Lindsay Adler by Kimberly Cook, Today's CNY Woman

Lindsay Adler is a professional portrait and fashion photographer based in New York. She regularly contributes to a variety of major photo publications internationally, including Professional Photographer, Rangefinder Magazine, and Shutterbug. Her editorials have also appeared in Bullett Magazine, Z!NK, Fault, Papercut, Fiasco and dozens more.  Online, you may have seen her as a featured guest instructor for the popular (and free!) Creative Live for one of their extensive 3-day streaming seminars.

It’s funny that I have just recently wrote an article with SLR Lounge on the Five Great Fashion Photography Blog to Follow where I featured Lindsay Adler’s blog as one of the must-follow blogs for aspiring fashion photographers. Now that I got to attend her workshop live at WPPI 2012, I can see why she is one of the young rising stars in the industry.

This WPPI workshop, Creative Portrait and Retouching Techniques, covers some of Lindsay’s favorite retouching techniques that she uses for her professional work. Here are some highlights:

Liquifying is the not-so-black-magic art of subtly shaping a model’s features like slight tummy tuck or a slight enhancement to a woman’s breasts and hips.

The trick is to make it look as if it was like that out of the camera and not making it obvious that the the person’s body has been altered. Another area that Lindsay suggests to liquify include lowering the shoulders and slimming/lengthening the neck on a female model for a more attractive and more feminine look.

As you can see in one of my photos, the main brush is the Forward Warp Tool (red circle). Use a large brush size in order to get a nicer smoother shape change. Also, make sure you’re not pulling from the same pixels every time, since when you do this, you’re stretching the same pixels and it will make it look more artificial. Control is the key.

Also be sure to use the freeze mask tool (green circle), which is the fourth brush from the bottom on the left side of the window. This will mask out certain areas from getting pulled.

Liquify on Diane by Joe Gunawan | Fotosiamo.com

I haven’t really used Portraiture myself prior to this workshop, but I have to say that the method that Lindsay uses it is pretty powerful! Since the workshop, I have switched over from Portrait Professional to Portraiture because of Lindsay’s technique and also because Portraiture creates a lot less artifacts than PP.

Diane by Joe Gunawan | Fotosiamo.com

Most people would run this plug-in and similar skin retouching plugin just once on the entire skin. Lindsay said that the problem with that is that different parts of the skin have different textures, lighting and imperfections (blotchiness, acne, shine, etc). The great thing about Portraiture is that you can export each corrected skin area as its own transparency layer. So first, you select a portion of the skin by using the eye dropper to choose the general skin tone like the forehead. Don’t worry if it selects other areas outside your intended target zone.

A couple of tips in getting a cleaner, but still realistic looking skin: Under Detail Smoothing, don’t touch the Fine slider because retouching at this level diminishes skin texture and makes the skin look plasticky. Play around with Medium and Large slider to get the best balance of smooth and realistic skin.

After you’re done,  export it as its own layer by going to the Output drop menu on the right side and choosing “New Layer” and checking the box for “Create Transparency Mask”.

Then,  erase everything but that intended skin portion. Finally you go back to the original layer and run Portraiture on another part of the skin.

Heat Miser for Papercut Magazine by Lindsay Adler

This is a style technique that makes for a fantastic fashion photo with either a Caucasian or an Asian with light skin. It is a relatively quick and simple trick involving using Photoshop’s Hue & Saturation adjustment layer. First, create the adjustment layer over your image. Then, go to the red and yellow channel and desaturate both channels. For light-skinned individuals, this is where most of the information for their skin tone lies. Now, if you do end up affecting other parts of the photo, like the red hair on Lindsay’s model above, you can mask it with the mask that is automatically created when you make the adjustment layer. You can “hide” anything in that layer by painting with a black brush and “reveal” anything in that layer by painting with a white brush.

The Selective color adjustment layer and the Hue and Saturation adjustment layers are powerful creative tools in Photoshop that allow you to be more creative in post-processing. I find that the selective layer creates a more subtle shift that doesn’t affect the highlights as much the hue and saturation layer. The latter can be used to add more saturation for a more dramatic color shift.

Although it’s usually a great idea to get all your color in camera, sometimes making it happen on the set or on location would involve too much time and/or money. Take a look at one of Lindsay’s editorials here.

Red of Dragon for Papercut Magazine by Lindsay Adler

The cost to bring that much red flowers to a location would be very high. Instead, Lindsay knew what she wanted to do in post and shot the scene against mostly yellow flowers in New York’s Central Park. Once she brings the photo into Photoshop, she creates the Selective color adjustment layer and in this case, choose the yellow channel to affect the yellow flower. She then play around with the slider until she gets the right color combination. Of course, I know some of you readers are already thinking that our skin tone also have some yellow in it. Just like the porcelain skin, all you have to do is mask out the parts of the photos that you don’t want to have a color shift.

It’s great to see someone who started fairly young and really made a name of out of herself  in the industry. What is better is  to see her give back to the photographic community by sharing her creative techniques that make her images stand out.  I always feel that as an aspiring fashion and commercial photographer myself, I’m always trying to learn from those who are succeeding in the industry.  To be able to get these techniques under my belt will only make my craft better.

Check out more of here work at Lindsay Adler Photography and her blog at Lindsay Adler Blog.

 
Stay creative!

Joe Gunawan | fotosiamo.com
Joe Gunawan is a commercial and fashion photographer based out of Los Angeles, California. Check out his work at fotosiamo fotografie

FAMILY PORTRAITS can be the MOST PROFITABLE PRODUCT LINE in your studio! This was an opening statement describing the WPPI 2012 Platform Class, The Legacy of Families.

“SERIOUSLY?!?!?”, I wondered.  Learn all about building client relationships, making great family portraits, using various techniques to boost sales and marketing yourself so that your work is about the experience and an investment by your clients … not just getting their portrait done. 

After attending this thoroughly informative seminar with internationally known photographer and lecturer Michele Celentano, I now have no doubt at all about the potential income of Family Portrait Photography. Who, after all, would know better than this highly acclaimed Canon “Explorer of Light” whose distinguished career of 21 years has evolved as naturally as her own personal transformation? From her 15 year span as a top Wedding Photographer in New York City, to the birth of a daughter which led to a highly successful career as Baby and Children Photographer … Michele’s role as a mom of a growing family has now led to a personal appreciation of the value in preserving family memories.

It was immediately obvious as to the reason Celentano has become one of the most sought after speakers on the professional photography lecture circuit. Her passion and excitement is infectious. She immediately engages her audience, and maintains full attention throughout the session with her candid approach and lively sense of humor. (Subtle Photography Lesson #1: CONNECT with your subjects .. and make it a fun experience!) As she reviewed her early days of training at the Germain School of Photography at the Center for Media Arts in New York City, a slideshow of images began. She spoke of studying renowned photographer, Don Blair. Photos suddenly appeared showing Michele’s “boyfriend at the time” seriously posed atop a stairway wearing a long white sheet wrapped as a wedding gown train. The crowd roared as she continued to demonstrate her diligent practice of Blair’s posing techniques … close ups of boyfriend model with silk floral bouquet, posed with the perfect head tilt and hand placement. Kudos to that poor guy who gave all of us such a hearty laugh! (Subtle Photography Lesson #2: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE … and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself!) Michele also studied with such industry greats as Monte Zucker, Clay Blackmore, Jack Holowitz, Joe Buissink, Denis Reggie and Hanson Fong. It was the inspiration of her mentor and longtime friend Monte Zucker, however, which helped her realize her love for teaching photography. (Subtle Photography Lesson 3 – Continue to learn, network, reinvent yourself … and SHARE your knowledge!)

KEY POINTS:

• “My target client is a mom in her 40s with children between the ages of 8 and 18. That mom wants a photographer who knows how to make her look good—how to pose her body and utilize the right camera angles to make her look young and thin,” Celentano explained. “Families with older children spend more because they’re not worried about having another child down the line, which means having to replace the family portrait as the children grow. The family typically is also better established with more income. My favorite client is the mom with a high school senior that’s heading off to college. They don’t know when they’re coming back, so they’re really ready to spend on a portrait at that point.”

• Refer to Family Portraits as investments. Offer a risk-free guarantee. Make sure, however, that it is “all or none”. Overcome objections of expense by explaining the value that will be passed on for generations. “Explain that they will never regret having a family portrait made, but they may regret NOT having one made!”

• “One of my biggest product lines are family albums, which comes from my wedding background. I photograph every combination possible – mom with the kids, dad with the kids, mom and dad separately and together etc. By the time I’m done, my families have 20 to 30 images they really can’t live without. They can’t hang 25 wall portraits, so the next step is an album.” Celentano adds that her goal for each client is to have them purchase both a wall portrait and an album. “Offer special incentives such as buy 2 albums and receive the 3rd free. These can be given as gifts to grandparents.”

• “We involve our clients in all aspects of the planning and design of their portraits. This is done in stages”, Michele explained. “The Portrait Planning Consultation is the time when we invite the clients to the studio to sit down with me and discuss their upcoming session. This meeting is essential for exchanging expectations, so I can create the most memorable images possible.”

• “After the shoot, the clients come back to view the portraits on a projection screen. We make this a special event by creating a slide show set to music. I help clients create a ‘favorites folder’ and we discuss sizes and prints that will work best in their home. I even offer to visit their houses to measure spaces for hanging wall portraits. Customer service is the key!”

SPECIAL TIPS:

• Establish a professional online presence for your Family Portrait Photography. Following are suggested page sections similar to those used by Michele at http://www.michelecelentano.com/family/welcome.html

WELCOME

MEET THE ARTIST

WHY CHOOSE AN EXPERIENCED ARTIST

THE PORTRAIT EXPERIENCE

INVESTMENT

RAVES

• Print a pamphlet with the information from the web pages listed above, and provide it to your clients at the time of your portrait planning consultation.

• Build a relationship with your clients. Make the experience fun for everyone. Happy Dads will participate in future shoots. Moms who are made to look young and thin will insist on you being their family photographer forever!

• Educate your clients about posing techniques. Provide a prepared handout with tips. Teach them about the 3 languages of posing – Body, Verbal and Hands. Demonstrate body poses, explaining importance of posture, stance, twisting body at waist etc. Familiarize them with verbal cues such as “roll your left shoulder back” or “pop an elbow”. Explain hand cues that will be used to direct movement during poses.

• Communicate with your clients. “A good personality in 90% KEY”, says Celentano, “the technical will come.” Use humor to ease tension, and give lots of positive feedback to boost confidence.

• During the photo shoot, position in groups forming triangles. Begin with 2-3, gradually add others. Place a child on Mom’s lap. This gives a natural look, and helps to make Mom look thinner. Position subjects in diagonal lines, using arms and legs to form smooth curves and lines. Have family members physically move in closely to one another.

• To minimize size of a heavyset client, shoot from high and have subject move their head out. For those sitting on the ground, have them roll onto their hip and lean on their knee. Position jaw of higher subject to meet the temple of the person below. To make deep set eyes appear brighter, have subject look at the top of your head instead of the camera lens.

• Capture in each portrait as many as possible of the Elements of Art – Line, Shape, Space, Value, Texture, and Color. “If all fails, go for expression!”, says Michele.

• Generational Family Portraits can be another profitable source of income. Carefully consider, however, all factors before agreeing to Family Portraits of Extended Families. Consider the number of individuals to be photographed and stipulate a minimum product order required prior to the shoot.

• “Never use online preview of the images. Visiting the clients’ homes provides you the opportunity to educate, inform and sell! Celentano is an avid user of her iPad. “The iPad is an amazing sales tool”, she says. “Take it to their home and hold it up with the image to demonstrate how it would look on a certain wall. You can also cut poster board to the sizes of the prints and frames so that you can help suggest groupings in certain areas of their home or office. This also provides a chance to suggest additional size prints for areas that were previously not considered.”

• Return to the home with the final framed prints and personally hang them in the appropriate areas. You’ll be amazed at how much this is appreciated. You can be assured that your work is displayed properly and that the client is completely satisfied with their purchases. It is a small gift to offer for the overwhelming reviews that it will generate in relation to your excellent customer service!

Michele was awarded her Craftsmen Degree from the Professional Photographers of America and the Accolade of Photographic Mastery from Wedding and Portrait Photographers International. Her photographs have been published in literary works such as Rangefinder, American Photographer, Shutterbug, Studio Photography as well as numerous books on the art of photography. Michele is one of an elite group of photographers to be contracted by Canon USA to represent their company as a spokesperson for the “Explorer of Light” program. Only 50 photographers nationwide hold this honor. Michele and her images have been featured in numerous advertisements for Canon and their professional line of cameras.

In addition to running her portrait business full time in Anthem, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix), Michele continues to teach and lecture on the subject of professional photography. For more information about Michele Celentano, visit www.michelecelentano.com

Article by Elaine Hollman
Elaine Hollman is a freelance writer / photographer living in southern Orange County, CA

Dane Sanders is a well-established wedding and portrait photographer based out of Newport Beach, CA. Named as one of the 30 most influential living photographers of the last decade by Photo District news, Dane also had his work featured in various publications and websites including Shutterbug and Rangefinder. Moreover, he is also a motivational speaker in the photography industry and an author of two books, Fast Track Photographer: Leverage Your Unique Strengths for a More Successful Photography Business and The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan: Build a Successful Photography Venture from the Ground Up.

Right from the beginning, I could tell that this is going to be a seminar that can really help change the trajectory of a photographer’s business. While it is easy to get caught up with the latest and greatest gears and gadgets at WPPI, the biggest impact that I got from the convention is from the workshops like this on how to better my business, especially with the advent of our digital landscape and how we deal with it.

Back in the days, photography as a profession was left to those few who were willing to put in the countless hours perfecting their technique in both the field and the darkroom. With relatively few competition, the market was pretty much wide open. Nowadays, the accessibility of high-end camera gear, better photography technology, and the internet have essentially flattened the playing field. Dane said that “anything that digital touches, it burns,” meaning that digital has not only allow more people than ever to be able take great photos, but to also share them to more people than ever. While some professionals may look at the over-accessibility and over-saturation as a hindrance, Dane said that we should view it as what author Seth Godin sees it, as “the best shot you’ve ever got” to get in and succeed.

How many of you have a frame of self-doubt when it comes to your profession? Do you find yourself procrastinating because you’re not sure how and where to begin? When we decide not to start on something because we don’t know how to do it or where to begin, it is because we fear failure due to the lack of knowledge. In a way, however, we end up failing because we pre-empt our fear of failure by failing to start. He said that “if you find yourself not moving, start moving so at least you are in the game.”

Rather than getting stuck on the “how”, you must find the “why.” That “why” comes from your purpose and vision. In order to move forward, YOU must be at stake. And once you have a strong enough “why”, then you’ll find the “how.” Then you can start to embrace reality as what it is, your starting point.

To me, photography is as a profession is different than most jobs in a way that photography is like navigating an ocean as opposed to driving on the road. A job is like a road, there are clear boundaries, lanes, and speed limits, etc. Photography is like navigating the waters. You still have to have a destination (your why), but the path is not perfectly straight and you must constantly correct your course. There are no lanes or sign posts and you must use your intuition a lot more.

“How do you market to a digital world that is giving everything away for free?”

1) Local is the new Global – We have to embrace the idea that we must provide personal service and be able to utilize the internet to do so. The website that he recommends all of us to check out is NextDoor.com. Think of it as a Yelp for only those who lives in your neighborhood. Not only would you be able to help connect your neighbors with each other, you can establish yourself as the “go-to photographer” in your community.

2) Build your personal narrative – You have to be able to come across as more than just a photographer. What is your personal story that allows you to connect with your clients? The best photographers are the one that doesn’t let the camera separate him or herself from the client.

3) Build trust with your clients – In order to build trust, you must also be able share your vision with your client, to get them engaged in how and why you are shooting the way you are, as well as connect your personal narrative with your clients.

1) Be – Know who you are and be you at any cost. With the overabundance of photographers around us, who you are as a person and as a brand is more important than ever.
2) See – Make resolve to develop and clear your vision, and make a path. A clear vision helps to define your brand, and together, they help you see what path you want to engange in.
3) Do – Take action. Train as if your life depends on it, and keep moving forward. Break down your vision to what you want to do in your business this year, this month, this week, today. Take action.

So to summarize, the internet brought sweeping revolutionary changes to our profession. The “hows” may have changed, but your “whys” should remain steadfast and strong. What I got out of Dane Sanders’ seminar is this: Passion drives our profession. Have the right frame, trust and be yourself, and develop your vision!

Stay creative!

Joe Gunawan | fotosiamo.com
Joe Gunawan is a commercial and fashion photographer based out of Los Angeles, California. Check out his work at fotosiamo fotografie

WPPI starts today!  Well actually, for some it started a few days ago.  But this is the REAL start!  For those of you who don’t know, or maybe aren’t even into wedding / portrait photography at all, WPPI is the annual convention in Las Vegas for wedding and portrait photographers.

It starts off with a trade show, (tomorrow thru Wednesday, Feb 20-22) and Platform / MasterClass lecture classes.

• SUNDAY: (today!) Platform speakers & Masterclass speakers
Tonight at 7-11 PM is “Photographes Ignite”, a fast-paced presentation where various photographers give quick 5-minute talks about all the latest cool tricks, inspiration, etc.  If you’ve never been before, don’t miss it!

• MONDAY: Trade Show, Platform speakers, & Masterclass speakers
Monday night is an event hosted by Sony, called the Sony Shootout.  Details are a little vague, but it sounds pretty exciting.

• TUESDAY: Trade Show, Platform speakers, & Masterclass speakers
Tuesday night is a Canon-hosted reception / party.  Great for networking, meeting friends, or just having a good time!

• WEDNESDAY: Trade Show, Platform speakers, & Masterclass speakers
Wednesday night is the Nikon-hosted awards ceremony.  If you’ve never been to an awards ceremony before, you should go at least once!

THURSDAY: Platform classes

• PLATFORM SPEAKERS:
There are TONS of platform speakers you can see at WPPI, and just in case you still can’t decide, here’s a short list of a few speakers that could be very interesting to see…

• Doug Gordon
• Becker (A good friend, BRILLIANT at running a successful long-term photo biz)
• Jerry Ghionis
• Roberto Valenzuela (Great at helping people improve their photography)
• Jasmine Star
• Tamara Lackey
• Scott Robert Lim (My personal mentor, and one of the greatest teachers of our time)
• Mike Colon
• Jeremy Cowart
• Rodney Lough Jr (Yes that’s right, one of the greatest landscape photographers of our time is at WPPI!)
• Justin & Mary Mrantz
• Joe Photo (Another good friend, great at connecting with high-end planners and venues)

…Of course if you’re attending WPPI and you have your own favorite speakers that you’re checking out, please mention them!  Also, if you aren’t going to WPPI, don’t worry!  SLR Lounge will have a full write-up on all of the major platform lectures, to come throughout the next few weeks.  So check back often for that!

Here’s where you can get the full WPPI 2012 schedule:
http://www.wppionline.com/wppi-show.shtml

If you decide at the last minute to hit up the trade show tomorrow thru Wednesday, you might still be able to use the  promo code “WPPIEXF” whe you register at www.wppionline.com

Take care, and have fun!
=Matt=

Dates: February 16-23, 2012
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV
Value: $399 (free for SLR Lounge Writers)

(Jim Garner, WPPI 2011 presentation)

Here is what would be expected in a written article:
• Attend eight or more lectures, and write articles for at least six of  those lectures.  (There are master classes, platform classes, and trade show classes.)
• Instead of 8 Lectures, you may also interview 8 tradeshow booths with the same word and image requirements as below.
• A minimum of 500 words for each lecture, with two photos of the classroom / platform.
• Written  within 2 weeks of WPPI.

You can see some previous WPPI lecture notes here:  http://www.slrlounge.com/?s=wppi+notes

If you were already planning on attending a bunch of classes, and if you’re a dedicated, hard-working person who can follow through with article writing, then please get in touch with me!  matt (at) slrlounge is my email, of course.  We only need 3-5 writers this year, and WPPI needs to know who we will be giving the press passes to ASAP, so please get in touch if you’re interested!

Take care,
=Matt=

(Jasmine Star, WPPI 2010)