Running Your Business in Today's Economy

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. If you are concerned about how to best run your business in today's financial environment, take a look at this video and then visit these sites:

Gary Fong

Dane Sanders

The [b] school

Also, check the archive on this blog - about April or May of 2007, for some ideas on how to get your photography business on line.

Retouching Portraits

No matter how well lit and composed a prortrait is -- and no matter how well the make up is applied -- most portraits can benefit from a little retouching. Depending on your intended use of the image (an 8x10 on the mantel, editorial content in a magazine, inclusion in a wedding album, or even a magazine cover), you will retouch your images to a greater or less extent.

For most uses, you want to 'improve' the image, but not make it 'perfect'. The subject should remain recognizable and natural.

Last week, I took some shots of a pretty girl with lots of freckels - lots of them. I asked a friend of mine, Chris James, to apply his magic touch to the image. Chris is an accomplished digital photographer and retoucher (Photoshop wiz), on the East Coast (USA). If you are a professional photographer, and you need some images retouched, Chris is an excellent resource. Even if you are just shooting for the family album, you might have Chris work on a few of your most 'special' shots.

Above, is the original image, and a link to what Chris did to it. Take a look. It was published on August 26, 2007.

Contact Chris James

One of My Favorites - Nikon Coopix P5000

From time to time, I will post information about a piece of equipment that I think is worth noting. This is the new Nikon P5000. It is an amazing little camera. Not to bore you with technical details, but it is a 10 mega pixel digital camera with both program modes and full manual capability.

It is a really great camera for learning about aperture and shutter speeds, without spending thousands of dollars on a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) and lenses. Nikon developed VR Image Stabilization - vibration reduction - for its pro lenses, to minimize camera shake. It now carries the technology to its newest point-and-shoot digital camera. Combined with a sensitivity of up to ISO 3200, and you will be able to shoot long after the other compact cameras have been put away.

Speaking of compact, this is the perfect camera for a pro shooter to carry all the time. How many great shots have you missed because your regular DSLR is just too big to carry when you go out to run errands, take a walk on a Sunday afternoon, or just plain don't want to carry a lot of stuff? It has a 3.5x optical zoom.

To be fair, this is a link to my Amazon affiliate page. I do get a small portion of the sales -- and it helps keep this site available to you. That being said, I will only recommend those products that I believe in. Now, for you Canon shooters, please don't let the fact that I mostly recommend Nikon stuff make you think that I don't like Canon -- I do like Canon -- but I use Nikon. Just a personal choice.

The Purpose of This Blog

The purpose of the Photography-Solutions Blog is to offer -- hmm....... let's see -- how 'bout photography solutions for a range of digital photography topics. Whether you are a long-time professional photographer or an advanced amateur photographer considering how to make the jump to pro, we hope to provide solutions to many of your photography questions. Even if you are just interested in digital photography as a hobby, there is something here for you.