Intuos 4 Wacom

I’ve been using Wacom products for a number of years now and have been amazed at the growth of them through the years as technology evolves. I’m fortunate to be on a team for Wacom with their penscrappers.com website for digital scrapbooking. Sharing how you can utilize a tablet is fun for me. When I got my first Wacom, I had to throw my computer mouse into a drawer, far away from my desk. And, now, I spaz when I use a mouse. You just get used to it, for the better!

An all new professional tablet, Intuos4 takes into consideration the many aspects of a professional’s workflow, software integration points, and equal demand for both performance and comfort. Innovation in every detail. That’s Intuos4. Whether it’s the new Wacom Tip Sensor that lets you capture every nuance of a stroke, the new precision mode, or the added levels of pressure sensitivity to dynamically adjust exposure, brush size, line weight, and opacity, Intuos4 promises to exceed your every expectation.

The medium Intuos4 tablet is the most popular and versatile choice among creative professionals. With 48.5 square inches of working area, this tablet provides ample workspace for most tablet users.

The medium size is built with eight ExpressKeys and illuminated displays that provide easy reference to your assigned functions.

This product retails for $349 – and can I just say, I’m JEALOUS of this giveaway! I was fortunate that Wacom gave me one of their new Bamboo Touches when it came out for our team projects (which is another innovative product that’s VERY affordable if you’re looking to get into the Wacom products for your computer use). I can honestly attest that using a pen over a mouse is so much more ergonomically friendly to your hands, but also allows you to have much more precision during editing of your photos, or any design work that you might be doing.

Sooooooo…the kind people at Wacom knew that you all would love an opportunity to win one of these amazing Intuos4 Tablets – and well, I told them you’d do more than love it. You’d DIE for it! That’s why you have an opportunity now!

Enter to win, simply by leaving a comment on our blog here (this post) – not on Facebook, not on Twitter. Right here! We’ll give you two weeks to enter this time. Remember, first time posters must be approved manually, so please wait up to 24 hours for approval of your comment. We choose our winners from the admin side, based on the time you commented, not when we approve you.

Contest ends on February 15th at 11:59 p.m. CST – International customers welcome to enter, but must agree to pay shipping difference from US shipping vs. International based upon your country rate.

Now – have fun and GO!

Holly McCaig is a professional photographer in St. Louis, Missouri
Visit her website at www.hollymccaigdesigns.com

Posing Guides Winner

Congratulations to Jenny from Jenny Lynn Photography who won all four of Kelly’s Posing Guides valued at $200!

We used the Random.org generator to pick #28 and then to make it fair, we used our comment list from the admin section. This shows comments as they submit, whereas the blog will show you comments after we approve them (if they have never had previous comments before.)

We’ll be in contact with you Jenny!

Don’t fret if you didn’t win!  Kelly’s coupon code is still valid for 10% all of her products by using the following code….

Code: PINKINK

expires: 2/15/10

For more info, visit www.willettedesigns.com or

http://willettedesigns.com/photographer-tools/posing-guides/

Stay tuned for our next contest………..IT’S A REAL DOOZIE and you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to receive it absoltely free just by posting a comment on our blog!!!!!!

Have you checked out Pink Ink’s latest products?  Be sure to head on over here to see what our designers have whipped up this week!

Avoid the Burnout Blues

Every photographer/artist now and again can experience burnout. It’s hard to avoid this feeling when you are so passionate about your art. According to the Mayo Clinic burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term exposure to demanding work situations. Burnout is the cumulative result of stress.

Since most photographers’ livelihoods depend on working all the time avoiding burnout is a key component of business. Here are a few tips and ideas to avoid or overcome the burnout blues.

• The simple things to do first are slow down, cut back, set boundaries, talk to others, and make time for yourself. Making time for you sounds easy but by taking 1-2 days off a week if possible you can really rejuvenate yourself.
• Blog! Instead of doing the work that causes you stress, take a break and blog about it. Blogging about tips, ideas and techniques is helpful to others and may help change your view on things. Don’t worry you don’t need to be an expert, just be yourself and have fun. You can either blog for your clients or for your peers. Blogging your experiences can be both beneficial as a learning tool to yourself as well as something that other photographers can use as reference.
• Get on Facebook. Facebook is not just for catching up with old friends and playing games — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing jobs and connecting with your customers and other photographers. You never know who you will interact with or the opportunities that could present themselves just by logging on.
• Teach or mentor someone else. Besides helping someone else who needs the help or encouragement you might learn something about yourself.
• Think of fun and different ideas for your clients. Instead of offering your clients the “standard” photo package or ideas try to think outside of the box. Here’s a link to a previous article I wrote to help you think of different and unique ideas.
• Hire an assistant or interns to help with the daily tasks to free up your time for the fun things you like to do while working.
• Join a professional organization in your area or online. Joining a professional organization will help you to stay on top of what’s happening in industry and it may also help to inspire ideas that in turn could grow your own business. Check out the Professional Photographers of America website for information on a group in your area.
• Make sure you give yourself new and exciting challenges often. If you are a portrait photographer try shooting a landscape photo. By mixing up your subjects you can keep things fresh and fun. Challenging yourself brings out the passion, excitement and enthusiasm in yourself. It helps you to develop your talents and in the process you become a new person. A photographer I spoke to recently mentioned she “don’t necessarily get burnt out on photography but she can get burnt out on what she’s shooting.” She is a portrait/studio photographer but for fun she takes photos of wildlife as a hobby, which helps mix up the day to day work. Check out this link for a complete list of different types of photography options.
• Try to have a hobby or interest that isn’t photography related. I know it sounds hard because everything you do is probably photo related but try to have something else for “fun”. Hobbies can ease your mind and relax you, so start a garden, collect stamps or go to the movies often. Sometimes you just need new experiences to break out of a rut.

There are lots of things you can do to avoid the burnout blues but you need to take the time to address them. Some time alone and reflection can help you think of creative ways to combat feeling like this. Keep an open mind, consider all your options and ask for help along the way if you need it. I hope some of these tips have helped you to think differently and will help you to stay on top of your professional game.

What’s New This Week

Happy Hump Day! I’ve realized time really flies when you commit to a weekly post! As in I swore I just did this yesterday … but I really didn’t.

Who tweets? Amy did a post on social media last month.  She’s got great tips. She just added Twitter backgrounds to her shop. Check those out!

If you’re still creating Valentine products for your clients (or yourself for that matter!), Holly has an awesome Vintage Valentine Collection of papers. Very pretty! Also take a peek at her Vintage Valentine Wallet templates … great add-ons for portrait sessions.

Tara has Cherish backgrounds available in her store. These are great for Valentine’s Day and would also work for baby girl albums.

Kim Hill has a ton of senior rep cards in her shop … ’tis the season … get your rep programs rolling!

Last, but not least … Traci just added two Frame Up collections. Easy way to add a little something to your image!

Guess I’ll see you next month!! Have a great week!

PS – Who wants an iPad?

Video Tutorial- Turning your Animoto movie into a DVD

Here’s a quick tutorial on how I took full advantage of Animoto by turning the High Resolution MP4 file that I received into a DVD that my clients can view on their DVD player.  Tutorial uses Mac specific software so I’m uncertain as to whether or not PC users will find similiar software that may compare to iMovie or iDVD, but please share with us by leaving a comment on this post if you know of such software!

Carrie is the owner/photographer for Carrie Ann Photography and a designer at Pink Ink Studios.

Posing Guides by Willette Designs- Giveaway

Our latest giveaway is from the wonderful Kelly Willette of Willette Designs!  The winner will receive all four of her posing guides (children, siblings, families and seniors) valued at $200!!!

Here’s the skinny on what the guides are all about from the creater herself…

“The Portrait Cookbook posing guides are geared towards children’s photographers who need guidance on how to vary poses, who need to shorten the amount of time spent photographing at a session, and/or photographers who are just starting to branch out and start their own photography business. This resource is the result of my need to harness my desire for fantastic photos into a more streamlined approach so I can have fun with the kiddos I photograph rather than fumble with how I’m going to achieve a great portrait. Each guide includes at least 25 unique poses with pose cards that include info on how to pose and how to achieve variation within the pose. The product is a downloadable file that includes directions on how to print so you can carry them with you to a session. Current pose guides include: children’s, sibling, family and senior guides. Each guide can be purchased individually for $50.

And to make this giveaway even sweeter, Kelly has given our readers a coupon code for 10% off her products!

Code: PINKINK

expires: 2/15/10

For more info, visit www.willettedesigns.com or

http://willettedesigns.com/photographer-tools/posing-guides/

To enter, simply leave one comment below in our comment section. Be sure to use a valid email address!

Contest ends January 29, 2010 at 12am (CST) We will announce the winner on the following day. Good luck!

Custom Photo Pendant Winner

Congratulations to Sharon Sossaman from California who won a certificate for a custom photo pendant! We used the Random.org generator to pick #54 and then to make it fair, we used our comment list from the admin section. This shows comments as they submit, whereas the blog will show you comments after we approve them (if they have never had previous comments before).

Sharon, we will be in touch with you on how to get your prize.

And, to everyone else, we know you loved JessJaye‘s work as much as we do, so make sure you contact her to get your hands on this fabulous memento you can offer your clients. She can take just about any photo you send her – bridal, newborn, family, pets, etc. and create a truly special and unique gift for your clients or their loved ones. How fabulous would it be to offer this as an add-on to your clients? Just drop JessJaye a line and we know she’ll love to work with you (less than $20, plus shipping).

Special thanks to Jessica Lemberg for her donation to Pink Ink Studios and our customers.

If you want to keep track of the giveaways as we start launching them, up in the menu, you’ll see a link for “vendors” – all of them will be linked to their original post here on what we gave away which will then link you to their websites. We love our sponsors!

What’s New This Week

Happy Thursday! I’m hoping this post finds you photographers as busy as the Pink Ink designers are. It amazes me how many new products are added to our site each week.

Just because Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, I’m going to start off with a few more Valentine products. Hello January … where did you go?

Tara has a great Valentine card that is also a calendar. Love it!

I’ve added a few Valentine cards to my store (MadiLu Designs). This one might be my favorite as you can use it for boys or girls and I happen to have two of each

Looking for something smaller? Tisha has a sweet Valentine wallet set worked in with a few every day ideas.

OK … fun idea from Holly’s store. These are Red Lips are printed out and used as props for your clients. Add these to your sessions and you’re sure to get a lot of smiles! Very cute way to dress up a Valentine card.

To follow up with a similar product, try her Bubble Thought printouts. I’m sure your clients will love that you’re reading their minds!

Looking for ways to improve your workflow? Amy has created a set of actions to help you resize your images for web and blog. Efficiency rocks! Seriously … check out Kim’s mix-and-match book templates while you’re at it and you will become the Jedi of workflow organization!

Not only is it the season of love, it’s a great time to be finding your senior reps for 2011. Carrie has a rep card in her store that will help you spread the word! Speaking of seniors, Heather has created a Teen Angst Bundle. Check out her store for more Teen Angst products. Do I date myself if I suddenly have Nirvana songs running through my head??

Have a great week! As always, keep checking back for great giveaways and more information. Visit our forums. You never know when cool goodies are hiding in there!

January Poll

This months poll is all about your work set up!

Photographer Spotlight: Tina Nitz

Tell us your name. Tina Nitz

Where do you live? St. Augustine, Florida

Please link us to your website. http://www.nitzphotography.com

Describe your area of expertise. Expertise – HA! I don’t consider myself an expert in anything, but I do specialize in maternity, newborns and babies. If I had to pick one of those three I’d say my newborn work is my strongest.

How long have you been a photographer? I’ve been a photographer since I can remember ! Way back in the day, I used to take my mom’s 110 camera and use a whole roll of film on a single flower, bug or whatever else caught my eye. She’d get so upset because I wasted a whole roll on one thing. I looked at it like I was shooting a bunch to get the perfect result. Did I? Probably not – I was like 10.  But you are probably asking more from a professional standpoint.  I’ve officially been a business for almost 6 years now.

What did you do before pursuing photography? Growing up I never said “I want to be a photographer when I grow up.”  It changed frequently depending on what was of interest that year. But, after high school, I made the decision to hit the university for a degree in elementary education. I never quite finished. Along came the birth of my first son… and then a few years later a second son. Never went back and somehow I ended up as a photographer.

How would you describe your style? Simplistic.

Do you prefer to work in the studio, on-location, or both and why? I prefer to work in a studio with my “fake light” mostly because I can control it so much easier. I know it, I’m comfortable with it, and it works for me. Which is why I’m working on learning natural light out on location now – getting out of my little box.

What is your standby pose (the one that everyone tends to want from you)? EVERYONE wants the newborn sound asleep with the little legs/arms hanging over the side of the basket/bucket/chair.  And lately the “fish bowl” shots are quite popular with the toddler moms.

Do you have a favorite tip or trick that always gets a smile from your young subjects? Every child is different and responds to different things. What works for one doesn’t work for another. So I guess I’ll have to say no I don’t really have a favorite trick that works. But I have a whole list of things I try to get those smiles and when I find something that works for that child I play off it for a while. Singing, laughing, talking silly, jokes for older ones, making fun of mom and dad’s “stinky feet” works VERY well for the 4-5 year olds. You just have to take cues from the child and keep working until you catch their attention.. then roll with it!

What gear is in your bag? Nikon…..always Nikon. I currently shoot with a D300 and 90% of the time I have my 85mm lens on.  I’ll sometimes also shoot with my 50mm and then, if I’m feeling crazy, pull out the 105mm macro for some close ups (like those little bits on a newborn).

If you could only use one lens what would it be? 85mm of course

What is your go-to camera shop? I try to buy all my gear locally – and that happens to be at Ritz Camera. I like to keep my business local and support those around me. If they don’t have it B&H Photo here I come.

Which album company do you recommend? My session albums are the Addison Elite slip ins by J. Lee Albums.

What are your favorite props? I’m not big on a lot of props. But I do love me some hats!! And baskets!! My husband thinks I need to go to Hats and Baskets anonymous.

How do you stay motivated? By shooting for ME every once in a while. Whether by working with my own kids and doing something different or just getting in the car and driving around until I see something of interest. Sometimes even just sitting in the yard and snapping shots of the lizards. It’s so important to have time for yourself and to shoot for fun when you are running a business. Otherwise you’ll get burnt out and wanna scream!

What makes your job easy? The resulting images and the smiles on mom and dads faces when they come in to view and order. Makes chasing their toddler during the session or getting peed on by a newborn all worth it!

Do you fully process all the proofs you show to clients or do you show soft-proofs and then finalize once you know which images they will be ordering? Depends on how much editing is required. I pretty much process all proofs before they are shown to the client. Of course, a final once over is done before sending to the lab to get rid of little stray hairs and minor things that bug me but probably were not noticed by the client. For those times when some extensive detail work is needed during editing (such as a newborn with a bad case of baby acne) then I’ll work up a handful of my favorites completely to show clients what will be done before ordering. Then I do the major touch-ups before sending to the lab for them on the images they order.

If you could choose anyone to do a photo session of you and your family, who would your choose? Oh wow…..that’s a loaded question. You know I’m not really sure. I have so many photographers that I know and admire. I’m just not sure if I could choose just one.

If you were not a photographer, then…then my life would be pretty empty because I LOVE what I do.

What does photography mean to you? It means a lot and it always has. I’m a firm believer in capturing memories. Time goes by way too fast and kids grow up even faster.  You never know what the future holds and having special images of the ones you love and hold dear is ever so important.

Best advice for new photographers breaking into the business? There are 3 major pieces of advice that I give to newcomers to the business:

1. Have knowledge about photography itself. How to achieve proper exposure, white balance, etc. If you don’t know what a shutter speed is, then you might want to take a class or do some research online. LEARN all you can about photography before you go to the next step.
2. Know your camera and how to use it properly.
3. Price yourself fair to the clients and to your fellow photographers. Don’t undercut the established photographers in the area in order to gain business because, in the end, all it does it hurt the entire photography industry – and it doesn’t gain you great clients.  Find your magic happy number and work backwards to find your fees.

Magazine must have? Professional Photographer is my favorite right now.

What’s your guilty pleasure? Reading, actually. I love to read. However I often feel guilty when I do because I know I could be doing other things either with the business or with housework, etc.

My weakness is…I have to have  Dr. Pepper first thing after rolling out of bed in the morning. Sad, but true.

My strength is…Hmmm – I can tell you all about my flaws and issues, but ask me this and I get stuck.

Finish this quote: When it rains……it pours… LOL!

Who do you love? My hubby and my 2 boys.

Blog addiction… Nope – don’t really have one.

Tattoos… Ick.. no. Not on me. But they are fun to photograph on dad’s with newborns!

MAC or PC… PC

80’s Music… Yes!!!

What’s on your iPod? I actually do not own an iPod. Sad, isn’t it?

Morning or night? NIGHT!

On my day off… … and the boys are at school.. I like to curl up with my kitty and read a good book.

Thank you Tina for sharing a bit of yourself with us.  I’m sure our readers will enjoy your work as much as I have.

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