I am editing the engagement session of Preston and Melissa and wanted to stop for a minute and just share a before and after image with everyone. My sessions are usually scheduled close to sunset and one of my favorite things to do during my sessions is to get some shots with some backlight and getting some sun flare in the image. I have seen new photographers ask how to achieve these type of shots and the best way is just to practice, practice, practice. You will notice in my straight out of camera shot that the image is slightly underexposed, I have found this to be the best way to capture these type of images and then to bring back the details in the face with lightroom and photoshop. I don’t recommend underexposing by a lot just by half a stop or so and that should be enough. My final signature image ton was finished off with “Memory of a friend” from the Jesh de Rox colorshift actions.

This past Sunday I participated in the Lakeside Bridal Fair hosted at the Hilton Hotel in Rockwall by having my own booth. This was my first time to have a booth at a bridal fair, I was so excited to take part in something that made me feel like a “real” business. It is easy to start your own business and to tell people about your business, but since I shoot on location and don’t have my own studio this was the first time I had to create something that represented my business. Okay let me be completely honest and rephrase that last part, I had to rely on the assistance of others to help me create a space that represented my business. It is so important for photographers to create a brand for themselves and continue that brand in every aspect of their business or else clients and people looking at your business will never remember who you are. Photographs and styles are constantly changing so you need something that can be consistent and stick in the minds of people. I felt this booth was a huge success with the small budget I had for the booth and I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful wife Jessica (providing awesome table decorations), my aunt Lena (using her awesome sewing skills for my table runners), my friend Jayme (providing my awesome sign), Freddy (for creating simple and great floral arrangements), and last but not least my wonderful and amazingly awesome friend and wedding planner Stephanie Torres of Stephanie Michele Events. Stephanie really helped pull everything together and really help me create something that represented who I was and what my business represented. Everything was kept simple and clean while focusing around my business colors of white, yellow, and grey. Any photographers or people in the wedding industry who want to hear my full experience and advice for considering bridal fairs please click the link below the pictures. Thanks everyone who helped me out and sent their love and support.

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I thought it would be fun to share one frame that is behind the scenes from the engagement session with James and Jennifer. I thought this was a funny shot because I was testing the light and I just so happen to catch both of them with their eyes closed unintentionally. Special thanks to my new friend Jaret Benson for coming along with me and assisting on the shoot.

I have the pleasure of interacting with several types of people through the internet and social networks. One guy who has helped me get my site off the ground is Jayme Blackmon, he owns his own design studio named West Main Studio. We both know the value social marketing can have for small business owners in order to help get their business in the eyes of potential clients. I am still new to the game and my business has a ton of room to grow but I wouldn’t be where I am right now without social marketing sites like twitter and facebook.

I want my site to not only be a place to see my latest work and all my awesome clients, but where people can come and see someone who owns a small business and strives to see it grow and become successful. Along the way I want to share my journey with you and give any tips I have found helpful for my own business, in hopes that you too can pursue your own dreams.

I invited Jayme Blackmon here to my blog to be a guest blogger on my site to give people some free tips to help them grow their business. If you want to take it a step further, Jayme also offers great services to further catapult a business in the social marketing world and would love to help your business out. So go ahead and visit his site if you are interested and want some help in the social marketing department. Enjoy this article from Jayme!

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The Internet world has grown leaps and bounds in just the 2009 year alone. Getting yourself in front clients, customers and readers can be quite the daunting task especially if you don’t have marketing revenue to push your product or service. It’s hard work, but there are several ways you can increase your online visibility for free!

Create a Twitter account. It’s very easy to do and can be setup within minutes. Utilize their search feature to find topics that interest you and start following users that talk about them. Start making tweets about your service as well as link to interesting articles that may relate to your topic as well. You’ll be surprised how quickly your follower-base grows.

The other big name from 2009 is Facebook. If you don’t have a Facebook account, get one! It’s a great way to re-establish old connections that can turn into wonderful business leads. Doing business with someone you know eliminates the non-trust factor, especially if your business is Internet-based. Also, if you’ve stepped into any restaurant or fast food joint, you surely have seen “become a Facebook fan”. Fan pages are quick and easy to setup if you already have a Facebook account and it’s a clever way to push your services in front of hundreds and thousands of people in an instant.

Just as I’m doing right now, blogging is a great way to increase you online credibility. You can setup a free blog on services like Blogger or Wordpress and start blogging immediately. Be creative and write about things you like and dislike, it doesn’t always have to be about your service or business. Once you write an article, post the link on Twitter and Facebook. Spread the news!

Another great way to garner attention is to give away products or services. For instance, I’m a web designer and I could give away a free icon set or a free template design. Announce the giveaway on Twitter, Facebook and your blog. People love free and it’s viral.

YouTube, Vimeo and other video websites allow you to upload videos for free. If you have a video camera, a webcam or even a digital camera you can tap into yet another social media circle. You could create a video explaining your services or even a screencast if it’s an online product. Most video social sites will allow you to use “tags” to associate keywords with your video topic.

Just the free aspects of social marketing can keep you busy. Sometimes outsourcing a couple of these methods can really benefit you, especially if you are a small business with no online exposure. Getting a website done professionally is certainly worth your while. This is one place where I don’t recommend cutting corners. I run my own web studio and we offer a variety of packages for small businesses. If you do decide to cut corners, you can download themes and just plug-in your information and photos.

Once you have launched a website, you need to make sure it’s search engine visible. An established blogger like myself, can write an article, create a video and market/review your company and you can see instant results. Sometimes professional services are good investments for getting your online presence established or pushing you ahead of your competition.

All in all, social media is free and definitely isn’t rocket science. It’s just a tool for gaining exposure and followers. Putting in hard work to drive social media methods actually produces the results.

I have had a few requests from photographers wanting to know a little more about my post processing. I don’t keep it a secret since essentially all I do is use actions other people have created. This post will not be as detailed as my last one, I suggest reading the first post I did on my signature images if you want to know more about what I do in lightroom and photoshop. My first post lacked details on my final step in photoshop where I give my images a final ‘tone’ or ‘colorshift’. This was mainly because I forgot which actions I used exactly and didn’t want to attempt to recreate them again. I mentioned in my last post that right now I am using The Colorshift Actions from Jesh De Rox to add the final look to my images. One of the main reasons I love this set of actions is how flexible they are and how they allow you to experiment and create an action mix that is your own. Experimentation is the key word in my post-processing, I do not like to use an action as it is, I enjoy getting to manipulate each part of the action until I get the ‘feel’ I am looking for in the end.

Below I have 2 images that I made sure and saved my process as I was going along.

In this final image I used the Rainforest action from the Colorshift Action Set and added the Get Faded (autumn) action from the Totally Rad Action Set 2. I am not going to spend time going through each adjustment layer and what opacity I set the action at because I want to encourage you to experiment yourself and find a mixture that you enjoy.

The image below is an example of the post-processing I used on several of the images from this particular set, this is a great example of me experimenting with an action and making it my own. You will notice I used the action Blueberry Night from the Color Shift Actions, I added 2 additional fill color layers to give the image the final look below. Setting time aside to experiment with the actions you own is great because you start getting an idea of what each action does and then you can decide how you can add to each action to push it further.

I hope this little behind the scenes look at my post processing was helpful for many of you. Just have fun and experiment with actions and see what you can create. I highly recommend using Totally Rad Actions and the Color Shift Actions in order to have the ability to experiment and make these actions your own!