Finished! Photography tutorial on CD in my Etsy
 

Whew! I've completed my tutorial on picture taking. It's in a CD form because it is a visual tutorial with over 140 pictures and diagrams on how to take photos without a bunch of expensive lighting equipment and how to use Photoshop or Elements to make your photos look like the beads you want to sell.

I think it's too big to email. I tried emailing it and it got bounced out of my husband's email box.

I can't take all the credit, however. Though I took all the photos and the diagrams, he put them together for me.

It's $19 and a dollar for shipping in the US, 2.00 outside of the country. I will ship them first class, so you will get them in 2 or 3 days.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php...ng_id=19916816

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/...8a92278c_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/...a626ba0a_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/...17d2b3f5_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3304/...c3137783_o.jpg

*starts saving pennies*

Oh Kevan - thanks for doing this! Off to purchase...
Jenny

Very nice, Kevan!!

Looking forward to being able to purchase this one. It will be cheaper then flying you in everytime I need a picture taken :)

Looks amazing, Kevan! I am currently shopping for a camera....been a couple of years since mine bit the dust! This is definitely on my wish list when I get a fancy camera! I am envious of all your photos! :love:

Yay Kevan! When I get caught up then I'm getting this one for sure!

Got one. Thanks Kevan. Looks great!

Thank you guys! I had no idea it would be so much work. I thought it looked pretty easy to make a tut. Not so. lol

Bought it! :D


Andrea

Looks wonderful Kevan, bought mine just now :)

Looks like you did a fabulous job on a much needed subject.

Too cool!!! Not that I "want" to take my own pictures...ever...

Thanks guys. I want to see those photos looking great!! lol

**off to purchase...**

Thanks!!

Looks Fabulous Kevan !

Got mine!

Congrats Kevan :D

J.

Ordered mine!!!! I sooooooo need this!

Thanks so much Kevan! Just bought mine!

Cheers
Kathy

Btw, are you going to sign all the CD, Kevan?

Just bought mine! I can't wait to grow up and be a photographer like Kevan!

Sending really good waves of energy to you girl because you rock!

Kevan, I have always loved your photography! I'm saving for this! :)

Just bought mine! I soooo need this. Thanks Kevan.

lois

Looks lovely Kevan

This looks like a great tutorial Kevan!

If anyone has any questions, just PM me!

And thanks for the support. I really appreciate it!!

Kevan;

Do we have to have Microsoft Word 2007 to do the steps in your tutorial? You mention it in your example page. I don't have Word. I have Works. I also have Photoshop.....an old version....Photoshop 6.0.

I'd like to buy your tutorial but I'm not sure I have the programs I need in order to take advantage of your instructions..........:pout:

Thanks
J

No, it's a PDF file just like all the other tutorials, it's just on CD because of it's size.

I'm going to try to figure out if I can send it in two parts and then we can send by email, but it's 27 mgs as it is.

No, the book was created in Word. You don't need Word to do anything regarding your photos.

Kevan and I wanted to thank you all for the great response to our new tutorial. Please email or pm us with your comments. We'd love to hear from you all.

Antonio (who doesn't post here much because I love my peace) :)

Here is a more basic question, do we have to have photoshop to be able to do the tutorial? I use paint shop pro XI. Do you think I will get value from this tutorial?

J...I'm not sure if you got a clear answer but...

We used Word 2007 to create the tut and then converted it to a PDF with Adobe Acrobat. If you have Acrobat or a browser with the Acrobat plug-in
(which 97% of the browsers have) you can read it. If you don't have the Acrobat plug-in you can download and use it for free.

Photoshop versions as far back as 4.0 should work. I am not familiar with the newer Elements versions but it appears they also will work or have workarounds that will work. (Did you get that?) http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/im...cons/icon7.gif


Antonio

I don't think Paint Shop pro will work well with this tut. Sorry!

Antonio

I have never used Paintshop Pro, so I don't know what features it has. Since I use Photoshop and always have, this tutorial is based on that.

However, the functions in Photoshop that I use are pretty basic. I'm not doing anything dramatic to my photos. Brightening, levels, clone tool and sharpening is about it.

I received the dvd in mail today, Kevan.

OMG soo much info. Very well done. Hopefully can improve my picture taking.

Btw, I only have CS2, do you think it will have a problem?

Kevan, I use Corel Photo Paint but was considering purchasing Photoshop Elements 4.0. Will this work with your tutorial?

Also can you or anyone else by any chance tell me the difference between Photoshop Elements 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Win.

thanks,

I wish I could get one right now!

Office Max has Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0 Win for $79.

Have just ordered - looks like exactly what I need to be able to take useable bead pix. I just can't get the macro things to be clear. I posted fused work today because that's the only thing I (or DH) can take decent pix of. Thanks!
Beverly

I got mine and it definitely gave me some new ideas about how to improve my photos! I also love the humor.

The first section about setting up to take photos is great information for anyone. I found the basic photography information to be very helpful. Information on depth of field, aperature, exposure finally seemed to click to clarity because the explanation in the tutorial is simple and straightforward. I definitely needed that information reduced to the simplest of terms to get out of camera-jargon-phobia. I have a camera that I can use on manual settings, so I'll be trying that section out quickly.

I'm using Photoshop Elements 2. With the photo editing section, I found it very useful to read about what tools are being used to do which editing tricks. I know that I'll need to find the equivalents in Elements but it is very helpful just to know which tools to look for and when I find the tools, to have some idea why I'm using them.

If you have Photoshop CS4, the directions for editing are very clear. There are arrows that show you exactly where to go!

I don't know the diferences between PSE4 and 7 since I'm back at PSE2 but Adobe does a free 30-day download of Photoshop Elements 7. I'm waiting for more memory to arrive so that I can give PSE 7 a try. I couldn't find PSE4 for less than a new copy of PSE7. And the new copies of PSE4 were significantly more expensive than PSE7. I also get a $20 rebate since I'm a registered owner of PSE2 -- so I can get PSE7 for $59.

I love the tutorial!:biggrin::-D:grin::grin:

You don't need CS4 to do this tutorial, any version of Photoshop should work. It's just basic features that are used. I don't know about other types of photo correction programs.
I would think they would have the same basic features, sharpening, brightening - it's not anything really fancy. I wanted to make it simple for people who aren't really comfortable with fixing their photos.

I'm glad you guys like it! It means a lot to me that you would say so.:-)

CS2 will definitely work!

Antonio

Beckah,

Thank you so much for the glowing review! I can't tell you how much Kevan and I appreciate it. I think she has a post that is in 'limbo' right now thanking you herself. (She's on moderated status here.)

Anyway, as it was our first efforts at something like this we are more than happy with your words.

Take care and THANK YOUUUU!,

antonio

Macro can be tricky if you don't have a true macro lens. Many manufacturers claim a lens or camera to be 'macro' capable when it actually isn't.

If you want to test a camera in-store, put it in macro mode (usually a little 'tulip' on the dial) and see how close you can get to something and stay in focus. You should be able to get within a few inches if the camera has true macro. I tried a Fuji finepix and a Sony that could both focus within an inch.

Also, look for a camera that offers you aperture priority mode. This allows you to choose the aperture size (the lens opening) while the camera chooses the exposure and shutter speed. With a small aperture you will have everything in focus from near to far--called 'depth of field' in photo-jargon. A shallow depth of field when shooting macro is quite common and needs to be considered. Bottom line: small aperture+macro lens=great closeups.

If you are on a budget (and who isn't nowadays!) you can take a regular camera and use either purchased macro 'extenders', or a regular magnifying glass! The magnifying glass tricks works in a pinch...but I wouldn't want to submit such pictures to say, a magazine or contest.

Finally, one more way to get tight shots is to stand way back with a good zoom. To do this, the lens has to be high quality. I shoot my video of Kevan making beads using an Cannon HV30 high definition camera and zoom from across the room over her shoulder. The lens on the HV30 is awesome in good light. Then, if you want a still, you just capture it during editing.

I hope some of that helps!

Antonio

Yes, thanks Antonio, it does help. I think my Kyocera falls in that category. Will research more and get DH, who knows way more about photography than I do, to check it out as well. My work has largely been fused glass until now and we've managed decent pix for local things, but for beads I really need to have a better grasp of how to do things for faster turnaround when he's not available. Should get hte cd soon - thanks!
Beverly

De nada! Please let me know what you think of the CD!

Antonio

Neat!

Can I ask what kind of camera you have on the tripod?

J

It's a Nikon D50.

Ok Antonio here is what I have to work with let me know what is good and what isn't...... Adobe Photoshop album starter edition 3.0........JASC Paintshop pro 9 ( this is sooooo confusing but I have it so I guess I have to deal with it)..... Microsoft Word 2003.......and I use a Nikon D40 ( I love this camera but I need to learn more how to use it) I want to buy the tut but want to have what I need to make it all work. Thanks for all your input!