the random thoughts that jump into my head from time to time.  Expect lots of photographs and examples of the work I do.  If you’d like to see more, I have a web site at www.paulnesiphotography.com.  I am also on Facebook where you can “Fan” me:  Paul Nesi Photography on Facebook.  I’m working on more web presence at the moment, so keep checking back for links to new content.

Since I’ve never blogged before, I’ll keep this short and sweet.  I’ve got to go to work anyway… I’ll just post a quick picture of some of my latest work to add some visual interest.