It’s a form-filled extravaganza, including 7 different pieces designed specifically to help photographers just getting started in their craft.  Included in the set for this kit:

The beauty is the cost I am able to offer this out for to the photographic community!  Long gone are the days of hiring attorneys at $150 an hour for each legal form you need – Legal kits are available across the web.  You can get similar kits for about $100-$300 with various levels of customizations available.  The cheapest I’ve seen such kits out there for run in the neighborhood of $50.  A fantastic savings over traditional approaches!  Here now, for the first time though, this is going out to anyone interested in starting their own photography business (or those who have started one and don’t have their legal “ducks in a row”, so to speak) that needs some basic legal guidance and at a price point of only $30!

Keep in mind, this is not meant to replace customized forms for specific needs and purposes, but standard events, licensing and model releases are the order of the day.  This is the best part – you can still customize it! I’ve made each into a Word document so you can add your studio logo, graphic, letterhead – even your studio name, to each form as you grow your own business.  So, in the event you still need to tweak things for a specific need, or you just want your own attorney to give these forms a once-over (less than an hours work), your savings is still in the hundreds!

Okay, I am starting to sound like an infomercial, and I hate it when people do that, but really, this honestly is the best part, because this is not even coming out at $50 – it’s only $30!  Almost half of what others are offering the same thing for elsewhere.  And for an extremely limited time (the first 250 to purchase), a special discount code can net you half off of that already screaming deal.  So, for a paltry $15, you can get this compilation of the most needed forms and contracts every photographer needs.  The code?  DIY2011 As soon as the code is used 250 times, it goes to regular pricing of $30, so get it while you can, because this pricing will never happen again!

You can order it today, from right here by clicking on the “Add to Card” button below, or on the dedicated eBook page!  Don’t delay, best pricing will likely meet fulfillment very shortly!

Because this can help change the lives of so many aspiring photographers, I also want to help spread the word through networking as much as possible, so if you’d like to help, there is a specific affiliate program I’ve set up at eJunkie where you can also see a 10% return on each eBook sold.  The discount code of DIY2011 will also work in affiliate setups too.  So, head on over to eJunkie via this link here (or in the sidebar) and sign up if you like (it’s free), or simply just enjoy the easy-to-use forms on your own!  In any event, thanks for all the help, support, and contributions to so many that made this project come to life!  You all rock!

Join our Affiliate Program!

To start, I took an image and pulled it into Photoshop.  Realizing that I would need to do some virtually identical steps across several images, on the first one, I started the process of creating an action.  The action in essence, creates a duplicate layer of the image, converts it to black and white, then repeats the duplication for another 9 black and white layer copies.  So, ultimately your Layer panel has 11 layers to it – 10 black and white layers and one color layer (at the bottom).

Next, I went to each layer and adjusted the opacity down by 10%.  So, the top layer was at 100% opacity, then 90%, then 80%, etc, etc, all the way down to 10%.  At this point I stopped recording the action.  Now, it was a simple matter of saving each of the 11 total images to a folder.  I started with the full layer set visible and saved to web (Control+ALT=Shift+S).  I saved to a specific folder so that each subsequent image could easily be numbered sequentially for easier management later.  In the end, I had 11 images, numbered 1-11.

For the final step, I opened my video editor (Camtasia) and imported the media.  Here it now may take some trial and error to determine image length, transition length, and if you want titles included.  Next, I picked some audio from the native library and added to the time line.  After clipping and taking the last few seconds for a fade out, the slide show was done. All I had to do now was export and share.

In Camtasia, there are many options to choose from for sharing your work online, from Screencast.net (their host) to YouTube, exporting as Flash, .mov files, .avi files, and many other options.  Here you should choose the one that works best for you and your needs.

Last but not least, it’s just a matter of either exporting the video you created and uploading either to your own host through FTP, or using the native interface to export to any one of a number of video hosting services as mentioned above.

For those interested in giving it a whirl, here’s the action I put together in 10% increments.  Feel free to experiment and try your own settings and percentages to style and taste as needed.

Black and White Layers

Got your own ideas for how to create new effects and appearances with stills in videos?  What are your thoughts on this technique?  Share your thoughts, comments, and feedback below or with me via email.

As a final reminder for the week, there’s limited time left on a couple of fronts:

1. The contest for July is about wrapped up – you still have a chance to enter to win a copy of Lightroom 3 from the folks over at Adobe, so don’t forget to sign up today!  Just submit your photo in the Flickr thread.
2. The Lightroom Workshop Series kicks off in a little over a week in Anaheim CA, with Denver following shortly thereafter.  We’ve also added some webinars for those who can’t attend an entire day, and more info coming on that.  We’d love to see you in on a workshop day though, so sign up soon as time and space are limited!  Signups are being handled over at Lightroom Dudes
3. Last but not least, the eBook is out of the gates and initial response has been overwhelming!  Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts and feedback on the sequel for 49 Photo Tips.   The 20% savings window is almost over too, so be sure to get your digital download before the end of the month.  After that, it’s regular price of $4.99

Learning Digital Photography:  Episode #41

Stock Photography – Taking the Plunge!

News – Trevor Current -
Thanks to Trevor for helping out with the news – check out his site at www.currentphotographer.com and don’t forget to follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/trevorcurrent Here’s the news links that Trevor talked about during his news segment too:

Stock Photography with Nicole Young (Nicolesy)

1. Options
   • iStock
   • Getty
   • Shutterstock
   • Alamy
   • Crestock
2. Pros and Cons to consider when getting into stock photography

• Mass producing images
• Approval process

3.  Difference between exclusive and non-exclusive arrangements

500 downloads and 50% approval

4.  Stock versus Fine Art – Can fine art sell?

Listener Questions and Answers

What is the best way to make sure my photos are “color accurate”?  (Nick in Charlotte)

What kinds of lights are best used for product photography versus studio?  ((Candace in St. Louis)

What kind of videos are stock companies looking for from content producers? (from email, anonymous)

Contact

www.nicolesyblog.com
www.twitter.com/nicolesy

The show should be available for listening via download by the time you read this both in iTunes and over at PLM.  Thanks also go out to the folks at Audible for sponsoring the show.  Find out how you can get a free book of your choice by visiting www.audiblepodcast.com/learn Last but not least, I’d also like to welcome Trevor Current to the show who will be providing more of the news moving forward so I can spend more time with the guests!  Check out all the news notes on his site at www.currentphotographer.com

Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow…the long-awaited Drobo review should be up by then!

December Wallpaper

Here are the dimensions available:

1600×1200 px

1280×1024 px

1024×768 px

And for those of you that know the specifics of the curve ball – there’s a donation button on the sidebar!  If you like the desktop calendar download, feel free to help off-set the curveballs from there directly!

More content is coming soon for all too, so be sure to stop back regularly!  Enjoy the rest of the week and keep on shooting!

The folks at Personal Life Media are having some technical difficulties with podcast content and it is still unavailable for listening.  S, until they sort things out,  an old school MP3 download is available here.  I’ve also edited the previous post to include the download there too.  My apologies for the hiccup from PLM.  Thanks for your patience all!